Society of Physics Students (SPS)
SPS is a professional association explicitly designed for students. Membership in this club is open to anyone interested in physics. Besides physics majors, our members include majors in chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, medicine, and other fields.
The SPS club at UMW exists to help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community. Course work in the major develops only one range of skills,however, an active SPS member acquires other skills such as effective communication and personal interactions, leadership experience, establishing a personal network of contacts, presenting scholarly work at professional meetings and outreach services to the campus and local communities that are needed to flourish professionally.
Members of the SPS at UMW meet once in every two weeks (every alternate Thursday at 6:00 p.m.). At these meetings, the club officers discuss about the upcoming events (research talks, fundraising, telescope nights and so on) held by the club or the Physics Department, design T-shirts/buttons as well as this club provides students an opportunity to have effective and fun conversations with their professors and fellow-classmates.
Everybody is welcome!
Recent and Regular Activities Sponsored by SPS and the Physics Program
- Road trip to Charlottesville for a talk by Brain Greene
- Design and building of a trebuchet
- SPS Officers trip to the Physics Congress
- SPS Bake Sales
- SPS Astronomy Nights
- Visit to Atomic and Particle Physics Labs at The University of Virginia
- Monthly SPS Colloquiums
ΣΠΣ
Sigma Pi Sigma, a physics honor society, was founded in 1921. The organization is housed within the national SPS organization. The society hosts Physics Congress (PhysCon). PhysCon is an opportunity for students, faculty, and alumni to gather for workshops and meetings that enhance their knowledge of physics, provide networking opportunities, and offer professional development experiences. UMW students attended the most recent PhysCon meeting in 2019. To be eligible for Sigma Pi Sigma, students need an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and a major GPA of 3.5 or higher. Students are typically induced first semester of their junior year.