History and mission

The Department of Physics was founded 1954 as a part of newly established Higher School of Pedagogy.  Since that time, more than 1400 professional teachers graduated from here.  Building on a strong tradition in training of physics teachers, the Department offers Bachelor and Master programmes in Physics Teaching in various combinations with other subjects, like mathematics, chemistry, geography and so on. Recently, an approval of a new PhD programme has been requested.

Studying Physics Education pays off

Students of our Department are highly demanded by employers including those outside the educational system. During the study motivated students with good academic records may apply for a financial support in form of a semestral stipend.

Additionally, since 2014 the Slovak Ministry of Education offers new motivating stipends for students of Bachelor programmes in teaching of natural sciences. There are also fellowships for students participating in scientific research. There exists a special program of support for needy students. The Department actively participates in the Erasmus student exchange programme and offers our students an opportunity to spend one semester abroad in one of our partner institutions. 

Study environment

To achieve its educational and research goals, the Department maintains and operates several well equipped laboratories. Computers and interactive programs are being used routinely in all phases of educational process. The development of new educational methods using the information and communication technologies (ICT) is promoted by the recent foundation of the laboratory for the computer-assisted teaching furnished with computers and modern measuring equipment.  The physics study is supported by the extensive use of practical demonstration, many of which are developed directly in our Department.

Research

Research in physics education utilizes our long-term experience in training prospective teachers and lifelong education (education of in-service teachers), work with talented primary- and secondary-school pupils and outreach in natural sciences.

We mainly focus on:

• the use of physics experiment in school learning;
• computer-assisted instruction in physics and natural sciences;
• physics in the integrated natural science curriculum;
• informal physics learning;
• novel teaching and learning methods ;
• contentual and methodical aspects of teacher education.

Several members of our Department are involved in the research in nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. In nuclear physics the research is focused on properties of nuclear matter under extreme conditions such as created in the course of heavy-ion collisions and in the interiors of compact stars. In condensed matter physics they study spin dynamics in low-dimensional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, ultrafast optical control of magnetic properties in magnetic conductors, polaritons in semiconducting nanostructures.

The research results are regularly published in leading international journals and reported at international conferences.

The research at the Department is supported by domestic and international grant programs such as APVV, VEGA, KEGA, Framework Programs of the EU, Leonardo, COST. Students can also be involved in the activities supported by these programs.

The members of the Department enjoy longstanding as well as recently-started  collaborations with colleagues from Sheffield Hallam University, University of Naples Federico II, Ted University in Ankara,  University of Plovdiv, University of Ljubljana, Heidelberg University of Crete, University of Limerick, ČVUT Praha, MFF UK Praha, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, Univerzita Hradec Králové, CERN, GSI, Goethe-University Frankfurt and others.