Coming soon
Learn about studying a Maths or Physics degree at university
Enjoy solving problems and working with equations? Big and exciting questions wait for you – in areas like technology, data, the environment and space exploration.
If you have an analytical mind and love to explore and investigate how the world around us works, then discover what you could do with a Maths or Physics degree at our Taster Days.
You'll join us on campus for sessions that will inspire and inform, with thought-provoking lectures, interactive workshops, student chat and pathway planning. Vast and exciting careers await you with a Maths or Physics degree. Your journey of discovery starts here.
This year's Taster took place in June 2023. New dates and bookings will open soon.
Explore Portsmouth
In the meantime, explore our island city at one of our Open Days, discover student life at Portsmouth, and take look at different Maths & Physics courses.
Student life
Explore our island city and its many attractions, and find out what student life is really like at the University.
School of Mathematics and Physics
Explore the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Portsmouth, and find out more about the teaching and research activities taking place within the School.
Undergraduate Open Days
Thinking about joining us as an undergrad? Book your spot at one of our upcoming Open Days.
Study Physics at the University of Portsmouth
Professor Daniel Thomas:
What really fascinates me most about university education is that right at the interface between research and teaching, newly created knowledge and skills are passed on directly to you, to the next generation.
The University of Portsmouth gives us the right equipment and the right facilities to our physics students and to our physics staff to do exactly that.
Our physics students get to experience the laws of nature and physical concept first hand, to the lab modules in the first and second years. Cherie Morrison, our senior technician, will show you now a little bit of the experiments you are going to be doing in the first and the second year of your studies.
Cherie Morrison (Senior Technician):
This is the main physics room where we have our first and second year experiments. Behind me you can see the photoelectric effect, electron diffraction, hall effect.
We also have an experiment using LabView that will give you the skills that employers are looking for.
Here's the AFM that stands for atomic force microscopy. Here we can look at thea topography of the surface. So that's what the surface looks like and how it has all these bumps and ridges but really, these features are only a few nanometres tall. You can see an image of my hair. My hair is only roughly 100 microns thick and this image is only 10 microns across. You can see all the scales, all the bumps and all the shapes on my hair.
Professor Daniel Thomas:
In our labs we've also got the MBE, which stands for Molecular Beam Epitexi and the plasma spluttering device. They are both high end cutting edge research devices that we use, in fact, for our research but we also use it for our teaching.
What we do with these devices is we are adding very thin films on surfaces and the thickness of this film is less than a nanometre. Think about it, less than a nanometre. It's just the size of an atom. So the device creates a vacuum less than deep space, 10 to the minus 10 million.
Doctor Samantha Penny:
This is our computer lab for our final year students to carry out their project work. So if you come and do an MPhys year with us, so you do the four year integrated master's degree, you get a chance to carry out a final year project. We have this lovely, dedicated computer room for you to do your project work in, so no competing with the other undergrads for your computer space.
In that project, you'll get to carry out all sorts of real research problems that real life astronomers or physicists are working on. So, for example, the kind of projects I'm offering this year, my students will be working with observational data sets from large cutting edge astronomical surveys.
They're going to be searching for supermassive black holes and galaxies. They're going to be working out why galaxies in really, really under dense, really sort of uncrowded regions of the universe, why they look different to galaxies in other parts of the universe as well.
And I'm also having a student who's going to look at how to communicate astronomy to anybody with a visual impairment. So a real range of projects you could get involved with if you come to Portsmouth. So we look forward to welcoming you to the University of Portsmouth and I think you'll really enjoy your time here studying with us.
Professor Daniel Thomas:
The offices of our physics staff are located in the Dennis Sciama building right next to the labs. The Dennis Sciama Building also hosts the well renowned Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation that is well known for its world leading research in astrophysics and cosmology. When you study physics with us, you get the opportunity to work on exciting research projects together with our staff from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation in fields like astrophysics and cosmology.
Close to the Dennis Sciama Building and the labs is the Lion Gate Building, where we host the Technology and Learning Centre. That's a space for our physics students to meet, to learn or just to hang out. We also hold daily tutorials run by our mathematics and physics staff for our physics students so that they can ask any questions they may have about maths or physics.
We look forward to welcoming you at the University of Portsmouth to discover the magic of physics with us.
