Department of Modern Physics (originally named ‘Department of Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Engineering’) was one of the departments that were established in 1958 when USTC was founded in Beijing. The first chairman of the department was Academician ZHAO Zhongyao, a famous nuclear physicist. The faculty also included a group of most renewed physicists in China of the time – YAN Jici, ZHAO Wenyu, PENG Henwu and GUAN Zhaozhi. It now becomes one of the country’s leading institutions in physics education and research.

There are currently five undergraduate majors including theoretical physics, particle and nuclear physics, plasma physics and electronics. The department has abundant facilities for instruction in physics and offers a wide variety of experimental and theoretical research programs open to undergraduate and graduate students. Approximately 85 faculty members, including 50 professors (among whom there are 2 academician and 44 Ph. D advisers), 28 associate professors, teach and mentor about 350 graduate students.