Southeast University School of Physics Overview

        The School of Physics is one of the most important building blocks of the science discipline at Southeast university, focusing on the teaching and research in physics-related fields. Currently, the Physics discipline at Southeast University ranks among the top 1% globally in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) rankings (232nd worldwide and 16th among universities in Chinese mainland as of March 2026).

       The School currently employs 108 full-time faculty members, among which 25 are certified as national-level talents. Our research covers all major branches of physics, with key focuses on fundamental physics, computational physics, quantum physics, and device physics. In average, the School publishes more than 30 academic papers in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters (PRL) etc. each year, and research funds of nearly 50 million yuan are granted annually.

       The School enrolls approximately 80 undergraduate students, 50 master's students, and 70 doctoral students each year. In 2025, 72% of our undergraduate students went for graduate studies. In order to broaden our students' horizons and provide them with a global vision, the School has formally signed exchange program agreements with world-renowned universities, including the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. Every year, more than 10 undergraduate students are sponsored by the university or the government to study abroad for one semester or a full academic year. Some of our undergraduate students apply for master and doctoral programs or participate in joint doctoral training programs at universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia and other countries.

History

        SEU School of Physics originated from Sanjiang Normal School in 1904. In 1952, Nanjing Institute of Technology (the predecessor of Southeast University) established the Physics Teaching and Research Group. In 1983, the Department of Physics and Chemistry was re-established, and later the Department of Physics was founded in 1989. In 2017, the Department of Physics was expanded into School of Physics.

Organization

●Department of Physics

●Department of Applied Physics

●University Physics Teaching & Research Center

●Physics Experiment Center (National Demonstration Center for Experimental Physics Education)

■Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices (Southeast University), Ministry of Education

■Center for Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences

■Shing-Tung Yau Center of Southeast University