Resources and Opportunities
The Department of Physics and Astronomy encourages all students to participate in campus clubs, apply for scholarships and fellowships and get involved in research and teaching. Talk to your peers and department faculty and staff — everyone is eager to help you become part of the Gator community and achieve your goals.
Scholarships and prizes
We encourage all undergraduate and graduate students to apply for scholarships. The department also awards some departmental awards annually. For scholarships, either apply through Academic Works or contact the department for more information.
This departmental scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate Physics and Astronomy majors. This scholarship is generously funded by alumnus Dennis Bennett. (B.A. Physical Science, 1968).
2026 recipient: Donavon Evans, Sasmitha Purushothaman
This departmental scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate Physics and Astronomy majors. This scholarship is generously funded by friends of the department Michael and Greta McKinney.
2026 recipient: Junjie Lin, Joselyn Garcia Pinto, MJ Wilson Morris
Michael & Greta McKinney Physics & Astronomy Scholarship application
This departmental scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate Physics and Astronomy majors. This scholarship is generously funded by alumnus John Dillon (M.S. Physics, 2010).
2026 recipient: Chris Albert
Dillon Family Endowed Scholarship in Physics and Astronomy application
This departmental scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate and graduate Physics and Astronomy majors. This scholarship is generously funded by alumnus Frederick Walters (B.A. Physics, 1982).
2025 recipient: Angela Beatty, Daniel Gilbert
Frederick Walters Physics and Astronomy Scholarship application
The ARCS Foundation provides scholarships to academically outstanding United States citizens pursuing graduate degrees in science, medicine, and engineering.
2026-27 recipients: Chris Albert and Gillis Lowry
Past honorees
- 2025: Minique Windju
The WISE scholarship, established by Dr. Jan Randall, Professor Emerita of Biology, is awarded annually to an outstanding woman in a graduate STEM program at SF State.
2024 recipient: Shvetha Chynoweth
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Scholarship application
The CoSE Advisory Board Scholarship is awarded annually to a deserving graduate student in the College of Science & Engineering.
2024 recipient: Niah Freeman
Maxwell scholarships are awarded to graduate students in the College of Science & Engineering.
2023 recipient: Kim Long Le
The Eden Award recognizes and rewards B.S. Chemistry and B.S. Physics majors for excellent performance in upper-division or advanced courses required in the major program.
Fall 2025 recipient: Kaleb Abdullah, Joel Hurtado, Junjie Lin
This scholarship assists continuing SF State undergraduate students financially towards their college education and to help them complete their educational endeavors and reach their professional potential.
2025 recipient: Hank Johnson
Bengier Foundation University Scholarship application
Student Organizations
Get involved! There are many Physics and Astronomy clubs on campus to check out:
- S.P.A.C.E.: Students of Physics and Astronomy - A Community for Everyone
- OPTICA
- Astronomers for Planet Earth
Annual Showcase
Every year, the college hosts a showcase for students to present and show off their projects. Get involved in research and participate in the next showcase.
Join a lab
Cal-Bridge
The mission of the Cal-Bridge program is to broaden participation by all Californians in STEM PhD programs, the STEM professoriate, and the STEM workforce in California and nationwide. Cal-Bridge utilizes an innovative and successful new model of multi-institutional, intersegmental partnership between all three segments of the California higher education system: the 22 campuses of the California State University (CSU) where many low-income, underrepresented students earn Bachelor’s degrees, the 116 California Community Colleges (CCC) where half of all CSU undergraduates begin their college education, and the 10 campuses of the University of California (UC), where PhDs are awarded. We fulfill this mission through the creation of a comprehensive, end-to-end pathway for the diverse undergraduates of California to successfully matriculate to PhD programs, achieve their PhD, and then join the STEM professoriate and workforce in California and nationally.
Cal-Bridge