Physics Director for Graduate Studies
Prof. Weigang Wang has decided to step down from his role as Director for Graduate Study (DGS) in the Physics Department. Prof. Erich Varnes will be our new DGS, starting in Fall 2025.
Weigang has been an integral part of our leadership team in the Physics Department. In the past two years as DGS, he has made major contributions to our graduate program, including:
— Updated grad admission requirements and rubrics after an extensive discussion with all stakeholders
— Working with Grad Curriculum Committee (chaired by Prof. Charles Stafford), simplified grad core course requirements, which extends more flexibility to students and their advisors
— Successfully recruited graduate students. The Grad Recruitment Visit for the past two years were extremely successful, 17 out 23 accepted UA offers for 2024, and 4 out of 6 accepted for 2025.
— In 2024, we had a record high incoming class of 28 students (9 female and gender minority students). In 2025, given the funding consideration, we had a reduced incoming class of 10 students (3 female and gender minority students).
— Strongly advocated Physics Graduate Program at College and University level. Each year, he got multiple university fellowships awarded to incoming physics students.
— Driven by our community committee (chaired by Prof. Sam Gralla), we now implemented a new Graduate Mentor Program.
— Working with Erich now to update the Graduate Handbook incorporating recent changes.
Weigang is also the one who lead the development of our brand new (Accelerated) Master Program on Semiconductor Science and Technology, which is the first stand alone master program in our department. [@Undergraduate students, if you are interested in getting a Physics Master degree in 4+1 years, mastering core semiconductor manufacturing skills and exploring emerging semiconductor technology, please talk to Weigang! He will still be in charge of this AMP program even when he is no longer DGS.] Weigang is also steering the development of FASTLab (Future Advanced Semiconductor Technology Laboratory) and a new course: Quantum Materials and Quantum Devices (co-developed with Prof. Brian LeRoy, Prof. John Schaibley, and Prof. Tao Kong). FASTLab is one-of-a-kind teaching lab which provides hands-on experience for students in emerging technology and a dynamic hub across different domains beyond semiconductor. With this lab, we are one of the first few Universities that use real quantum computers in classroom for teaching. If you are interested, watch out for this course when it is open for enrollment!
Weigang also stands out in his care for the graduate students. During his DGS tenure, he has held multiple town hall meetings to discuss important issues relevant to graduate students and seek their input. He listened to the students and proposed multiple changes in our graduate program. An anecdote: years ago, before Weigang became the DGS, he led the efforts to restructure the Grad Comp Exam, which resulted in the current comp exam format, where the core course GPA was used to replace the written exam.
Weigang’s own research efforts have also been very successful. He has built a vigorous and internationally visible research program on energy efficient spintronic devices and advanced superconducting Josephson junctions. He is also heavily involved in the UA Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing. Recently, he secured three major research grants (multi-million dollars), which requires him to put more time and effort into his research projects. So Weigang has decided to step down from his DGS role.
We appreciate Weigang's efforts over the past two years as DGS and are excited to see where his research is headed. Please join us in thanking Weigang for his leadership in our Graduate Program. Let’s also welcome Erich to his new role! He will lead our Graduate Program to a new phase!