Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
The origins of the faculty date back to the academic year 1968/1969 and coincide with the establishment of the University of Silesia. One of the largest university units, the faculty incorporates, as its name indicates, three separate departments: mathematics, physics and chemistry. Among the prominent figures who have contributed to the development of the three institutes is the late Prof. Marek Kuczma, a mathematician, and two physicists, Prof. Andrzej Pawlikowski and Prof. August Chełkowski, speaker of the Polish Senate. The faculty is entitled to grant doctoral and other degrees in the natural sciences.
The full- and part-time courses offered by the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry include:
- Mathematics (Master’s degree programmes: Teaching Mathematics, Theoretical Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics and Computer Science)
- Chemistry(Master’s degree programme: General Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Computer Chemistry)
- Physics (Master’s degree programmes: Theoretical Physics, Experimental Physics, Teaching Physics and Chemistry, Teaching Physics and Computer Science, Teaching Physics and Mathematics)
- Medical Physics (undergraduateengineering studies and postgraduate Master’s degree studies),
- Econophysics
- Biophysics (undergraduate studies)
The faculty provides the following postgraduate courses:
- two-semester programme: Teaching Mathematics in Reformed Schools
- two-semester course for Physics and Chemistry teachers who wish to improve their qualifications
- two-semester course in Environmental Chemistry aimed at Chemistry teachers
- three-semester course in Physics for teachers of other subjects
- two-semester course in Physics for teachers of physics teaching in grammar and high schools
- one-year programme: Teaching Nature (prepared and conducted in collaboration with the Faculty of Earth Sciences)
The faculty also offers four-year doctoral programmes in Mathematics and Physics.
In the course of their studies at the faculty, undergraduates and postgraduates have access to advanced and specialized laboratory equipment such as chromatographs, spectrophotometers, electron microscopes, photo-electron X-ray spectrometers, X-ray diffractometers, Fourier’s infrared spectrometer, dielectric spectrometers and computer labs with online databases.
The faculty staff consists of 223 academics who are both teachers and researchers. Their interests and activities are related to the faculty’s basic fields of research.
The Institute of Mathematics is primarily involved in algebra and number theory, mathematical analysis, biomathematics, database theory, mathematical logic and principles of mathematics, theory of differential equations, functional equations and inequalities involving single and multiple variables, theory and topology of large numbers, and theory of equations used in mathematical physics.
The Institute of Physics concentrates upon solid state and molecular physics, nuclear reactions and interactions, some aspects of theoretical physics, field theory and particle physics, medical and biophysics, econophysics, and astrophysics and cosmology.
The major fields covered by the Institute of Chemistry include methods of chromatography, simultaneous redox reactions, spectrophotometrical methods, X-ray fluorescence and ICP-AES technology, physical chemistry of liquids and solutions, spectroscopy of intermolecular interactions, polarographic methods, chemistry and stereochemistry of complex organometallic compounds, laboratory production of optically active organic compounds and physiologically active compounds, synthesis and testing of metal complexes, quantum chemistry (research into the structure, reactivity and chemical properties of particles), mechanisms and kinetic reactions in a solid state, production of non-stoichiometric crystals, synthesis of lubricating substances and substances used to refine oils and fibres, and waste disposal and processing.
Many of the schemes worked out by the faculty staff have been successfully applied to solve local problems of pollution and nature conservation. Every year highly rated Polish and international journals publish hundreds of articles authored by faculty members. The faculty’s own publications include Acta Chromatografica and Annales Mathematicae Silesianae, brought out on a regular basis.
The faculty is noted for its international conferences. The Institute of Mathematics has hosted a series of symposia and seminars on functional equations, differential equations, application of logic to philosophy and mathematics, and number theory. The Institute of Physics runs regular conferences known as the International School of Theoretical Physics, Symposium on Medical Physics, and the International Conference on Solid-State Physics. The symposium on the chromatographic methods of analysis of organic compounds has been organized by the Institute of Chemistry for more than twenty years. Part of the faculty’s research is carried out in collaboration with European and American research centers.
Location
Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
ul. Bankowa 14, 40-007 Katowice
