History of Physics Study Program

Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Brawijaya University (UB) started from the Physics Laboratory at the Faculty of Engineering which was established in 1979. The laboratory functions as a service laboratory for the exact faculties in Brawijaya University, which currently includes the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Agriculture, the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, and the Faculty of Medicine. Laboratory equipment is also increasingly complete as a result of collaboration with NUFFIC-Netherlands, IDP-Australia, and GTZ-Germany.

In connection with the formation of the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Program in 1987 based on the UB Chancellor’s Decree no. 070/SK/1987, the Physics Laboratory changed to a Physics Study Program (PS) and accepted undergraduate students for the first batch. The following two years, namely 1989, through the Decree of the Directorate General of Higher Education No. 21/DIKTI/KEP/1989, the MIPA Program changed to the MIPA Faculty. In the end, the PS Physics changed to the Department of Physics by the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 0371/10/1993 on October 21, 1993.

Thus, the Department of Physics together with other Departments within the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is relatively young. Even so, the Department of Physics is growing rapidly, adjusting to academic development in the fields of science and technology both at the national and international levels. In supporting the mission of Brawijaya University, the Department of Physics will contribute to the development of applied sciences, especially in the medical and environmental fields.

In its development, following development demands, several groups of interest areas (KBM) emerged, namely Geophysics KBM, Instrumentation KBM, Medical Physics & Biophysics KBM, Materials Physics KBM, and Simulation & Modeling Physics KBM. Along with the improvement in human resources and the more complete laboratory infrastructure and the high needs of the community, the Department of Physics opened a PS Master in Physics (in 2009). The fields of interest in instrumentation and geophysics were finally grouped separately in the Geophysics Undergraduate Study Program (2014) and the Instrumentation Bachelor Study Program (2015).

With the existence of various fields of interest and study programs under the Department of Physics, the role of the Undergraduate Physics Study Program (PSSF) is increasingly focused on developing the areas of interest in Materials, Biophysics & Medical Physics, Simulation & Modeling and added to the fields of interest in Energy. Under the Department of Physics management, PSSF remains integrated with other PS-PS and reinforces one another.