WHY INSTRUMENTATION?
Instrumentation has always been at the heart of scientific advances, and will continue to dominate in the foreseeable future.  Beginning with telescopes and microscopes, and advancing through spectroscopes and oscilloscopes, such "scopes" have enabled people to "see" things beyond the limits imposed by their sensory mechanisms.  The evolution went from seeing to measuring, and then the concept of instruments changed drastically.  Scientists developed generators, accelerators, lasers, and myriad other devices that could modify objects or create events, instead of just observing them.

The Masters of Science in Instrumentation program at Stony Brook (MSI) is designed to train professional physicists for careers in research at the frontiers of knowledge in  universities, modern industries, government labs, hospitals, and other technologically oriented enterprises.  A recent article in Physics Today (June, 1999) pointed out the increasing need for highly educated scientists at the Masters level. 

This program is for those students who enjoy experimental physics, have developed laboratory skills, desire to be involved in research in almost any area of science, and want an advanced degree but do not wish to pursue a Ph.D.  Entering students are awarded full tuition scholarships, and offered teaching assistantships for support.  With satisfactory progress, support in the second year continues with tuition and a research assistantship. 
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Go back to the Physics & Astronomy Graduate program.