Physics

The goal of physics is to quantitatively and qualitatively capture states and occurrences in nature and describe them on the basis of generally valid physical laws. From macrocosm to microcosm, physics explores the basic building blocks of the world around us and how they interact.

This entails at the minutest levels the search for elementary building blocks and their characteristics (elementary particle physics) but also, at every scale, the description of their formations, that is, for example, how protons and neurons are built from quarks (hadron physics), how atomic nuclei are built from protons and neutrons (nuclear physics), how atoms are built from nuclei and electron shells (atomic physics), how molecules and solids are built from atoms (condensed matter physics), etc.

Besides the insights themselves and their applications, the methodology of physics is highly important: The interplay of theory and experiment has proved to be extraordinarily successful for the development of our analytical capacities and the ability to recognize complicated relationships.

In teaching degree programs for grammar and comprehensive schools, students choose two school subjects. Thus, in addition to Physics, students are enrolled for a second subject as well as educational sciences.

Possible lines of work:

Teaching at grammar and comprehensive schools. To teach at a German public school, candidates must follow up their bachelor’s degree with a Master of Education degree program as well as practical teacher training.