The Department of Physics was established in 1962 in the University with the basic policy to teach pure physics. The Department graduated its first crop of students, four in number, in 1965. The Department also offered courses in areas of Applied Physics. Several areas of Applied Physics that were offered haven ow developed into full-fledged Departments. Such applied areas are: Geophysics which grew into a full-fledged department of Geology; Electronics which has grown into the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

In the early days of the Physics programme, the Department depended heavily on foreign lecturers in both teaching of the courses and serving as external examiners to moderate examinations. The Department has since trained its own indigenous staff members, some of whom were trained abroad while others were trained locally. These form the great majority of lecturers within the Department right now.

Over the years, there has been a remarkable thrust in the area of research with… See more