Department of Physics

Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences

Welcome to the Department of Physics

Research

King’s College London has one of the UK’s best Departments of Physics. According to the QS World University Rankings, we are within the top ten universities in the country. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), 95% of our research was rated as being of international quality, and more than half as internationally-leading or competitive. Our Department has research groups in Biological Physics & Soft Matter, Photonics & Nanotechnology, Theory & Simulation of Condensed Matter, and Theoretical Particle Physics & Cosmology.

Research in the Department of Physics

Wheatstone Lecuture

The Wheatstone Lecture has been hosted annually by the Department of Physics since 2013. Open to all, the lecture takes its name from Charles Wheatstone who was a Professor of Experimental Philosophy at King's from 1834 until he died in 1875. Polymath and self-taught son of a London-based musical instrument maker, Wheatstone conducted early experiments into acoustics and the transmission of sound. His greatest achievement was the development of the electric telegraph, which revolutionised communications in the 19th century.