Programme info

The competences our programme provides are:

• developing analytical mindset and understanding concepts used to describe matter at and below nanoscale; mastering the formalisms and methods in order to perform theoretical studies and calculations with applications from atomistic to macroscopic scale;
• evaluating the appropriate experimental techniques to probe specific properties of matter;
• acquiring experience in large scale facilities;
• developing communication skills and world-wide networking in a multi-cultural environment;
• performing independent research, using relevant scientific literature, delimiting a scientific problem, choosing appropriate methods, interpreting and evaluating the results, and  presenting the results to a large audience in correct language and in popular form (when needed).

Diploma requirements

Direct

• academic bachelor of physics
• academic bachelor of physics and astronomy

After permission

• other academic bachelors and masters in exact, medical, engineering or industrial sciences

Language requirements

The programme is taught in English and candidates must be proficient in this language.

Candidates with a bachelor degree from universities outside Flanders are required to demonstrate their English language skills in one of the following ways:

• by submitting proof that they have studied at least one academic year in an English-language Bachelor's or Master's programme. The Board of Admission may ask additional proof of your proficiency in English.
• applicants can also prove their knowledge on the basis of a language certificate showing their TOEFL or IELTS results:
  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language, organized by ETS): paper-based TOEFL level of minimum 550, or a computer-based TOEFL level of minimum 213, or an internet-based TOEFL level of minimum 79-80. You can find more information on the TOEFL-website
  • IELTS (International English Language Testing System): a minimum score of at least 6.5, and on each part minimum 6.0. You can find more information on the IELTS-website

Candidates with a bachelor degree from a Flemish university are strongly advised to take a test to assure they possess the necessary language skills to successfully complete the programme.

The previously accumulated knowledge of a prospective student should minimally include:

Quantum Mechanics

• Heisenberg and Schrödinger picture of quantum mechanics
• Simple examples: square well potential, harmonic oscillator, transmission, reflection
• Hydrogen atom
• Perturbation theory
• Scattering theory: Born approximation, notions of life time and line width, method of partial waves...

Books: Quantum Physics, S. Gasiorowicz; Quantum mechanics, C. Cohen-Tannoudju, F. Laloe, B. Diu; other standard textbooks

Solid State Physics

• Phonons
• Free electron gas
• Band structure
• Ferromagnetism, magnons
• Plasmons
• Dielectrics

Book: Introduction to Solid State Physics, C. Kittel, 7 th edition : chapters 1-15

Statistical Physics

• Ensembles: micro canonical, canonical, grand canonical
• Distributions: Bolzmann, Fermi-Dirac, Bose-Einstein
• Relation with thermodynamics
• Examples: ideal gas in equilibrium, harmonic oscillators
• Chapter 6,7 and 9 of Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal physics, F. Reif, Mc. Graw-Hill, New York 1967

Book: Statistical Mechanics, D. A. McQuarrie

Calculus

• Ordinary differential equations
• Infinite series
• Evaluation of integrals
• Integral transforms (Fourier, Laplace)
• Legendre functions
• Bessel functions
• Calculus of variations (Euler-Lagrange)
• Elementary properties of complex functions (poles, branch limes, residue theorem)

Book: Mathematical methods of physics, J. Mathews and R.L. Walker, Inc. New York 1965

Our programme encourages Erasmus exchanges (with scholarships) in and outside Europe, thanks to existing bilateral agreements of the University of Antwerp with many other universities worldwide.

Within the International Master in Nanophysics and Material Science (Nanomat), it is possible to take parts of the curriculum at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France or Uppsala University in Sweden and become eligible for a bi-diploma.

The Master thesis is the final part (25%) of the Master programme, and is completely based on research. You will acquire sufficient knowledge and skills to conduct, under supervision, a scientific study of current international relevance, publishable in peer-review journals.

Our curriculum leaves room for practical education through the elective internship which can be performed on different levels and in different institutes. Students are encouraged to find a physics related topic of interest in a company, society, or higher education institution (around the world) and get practical working experience.

Next to the optional internship, several compulsory nanophysics courses have a corresponding elective project where students can apply hands-on what they learned during the compulsory course.