At our Maths and Physics Taster Days, you’ll:
- Either marvel at the mysteries of the universe or develop new ways of looking at shapes and space
- Learn how mathematicians and physicists influence and shape important global events
- Hear from current students about their learning experiences in different maths and physics courses
- Discover fascinating careers and where a Maths or Physics degree can take you in the future
- Find out about transferable skills you’ll develop during your studies that will make you highly employable
- Choose whether to get involved in either the Maths or Physics Taster Day to access the relevant workshops and different lectures that interest you
- Explore different aspects of Maths and Physics, which you can talk about on your UCAS personal statement
Programmes
Here's what happened at the Maths & Physics Taster Day in June 2023.
Maths Taster
Check in from 10.00am at The Future Technology Centre, Portland Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HE and get ready to learn about studying a Maths degree at university.
Here's our Subject Taster Days Guide, should you want to learn a little more about our Taster Days before booking or arrival.
Exciting careers and industries await you with a degree in Maths. Get an intro to the day and find out about the different Maths courses available at the University of Portsmouth.
Soap and calculus find the shortest path
Soap films naturally minimize their surface area and this can be used to find the shortest path in a network, which interestingly have special symmetry properties. We will demonstrate this phenomenon by dipping frames into soapy water and then use calculus to prove this symmetry property in a special case.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
- Rabbits, Dripping Taps and Mathematical Mountains
- What can you do with a Mathematics degree?
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.
Quick breather. Take stock of the morning then get ready for the next session.
Rabbits, Dripping Taps and Mathematical Mountains
Look at a simple model of rabbit populations and discover the unexpected chaos that can come from it. We will see how a simple iteration can result in a universal constant and how seemingly unrelated branches of mathematics can link together.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
- Soap and calculus find the shortest path
- What can you do with a Mathematics degree?
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.
Fuel-up. Feel free to bring your own lunch for the day or grab something from the cafeteria.
The floor is yours. This session is your chance to ask our students your questions. Quiz them about a maths course, any of the courses you're interested in, the city of Portsmouth, moving away from home – and/or whatever you want to know about uni.
What can you do with a Mathematics degree?
Mathematics is more than just number-crunching. A degree in maths shows that you have the ability to think critically among other highly employable skills that many employers look for. Explore the careers Maths graduates go on to do, why employers are keen to hire Maths graduates and how Maths is used in every day life.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
- Soap and calculus find the shortest path
- Rabbits, Dripping Taps and Mathematical Mountains
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.
Physics Taster
Check in from 10.00am at The Future Technology Centre, Portland Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HE and get ready to learn about studying a Physics degree at university.
Here's our Subject Taster Days Guide, should you want to learn a little more about our Taster Days before booking or arrival.
Advances in physics lead to new technologies that change our world and forge a path to a brighter future. Get an intro to the day and find out about the different Physics courses available at the University of Portsmouth.
Shining galaxies in a dark Universe
The Universe is mostly dark and empty, but 5% of it is made of shining matter, which we can use to investigate the mysterious formation and evolution of our cosmos. In this talk, we provide a brief biography of the Universe and share state-of-art knowledge on what big galaxies are and how they form, including showing how our own Milky Way formed as a 'pizza'.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
-
Cosmic detectives
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Lab tour and activity
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.
Quick breather. Take stock of the morning then get ready for the next session.
Cosmic detectives
An interactive session where you'll undertake your own Cosmological investigation from observations. You'll then use and apply the same methods our researchers to explore the Universe.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
-
Exploring Gravitational Lensing
-
Lab tour and activity
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.
Fuel-up. Feel free to bring your own lunch for the day or grab something from the cafeteria.
The floor is yours. This session is your chance to ask our students your questions. Quiz them about a Physics course, any of the courses you're interested in, the city of Portsmouth, moving away from home – and/or whatever you want to know about uni.
Lab tour and activity
Learn through supervised, practice-based experiments such as electron diffraction and speed of light measurement. Investigate the physical properties of thin films coated onto flexible substrates with various roughness levels. Study the details of quantum theory, mechanics and optics, and conduct research experiments such as using quantum interference to measure distance.
Our students have access to specialist facilities during their learning, ready to thrive in the field of physics when they graduate. Take a look at some of the equipment you'll access at Portsmouth and put your skills to the test in some interactive activities across our laboratories.
*Note: this is 1 of 3 sessions running at this time:
-
Exploring Gravitational Lensing
-
Cosmic detectives
You'll attend any 1 of these sessions during this particular timeslot, and you'll get to see all 3 talks over the course of the day.