The interdisciplinary option provides students with the flexibility to design an intellectually coherent academic program that combines their physics studies with training in fields such as applied science, biological science, geoscience, environmental science, computational science, and mathematics. This option prepares students for diverse career paths and can serve as an underpinning for related interdisciplinary graduate studies. It has fewer course requirements within the Physics Department and additional elective requirements chosen from courses offered in other departments. We invite students interested in this option to work with a faculty member to craft an individualized route to the physics major.
Students choosing the Interdisciplinary Option can also take advantage of the opportunity to cross-register for courses at Olin College of Engineering and at MIT. A key element in the design of this route to the physics major is that it should form a coordinated program of study that draws on and relates to a student’s physics background. Please note that the college offers Interdepartmental majors in Astrophysics and in Chemical Physics; these majors are distinct from the Physics Interdisciplinary Option.
There are multiple possibilities in the design of the Interdisciplinary Option; major requirements will be tailored to each student’s interests within the framework described below.
To pursue the Interdisciplinary Option, students submit a 1-page proposal to the department for approval. The proposal provides a written rationale for the proposed coursework and the intellectual unity of the academic plan. Appropriate coursework at Olin and MIT may be substituted for Wellesley coursework.
Requirements for the Interdisciplinary Option
The Interdisciplinary Option within the Physics major trades one 300-level physics class for a coherent set of three courses in another discipline. Under this plan, students must complete PHYS 302 and any other 300-level physics course. The cluster of courses from a related discipline must include a 300-level course (or equivalent) in that discipline.
For students planning to pursue graduate work in physics, (as opposed to graduate programs in applied physics, other science disciplines, and engineering), it is strongly recommended to also take additional physics courses including PHYS 305, 308, 310, 322H and 323H.
Sample curricula for biophysics, applied physics, geophysics, computational physics, mathematical physics, and environmental physics are available here.