The department has programs of study and research in theoretical and experimental physics.

Research programs stress the areas of nuclear physics, biophysics and condensed matter and low temperature physics as well as astrophysics and materials science. The University's Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences (Steve Kraemer, Duilia de Mello, Vadim Uritsky and Tommy Wiklind), the Nuclear Physics Lab (Tanja Horn and Greg Kalicy), and the Particle Physics Group (Rachel Bartek and Aaron Dominguez) are all housed within the  Hannan Hall Physics Department.    The Vitreous State Laboratory has received wide recognition as one of the outstanding university centers for the study of glassy materials. This laboratory combines faculty from Physics (Ian Pegg, Biprodas Dutta, Abhijit Sarkar and John Philip), Chemistry, Biology and Engineering. Research includes both the fundamental properties of glasses as well as studies of applications in such areas as fiber optics, nanodevice physics, mechanical properties and nuclear waste treatment. It also houses the nanofabrication facility for research on nanospintronics, nanoelectronics and device physics. The research activities of the department are funded through grants and contracts at a level exceeding $15.0 million per year.

The physics department is housed in Hannan Hall. This modern 8,000 square meter facility contains lecture rooms, office, and library facilities, and is equipped with research laboratories for work in spectroscopy, solid state physics, lasers, penetrating radiation, nanophysics, biophysics and cryogenics. Larger facilities, such as particle accelerators, intense x-ray sources, and research reactors are available in nearby federal laboratories.  Also located in Hannan is a staffed machine shop, and additional metal and woodworking equipment is available for use by qualified students.