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Mission Statement
The department aims in developing academically competent and professionally motivated women leaders, equipped with objective and critical thinking who compassionately foster the scientific temper with a sense of social responsibility.

Programmes Offered
Ph.D, M.Sc.Physics, B.Sc Physics. (Special), B.Sc. Physics with Computer Applications, Post Graduate Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS (PRGE).

Faculty & Students
No. of Faculty : 17
No. of students: 256

Former Heads
Miss. R. Andal
Mrs. Joseline Danrita

Lab Facilities
• General Lab, Electronics lab, Optics lab, Geo informatics lab, Microprocessor lab, Microcontroller lab, PC Hardware and Networking Lab, and a separate M.Sc.lab.
• Thin film unit of the common- Instrumentation center is housed at Department of Physics.

History and achievements of the department

• 1979 - Affiliation of B.Sc. – Physics

• 2002 - Affiliation of M.Sc. – Physics

• 2003 - Affiliation of B.Sc. – Physics (specialization in PC hardware and networking).

• 2003 - Setting up of Remote Sensing and GIS facilities with financial support (Rs. 21.5 lakhs) from ISRO, Department of Space, Govt. of India.

• 2007 - Post Graduate Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS (PRGE)

• 2007 - B.Sc. Physics (specialization in PC hardware and Networking) is renamed as B.Sc. Physics with Computer Applications

• 2008 - The Department has recently been awarded the status of a Research Centre

Our Alumnae have distinguished themselves
…in prestigious research institutes in India and abroad
…as software personnel in prestigious companies
…as lecturers and teachers in various schools and colleges

The Faculty of our Department have enhanced their abilities by academic visits to U.S.A, Philippines, Thailand and Korea.

Papers Published
26 Papers have been published in reputed International and National Journals (last 5 years).

Highlights of the Curriculum

PG Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS (PRGE) :
The department introduced a PG diploma course in Remote Sensing and GIS, which has been structured to cater to the growing need of personnel in the field of Remote Sensing. Along with the foundation courses, special emphasis is given to computer and programming skills, database networking, training and field work. Case studies and real time projects help train students to fit into a work environment as soon as the course is completed. Any science, humanities and engineering graduates are eligible for the course.

PG Course:
• A challenging programme offering application-oriented courses like Remote Sensing, GIS, Digital Image Processing, Microcontrollers and Molecular biophysics, Thin film physics, Nanoscience, Experimental physics, Astro physics and Nano electronics. The core courses are based on the UGC and NET syllabus. Lab courses include computational physics lab, GIS lab, microcontroller lab, Analog & Digital lab and General experiments.
• Dual degree option available – M.Sc. Physics & PRGE.

UG Courses:
• The regular programme includes applied courses like Solar Energy Physics, Astrophysics, Molecular Spectroscopy, Biophysics, Materials Science, Solid state physics, Programming in C, and C++ along with core courses (Theory and lab).
• The financing programme offers courses on C, C++, VB, JAVA, DCN, Oracle, Microprocessor, PC Hardware maintenance & Troubleshooting, System Administration(Linux) etc. For First year students, systematic steps are taken to create awareness in the areas of experimental and numerical skills.
• Common core papers for aided & SF streams.

Optional/Elective courses offered at the UG level under CBCS
• Essence of Musical Sounds
• Physics of Sports
• Essentials of Computing
• Material Science
• Digital Signal Processing
• Physics in Everyday life
• Nanoscience
• Electric circuits
• Home Electrics
• Environmental Physics
• Photography & Photoediting
• Videography & Videoediting

Self learning courses
• Topics in Physics
• Applied Physics
• Problems in Physics I & II

Beyond the classroom
Realizing the fact that much effective study takes place outside the classroom, the department has three academic club run by the students with faculty guidance.

• JANUS CLUB    -  This club is named after the two faced Greek God which faces both forwards and backwards. Programmes conducted by the club deal with looking back at the achievements in Physics in the future. An intercollegiate Physics meet is also organized by the students annually (since 1989)

• ASTRO CLUB      -   All major celestial events are observed by members of this club through a 10" telescope owned by the department. School children from nearby are periodically invited to watch the glories of the sky using this facility. The department is now looking to buy a new telescope with tracking mechanism. This will enable the students to do more serious astronomical work.

