Head of the division:

Assoc. prof. Sergej Iľkovič, PhD. 

• Phone: +421-51-7570251
• Office: no. 297
• E-mail: sergej.ilkⱺvic@·unipo.sk

The department provides training for future teachers of the study program of physics and for engineers of progressive materials.  During their studies, the students of teacher training of physics are prepared for their future job as a physics teacher, teacher having a broad theoretical and practical base, supported by quality methodical preparation mainly for work at primary and secondary schools. In the area of their specialization, the students are provided with the knowledge of classical and contemporary physics and of the basics of information technology. In the area of didactic and methodical preparation, the focus is to equip students sufficiently with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the area of work with modern didactic, laboratory and information technology. In the students of engineering, the stress is laid on the study of material properties, experimental techniques and general knowledge about technologies that are used in the industrial-technological as well as scientific field. During their studies, the students can participate in various activities which specific workplace conditions are created for. The department has its own computer laboratory connected to the internet, reserved for the students of physics where tools of the Vernier system are also used during the teaching. At the same time, all students have an opportunity to engage in foreign exchange placements, field trips as well as foreign classes of specialized subjects.

Study program teacher training in combination is verified by The Accreditation Commission of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. Since the academic year 2005/2006, students study within the credit scheme of study. Students can study 3-year bachelor or 2-year master courses in combination with these study programmes (Slovak) including inter-faculty study with the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Sports and the University of Presov. Graduation from the given course will enable them to be a qualified teacher of physics at primary and secondary schools and universities. Since the academic year 2016/2017 up to 2020/2021, the department also offered a non-teacher study program Physical Engineering of Progressive Materials (Slovak) in a 3-year bachelor and 2-year master course.

Courses and subjects offered for incoming students

Dominant subjects that the department provides are study of general physics, theoretical mechanics, special theory of relativity, theoretical physics, didactics of physics, physics of solids, astronomy and astrophysics. Supporting subjects include practicums of physics, information technology in physics, special practicum of school experiments, optional subjects and history of physics.

Beside pedagogic work which is a priority activity of the teachers of the department, the teachers are also involved in scientific and publishing activities. In the area of physics teaching, scientific and research work of the department is focused on the issue of primary and secondary school teacher training, on development and examination of methodical materials for physics teaching at the mentioned types of schools, on the issue of creating cognitive interest in physics in students and on the application of computers to physics teaching. In the area of the applied research, on the issue of the study of physics of condensed substances and acoustics, on the issue of stellar astronomy and on the study of electrophysical, photoelectric and magnetoelectric properties for the purpose of their use in sensors, emitters and in information recording. Works of our teachers are published in domestic and foreign academic literature. The department has a wealth of foreign contacts. It actively cooperates with universities in Italy, Portugal, India, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Austria and Poland.