The mission of the Physics Department within the School of Sciences and Humanities is to provide Nazarbayev University students with the skills and tools to develop the underlying technologies and support knowledge necessary for the technological-industrial infrastructure. A career in physics is exciting because physicists are trained to be natural problem solvers and creative thinkers. Economy is undergoing a transformation that reflects worldwide trends – the know-hows and technical innovations become the most important asset. In order to develop the necessary underlying technologies to support this transformation, highly skilled physicists and engineers are required.
If you like the freedom of active discovery, the power of invention, the language of mathematics, and a good-sized paycheck, then physics is a great career choice.
Our faculty members conduct cutting-edge research and publish in internationally recognized journals in the following areas: Laser Spectroscopy and Nonlinear Optics (Jean-Jacques Zondy), Laser-based material science (Zhandos Utegulov), Quantum Metamaterials (Constantinos Valagiannopoulos), Nanophotonics (Alexander Tikhonov), Ultrafast Photonics, Tunable Photonic Oscillatorsm, and Applied Nonlinear Dynamics (Vassilios Kovanis), Solitons and Topological Photonics (Anton Desyatnikov), Quantum Information and Communication (Aikaterini Mandilara), General Relativity, Cosmology, Black Holes (Daniele Malafarina), General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, Quantum Field Theory (Michael Good), Atomic and Molecular Physics, Quantum Chemistry (Sergiy Bubin), Computational and Theoretical Astrophysics, Radiation Transport (Ernazar Abdikamalov), Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems (Thomas Oikonomou).
Directed research opportunities exist including research internships within Nazarbayev University, National Laboratory Astana, and many foreign universities. Contact members of the physics department for details on becoming a physics major and choosing a research area that interests you. The two year 120 ECTS MSc Program in Physics is designed to train students as competent physicists who would continue either with their Ph.D. studies for future academic appointments or turn to professional careers in industry within research and development companies, or in public sector.