Our most important resource is people. This includes you! Getting to know your instructors and other people in the department is one of the most important investments you can make for your future career. This responsibility is as much yours as it is theirs. Make sure you use this opportunity to the fullest. Along with our Undergraduate Coordinator, Hala Larizza-Ali, I am here to assist you and provide counseling.

Our programs have much to offer you. We live in an era of transition. Your generation will decide how we move forward during this period of rapid technological, social and environmental change. Flexibility of thought, adaptability and deep insight are urgently needed both now and in the future. Physics provides these within a broad, rigorous scientific framework. Physics is much more than just the study of certain topics such as light, mechanics and electricity. It provides the fundamental conceptual tools needed for a detailed, quantitative understanding of physical phenomena at every scale in nature. These tools go beyond the specifics of any particular problem and can be applied in many diverse situations.

Physicists are in high demand in a broad range of industries, wherever quantitative problem-solving skills are valued. People with training in physics are found in all of the obvious occupations such as teaching, research, medicine, geophysical exploration, and atmospheric science. However, you will also find many with key roles in other diverse fields, such as telecommunications and finance and increasingly, data science, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Training in physics provides an intellectual toolkit that can be used to shape your future and to hammer out solutions to new challenges, many of which we may not even be aware of yet.

Prof. Peter Krieger
Associate Chair,
Undergraduate Studies
physics.ugchair@utoronto.ca