The Home of UCSB Physics
The home of the Department is Broida Hall, named after distinguished moleuclar physicist Herbert Broida, who played a major role in putting UCSB Physics on the map. Built in 1962, Broida Hall is now showing its age and it has many problems and limitations that daily affect faculty, students, and staff. To maintain the strength and stature of physics at UCSB, it is now urgent to address these issues.
Goals
A departmental task force, the Broida Improvement Group (BIG) has developed a plan that will make a dramatic difference. Fortunately, many of these improvements can be made at a relatively modest cost, because most of them do not involve expensive modifications to the structure of the building. The Department envisions a program of improvements that would be made over a five-year period and would cost between $500,000 and $1,000,000. In the longer term, the Department seeks and additional building, but Broida Hall will always be a major part of the Department's infrastructure.
Because of state-wide budget cuts, public funds for projects of this type are extremely limited. Although research in the Department is strongely supported by the US government and other agencies, the use of these funds is nearly always restricted to items directly related to specific research activities and equipment. We are therefore seeking private support to supplement university resources to help us with this project.
Improvements
The planned improvements to Broida Hall will enhance both the research and teaching missions of the Department. Of course, these two areas are highly synergetic: graduate students and undergraduates are actively engaged in research.
- Upgrade laboratory space and equipment for underage physics laboratory courses, for both majors and nonmajors (such as biology and engineering students). Enhancing the undergraduate learning experience is a top priority for the Department. The number of undergraduate physics majors at UCSB is now approaching 200 per year, an extraordianry number that is stretching the resources of the Department to the limit. The undergraduate teaching labs need renovation and up-to-date equipment and computers.
- Improve spaces for research seminars, meetings, and videoconferences. Modern research is highly collaborative, and intensive discussions are an integral part of the process. Space is extremely tight in the Department, but we have spaces that can be adapted and renovated to meet this critical need. Our goal is to create at least one "interaction room" on each floor.
- Renovate faculty, staff, postdoc, and graduate student offices. The furniture, paint, floors, and other elements of the building are in a very poor condition in many areas. These conditions make it harder to compete with our competitor institutions (which are often private) for the best faculty, postdocs, and graduate students.
- Upgrade the Physics Department Machine Shop and Physics Department Computing Services. The machine shop is the most advanced on the campus, but it is difficult to obtain funds for advanced machining equipment. Such equipment is needed both for creating state-of-the-art experimental apparatus and for training students to design and build cutting-edge instruments. Similarly, Physics Department Computing Services is a key support system for research and education.
- Outreach activities and physics demonstration equipment. The Department has a highly active outreach program that goes to many local schools, the “Physics Circus.” Demonstration equipment is central to these activities and to teaching introductory physics courses. Many beginning physics students find that experimental demonstrations are extremely helpful in grasping abstract physics concepts.
