Third Year BSc PHYS

Here you find an overview of the lab and experimental courses offered in the third year of the physics programme. You must complete 2 of the 6 courses offered, at least one of which must be selected from the the category "Lab Courses" (P3, P+ or IGP).

Overview of the third year of study in D-PHYS: In the third year, one of the three courses ‘P3’, ‘P+’, or ‘IGP’ must be taken. In addition, one of the six courses ‘P3’, “P4”, ‘P+’, ‘IGP’, or a proseminar or semester project must be completed.

P3

P3 is the direct continuation of P2. This is a good choice if you want to conduct further experiments to expand your technical skills. Here, you select four experiments from a wide range of options covering many aspects of physics. You usually carry out these experiments in pairs over a period of two weeks. A teaching assistant is available for each experiment. You are expected to work more independently than in P1 and P2.

P4

P4 allows you to continue our collection of experiments. It is a continuation of P3 in form and content. P4 can only be started after completing P3.

P+

P+ (PPLUS: Project-oriented Physics Lab for Undergradate Students) focuses on teamwork and creativity. Here, you will work in a small group of students with the support of an assistant, all of whom are P+ alumni. You will design, conduct and analyse six experiments of your choice. While setting your own goals, you will reflect on the motivation behind the experimental work and how the results of a measurement can be evaluated quantitatively.

In-Group-Projects

In-Group-Projects (IGPs) enable you to familiarise yourself with scientific work within research groups at D-PHYS. You select three experiments offered by three different research groups and carry out each experiment under the supervision of a member of the respective group. The experiments usually take place in the laboratories of these groups. This gives you an insight into the daily research work of some of our groups and brings you into contact with groups that may be of interest to you for later work (semester or master's thesis). IGPs are very similar in organisation to semester projects, with the difference that you work on a predefined experiment in each group. This makes IGPs more didactic than semester projects, but they offer similar advantages, namely direct contact with research groups. The Astrowoche is offered as part of the IGP.

Semester Theses and Proseminars

Semester theses and Proseminars are also listed for the sake of completeness. You can find further information by searching the course catalogue:

Semester Theses

Semester theses aim to provide students with the opportunity to experience and learn about experimentation in a research environment and to analyse and interpret the data obtained. The results are presented in a written report and a presentation. Students can find a project by contacting the research groups they would like to work with directly. Some groups have published projects on their websites.

Proseminars

Proseminars involve (guided) self-study of scientific publications and advanced textbooks on theoretical physics. The results are presented in a written report and a presentation. In the spring semester, three proseminars with a limited number of participants are usually offered. An information event takes place at the end of the previous autumn semester. If you are interested, we strongly recommend that you attend the information session, as places are usually filled quickly. Information on the proseminars can be found on the website of the Institute of Theoretical Physics. The proseminar in the autumn semester is usually offered primarily to Master's students.