• ENERGY CLUB -  This club - started in 2006 - aims at propagating the need to conserve energy and also popularizes the non-conventional energy sources not only among the college students but also among the younger generation. Innovative competitions are organized for school children on Rajiv Gandhi Energy Day on these themes followed by an exhibition on solar gadgets fabricated by the department.

• PG ASSOCIATION -  The PG Association of Department of Physics was inaugurated on 29.08.09 by Prof.V.Ramakrishnan, Dept. of Laser studies, School of Physics, MKU, Madurai. Prof.V.Kumar, Crystal Growth centre, Chennai delivered the keynote address. The aim of this association is to focus on recent trends in Physics and to motivate the PG students towards Research.

Extension Programmes
Science education without application to the society is meaningless. The department has several programmes through which students volunteer to serve as they learn. The service learning programme of the department are

• Motivating school students to learn Physics - Volunteers teach both theory and experiments for +1 students of an under privileged school followed by a science exhibition conducted for students of other classes as well.

• Help Desk in Schools - Students undergo training in repair work of laboratory equipment and use this training to visit schools in Madurai and repair the equipment in their laboratory.

• GIS based Community Service - Students work on different projects using GIS software Geo mapped the civic conditions in terms of solid waste around the Meenakshi Amman Temple (completed) In collaboration with FPAI, students are doing a survey on HIV, STI, RTI patients.

• Electrical corner - Through this unit, repair work of electrical and electronic gadgets at very nominal rates by the interested students assisted by Laboratory technicians.

• Transferring technology through service learning - The department has been funded by the UBCHEA (Rs. 35,000) to fabricate solar gadgets which could be used by the rural folk to supplement their income.

Projects 
• Internship Training Programme/Project is offered to III year students.

• At P.G. level, students visit reputed institutions for their project work and are thereby exposed to research at an advanced level.

Library
The department library to its credit possesses a collection of approximately 3450 books that comprises of almost all branches of Physics including current field of research. Besides the department has around 40 journals for the welfare of the student community.

Achievements 

1. The department has attracted funds from various organizations like UGC and DST :
   • Dr.Beulah J.M.Rajkumar is awarded a 3 year DST project entitled "Vibrational Spectral Investigations on Biomolecules in Solutions" for a sum of Rs.17 Lakhs in 2006
   • Under the DST project, the department has acquired NICOLET 380 research grade FTIR instrument
   • Dr.G.Vasanthi is awarded a 3 year UGC project entitled "Geomapping the Occurrences of Trematode - induced Granulomatous Anterior Uveities in four districts of Tamil Nadu" for a sum of Rs.8,00,000/- in 2007 in collaboration with Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai.
   • Anitha, II M.Sc.student was awarded the student project entitled "GIS based study of HIV infected patients in and around Madurai" under the TNSCT Programme for a sum of Rs. 5000/- in 2008.
   • UBCHEA minor research grant of Rs. 14,000 in the field of Nanotechnology in 2007.
   • Energy Auditing at Lady Doak College : The department has been funded by the UBCHEA (Rs.1,90,000/-) to carry out the Energy Audit at Lady Doak College focusing on energy conservation.


2. Dr. Beulah J.M. Rajkumar and Dr. Nimma Elizabeth have been recognized as research guides by the MKU, Madurai.
3. A Junior Research Fellow (Ms.W.Hannah Blessy) and one Project Associate (Dr.Jeyakumar) are appointed to work under the DST and UGC projects respectively.
4. Five of the faculty members have obtained Doctorate degree.
5. A state level seminar on Thin films and their applications was organized during Feb 2009.
6. Ms.Annie and Ms. Pushpa selvi participated in the Refresher course on “Astrophysics and Astronomy held at IUCAA, Pune from May 11th to June 12th 2009.

A special message to our Alumnae
We hope you are as interested in knowing about us as we are about you! We look forward to know about your achievements and your current position. Contact us at the department Email-ID.