Mission

We provide the students with fundamental knowledge in physics and with special skills that allow them to apply it in various fields, including such disciplines as biology, computer sciences and business. We also use the most innovative methods of teaching and the most modern educational facilities, Machine Learning on DataCamp, for instance.

There are things that make us stand out:

• perfectly equipped physical laboratories
• English language taught at the best level
• real research practice in the leading research institutes and centers of Kyiv
• skills in computer research methods and programming in several languages
• knowledge of modern special software for physical science
• soft skills – from presentations and project planning to budgeting
• participation in mobility programs, in particular Erasmus Academic Mobility with a wide range of universities

• and (of course) professional knowledge in Physics, both general and theoretical, together with all necessary mathematical disciplines – all of high quality based on the best Western standards

• leadership and communion skills as a part of common Kyiv-Mohyla Spirit

Extra opportunities:

• second foreign language (Polish, Czech, Croatian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Arabic, Chinese and others), which is useful for participation in student mobility programs, and a great benefit in further career

• advanced knowledge in programming theory
• Cisco Networking Academy
• the whole spectrum of disciplines taught in the Academy

The main specialization of our Bachelor Program in Physics and Astronomy is Physics (4 years).
After that we offer the Master Program in Theoretical Physics (2 years)

In addition to the Bachelor Program, two minor degree programs are offered:

Innovative Entrepreneurship – an interdisciplinary program aimed at commercialization of the results of scientific research, which is a strategically important direction, and absolutely unique for Ukraine at the moment. Our partners here are the Kyiv-Mohyla Department of Economics and the Enterprise Strategy Department of Kyiv National Economic University.

Physics of Biological Systems in cooperation with the Kyiv-Mohyla Department of Biology, and supported by the Department of Physics of Biological Systems at Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which is one of the leading research institutes in physical science in Ukraine engaged in active international cooperation. This program integrates the students into two research groups at the Institute of Physics – the experimental group headed by Prof. Galina Dovbeshko and the group of numerical simulation led by Prof. Semen Yesylevskyy.

In this direction we suggest to develop career at a PhD program

• of the Institute of Physics at the aforementioned Department of Physics of Biological Systems, or
• Biomedical Physics at the Department of Physics of Ryerson University (Canada), in the research group headed by Prof. Alexandre Douplik

Another perspective direction is Numerical Simulation of Physical Processes which is applicable in high energy physics, plasma physics, astrophysics. In this connection the students could develop their career at a PhD program

• of Institute of Nuclear Research at the Nuclear Theory Department in the research group headed by Prof. Yuriy V. Yakovenko,
• of Texas A&M University at the Aerospace Engineering Department in the group under Prof. Alexei Poludnenko
• of one of the research centres attached to colliders, in particular DESY

Education and Science

Bachelor Program in Physics and Astronomy with major specialization in Physics (4 years, EQF 6).
Additionally, minor specializations in Physics of Biological Systems or Innovative Entrepreneurship.

During four years of studies the students acquire fundamental knowledge in

• general physics
• theoretical physics
• mathematics
• basic programming and numerical methods

The wide range of knowledge and variety of skills make them flexible enough for changing directions of research and adaptive for the professional job market. Our alumni easily follow up with the main trends of modern science, shift between related disciplines or make their research interdisciplinary, and participate in all kinds of experimental research.

Master Program in Physics with major specialization in Theoretical Physics (2 years, EQF 7)

The Master program provides the students with the latest achievements in all fields of physics, including nanophysics, quantum field theory, plasma physics, high energy physics, physics of biological macromolecules, and many others.

The Department have close cooperation with all primary national scientific institutes in the field:

• Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics
• Institute of Physics
• V. E. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics
• Institute for Nuclear Research
• Institute of Magnetism
• Astronomical Observatory at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
• Main Astronomical Observatory
• Space Research Institute

Our lecturers are the leading scholars from the research institutes, who actively and fruitfully work in the the corresponding areas.. They bring the students in the modern physics with the latest scientific achievements, and invite them to join their research groups. This provides a wide spectrum of research areas for our students. Our alumni work, in particular, at such famous institutions as University of Hamburg (Germany), the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), University of Texas (USA), Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), University of Turin (Italy), University of Bayreuth (Germany), Medical Center of Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (Germany), and so many others.

Our students start their scientific researches at the third year of their studies. During the summer practice in the end of the second year they have an opportunity to visit the aforementioned institutes, meet the leading researches, see laboratories. This helps the students to choose a scientific direction and a research group. Later they carry out their own research in the group which they have chosen. The advantage is that the students start to participate in real research practice under supervision of the leading researchers. And their Term Paper (3rd year) and Diploma Thesis (4th year) become real scientific works.

The most popular areas of research are

• physics of biological systems– this is an interdisciplinary area which involves
  • Department of Physics of Biological Systems, Institute of Physics
  • Laboratory of biophysics of macromolecules, Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Department of Biomedical Science of Ryerson University (Canada), where our students are welcome to apply for Master or Doctoral degrees
• nanophysics, supported by
  • Department of Physical Electronics, Institute of Physics
  • Department of Optics and Spectroscopy, V. E. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics
  • Laboratory of photoelectric phenomena in semiconductors, V. E. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics
• high energy physics – here the students engage in such research projects as Belle2 (Japan), CLIC and ATLAS at CERN, FCAL (Germany), LAL (France), Fermilab (USA).
• theoretical and mathematical physics– which is based on
  • the school for group theoretical methods in integrable systems, established by the former Head of our Department Prof. P. Holod, and now developed by J. Bernatska and V. Enolski.
  This direction is also supported by
  • Department for Mathematical Methods in Theoretical Physics and Department for Theory of Nonlinear Processes in Condensed Matter of Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics.

