The B.S. in Physics and Physical Oceanography program at the University of Rhode Island provides students with early exposure to both oceanography and physics, giving them the opportunity to feel at home in both disciplines from the beginning.

• The course sequences of this program and the B.S in Physics program  make it possible for undecided students to switch from one to the other as late as at the beginning of the junior year and still graduate with the same class.

• Students in this program are able to take advantage of the research and teaching infrastructure at one of the most renowned schools of oceanography in the country. Special facilities on the Narragansett Bay Campus include the Pell Scientific Library, a research reactor, a geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory, the 185-foot Research Vessel Endeavor, a marine ecosystem laboratory, and a research aquarium.

• This program emphasizes applications of physics relevant to physical oceanography. Students in this program are working with faculty in both physics and physical oceanography, and are therefore optimally prepared for graduate programs in oceanography. They are also well qualified to pursue graduate studies in physics.

• Students in this program will do their senior project at the Narragansett Bay Campus under the supervision of physical oceanography or physics faculty. Student research projects in this program may be funded through the Coastal Fellowship Program.
• Students in this program have opportunities to participate in cruises on the research ship Endeavor during summers.

Do you have more questions? Take a look at our undergraduate FAQs, or contact Professor David Heskett Professor Gerhard Müller, program coordinators.