Potential and Challenges: Exploring the Physics Major at AUBG

In 2019, AUBG introduced a new major in Physics. Currently, there is only one full-time Physics professor and around eight students who are pursuing a degree in Physics. The low demand for the major has a substantial effect on the Physics students and the development of the major itself.

One of the Physics students is Lyuboslav Gigov, a junior at AUBG. 

“I have always been passionate about space, astronomy, and physics-related things, but I never considered studying it,” Lyuboslav said.

Lyuboslav decided to follow his passion and major in Physics, because, at AUBG, he has the option of a double major.

“You should always have a plan B,” Lyuboslav said. He explained that it is more difficult to find a job in Physics, so he decided to double-major in Physics and Computer Science.

According to sophomore Radko Mishev: “When we have the option of a double major, one of the majors should be your main money-maker, and the other one should be something that you are passionate about.” 

Pursuing a degree in Physics comes with its challenges as there are many prerequisites for the 2000-level courses. For example, Calculus III is both a required and prerequisite course for two of the required Physics courses. Students need to have taken Calculus I and II  to enroll in a Calculus III class.

Because of this, students like Radko who did not take any Calculus courses during their first year are concerned about graduating on time. For now, Radko plans to overload in the semesters to come or in the worst case - minor in Physics.

Alexander Yordanov is the current president of Student Government (SG) and a senior, majoring in Mathematics and Physics. He explained that the prerequisite issue might stop people from majoring in Physics. According to him, in order to get into the more interesting Physics courses, students have to be at least in their second or third year. He also pointed out the lack of Physics courses offered during the semester. According to the AUBG Academic catalogue, only 4 out of 14 Physics courses are regularly offered.

“You have to go and beg the professor to offer a certain class,” Alexander said.

Currently, Professor Orlin Stoytchev is the only full-time Physics professor at AUBG. He stated that, because there are few Physics students, the Physics department does not have sufficient information on which courses are needed for the next semester. For this reason, Stoytchev recommended his students to discuss with each other what courses they want to take next semester and tell him in advance. 

“We cannot offer on a regular basis all of the advanced courses,” Stoytchev explained. This is because only one or two students will enroll for each of the classes, and in the end, the courses will be canceled.

Robert White, AUBG’s Dean of Faculty, said: “In the case of the Physics major, it was always understood that there would be a limited demand and the intention was that most of the courses would be offered as Independent studies.”

According to Lyuboslav, taking Physics classes as an independent study is challenging. 

“It does not feel like a regular class, it is a small class, and you have a private tutoring session with the professor,” Lyuboslav said. Also, he explained that the material “is not so straightforward, sometimes you get stuck really badly and you are literally staring at a problem for hours, you do not know what to do, and you cannot skip it because you need it to understand other problems.” 

The challenges that students majoring in Physics face do not end here, as there is an issue regarding Bulgarian accreditation of the major. According to the Map of Higher Education, until 80% of the student capacity for Physics students enrolled in Bulgarian universities is reached, no other university can issue a Bulgarian diploma for the Physics major. 

“This restriction is very unfair because no matter what we do, we cannot compete with universities which, for historical reasons, have created a Physics major earlier,” Professor Stoytchev said.

This regulation firstly obligates Physics students at AUBG to do a double major. Secondly, it makes it harder for them to continue their Physics education at other European universities.

This is the case with Radko, who plans to do a master's degree in Quantum Computing in Zurich. For his master's degree, he needs a European diploma in Physics. Radko hopes that he will be given the opportunity to show his knowledge through an exam – otherwise, he will have to continue his education in the USA.

“I hope that, at some point, the society and the academia will realize that this kind of restriction is counter to the academic independence of the university, and it creates unfair conditions for competition,” Stoytchev stated. 

Professor Stoytchev is retiring after 27 years of teaching at AUBG. He and the department are actively looking for a new professor to take on his position. 

For now, the department plans to hire only one professor. “With few students, it is difficult to justify hiring more than one full-time professor,” Stoytchev explained. 

The lack of Physics students remains the biggest obstacle to the development of the major. Physics students suggest that the Admission office should focus more on promoting the major. One way this can happen is through the organization of experiment sessions in the student lab during Open House events. 

According to the SG president, it is worth pursuing a Physics degree at AUBG. Instead of doing two or three minors, students majoring in Physics have the opportunity to take electives in the fields of Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics.

He explained that, with a Physics major, “you get a broad understanding of various things only within one major.”

“If we have more Gen Ed Physics courses that do not seem so intimidating, maybe more people will be prone to take them as Gen Ed and, in return, start liking Physics,” said Radko.

Together with faculty and the Provost, SG is working on updating the General Education curriculum, so that students are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for the future. Part of this effort includes a greater emphasis on analytical thinking, and Alexander Yordanov and Radko Mishev both recognize an opportunity for the Physics major to develop in size and popularity.