  A new direction of research of the school for group theoretical methods in integrable systems relates the theory of functions on algebraic curves. In this connection an international workshop Algebraic Curves with Symmetries, their Jacobians and Integrable Dynamical Systemstook place at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in 2014, which gathered leading researchers in the area.

  In 2018 we are organizing the next workshop Algebraic Curves, Integrable Systems, and Cryptography

Events

Scientific seminar

Date: Monday, June 10, 2019

Time: 15:00

Location: 2-302

Dr. Yaacov Kopeliovich, University of Connecticut, USA

Representation theory of symmetric groups and theta identities

Abstract. Thomae formula for cyclic non-singular covers of order 3 leads to realization of symmetric group representation through theta functions. I will explain this and indicate how it leads to a natural relations between theta functions on non-singular curves.

Scientific seminar

Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Time: 15:00

Location: 2-302

Dr. Yaacov Kopeliovich, University of Connecticut, USA

p-adic uniformization of Mumford hyperelliptic curves

Abstract.We generalize the classical formulas of theta functions for the p-adic case of hyperelliptic Mumford curves

Scientific seminar

Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Time: 15:00

Location: 2-302

Dr. Yaacov Kopeliovich, University of Connecticut, USA

Higher order derivatives of theta functions on hyperelliptic curves

Abstract. 150 years ago Thomae gave formulas for first derivative of theta functions evaluated at points of order 2 of Jacobians of hyperelliptic curves. We generalize these formulas for any order.

International workshop, August 24-25, 2018

Algebraic Curves, Integrable Systems, and Cryptography

Website

The workshop aims to explore applications of algebro-geometric methods in cryptography. It focuses on different aspects of the theory of algebraic curves (hyperelliptic and nonhyperelliptic, and some particular cases): fields of Abelian functions and addition laws in these fields, multivariative entire functions which generate the Abelian functions, algebraic curves over finite fields.

Scientific seminar

Date: Monday, June 13, 2016

Time: 15:00

Location: 1-333

Dr. Oleksiy Svitelskiy, Gordon College, USA

Giant Resonant Forces in Optical Whispering Galleries

Abstract. The term whispering gallery comes from ancient times. It was referred to the effect present in some architectural structures, when a silent whisper could be heard at a point located over a considerable distance from the source. In particular, this effect is common to the buildings under large domes. Whispering gallery effect may occur to any type of waves. I will show the results of optical whispering gallery studies in microspheres. Our group was the first to observe giant resonant enhancement of the light propelling forces. In particular, we investigated behavior of suspended in water optical microspheres in the evanescent light of tapered optical fibers. The fibers were fed with light of 40 mW tunable in1.2 -1.35 μm laser. We observed the resonant propelling of 20 μm large polystyrene spheres with speeds of up to 0.5 mm/s for big, up to 0.2 mm distances.

Presentation: study opportunities

Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Time: 11:00

Location: 1-333

Dr. Alexandre Douplik, Ryerson Technical University, Toronto, Canada

PhD and Master Programs: How it works and what are the opportunities in Canada/in Ryerson University/in Physics Department of Ryerson University/in Bioclinical Optics and Photonics Research Group

pdf

International workshop, July 30 - August 2, 2014

Algebraic Curves with Symmetries, their Jacobians and Integrable Dynamical Systems

Website

The meeting focuses on a special class of lower genera algebraic curves: both hyperellptic and non-hyperelliptic curves that cover elliptic or lower genera hyperelliptic curves. These curves have attracted significant attention because of their appearance in various problems surrounding integrable dynamical systems. The dynamical systems include three celebrated classical problems: Kowalewska's problem of the motion of the non-symmetric top, Clebsch's integrable case of the Kirchhoff problem of body motion in an ideal liquid, and the problem of the motion of 4-dimensional Euler top. The curves relevant to these problems are double cover ramified over four points. Other modern problems include Hitchin's description of non-abelian monopoles, where the cover is non-ramified, the integrable H'enon-Heiles system and its generalizations, where the double covers are ramified over two points, SU(3)-magnet and others. The structure of the associated Prym varieties that naturally arise as subvarieties of Jacobians of the curves in question are also discussed.

History

The Department of Physics and Mathematics exists in Kyiv-Mohyla Academy from the very beginning – since 1991. In 1993-1996 the Department was headed by Yuri Shymanski (1928-1998) – Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor, Academician of Academy of Sciences of Higher Education. In 1996 Petro Holod – Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Senior Researcher and posthumously Academician of Academy of Sciences of Higher Education, – headed the Department until his death in 2014.

The Bachelor Program in Physics was established in 1991. In 2001 the Specialist Program in Physics of Biological Systems was launched, six generations of students had graduated there. Then the Master Program in Theoretical Physics was opened in 2008.

Alumni

On this map you can see where our alumni study and work throughout the world

A bit of statistics:

80 students graduated from the Specialist Program in Physics of Biological Systems, that existed from 1992 till 2009.

in 2010 the Master Program in Theoretical Physics was opened, since 2010 approximately 100 Bachelors in Physics and 64 Masters in Theoretical Physics graduated here.

More than a half of our graduates (55%) are proceeding with their scientific career, among them 25% are working in Ukraine and 30% found a job abroad.

Contacts

Head of Department

Ruslan Melnyk

PhD in Physics and Mathematics, associate professor

Building 2, Room 301

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(044) 425 60 68

Head of Student Laboratory

Galina Ovodenko

Building 2, Room 313

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(044) 425 60 68

Contacts on Facebook:

Physics Department at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

information for students: scholarships, research grants, summer schools, conferences, etc.

Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

information for prospective students