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Department of Physics | Faculty of Science ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calendar | Fall 2025

Data Science in Physics

Certificate

This program is intended for students who wish to apply statistical analysis methods with physics data. Students completing this certificate will gain an appreciation for the collection and processing of experimental data, as well as statistical and computational tools necessary to analyze and visualize data.

Minimum Grade Requirement

To enroll in all courses, a student must obtain a grade of C- or better in each prerequisite course. Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in courses required for the certificate.

Students complete 22 units as specified below.

Units applied to this certificate may be applied also to major or minor programs of a bachelor’s degree but may not be applied to another certificate or diploma.

Complete all of

PHYS 233 - Physics Laboratory III (3)

Statistical data analysis, experimental design and scientific communication, studied in the context of experiments spanning a range of physical systems. Prerequisite: PHYS 133 or PHYS 141 or ENSC 120, with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended Prerequisite: CMPT 120. Quantitative.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 Jeff Sonier
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Mon, 1:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby
Jeff Sonier
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
Burnaby
PHYS 332W - Advanced Physics Laboratory I (4)

Experiments investigating a range of physical phenomena such as Brownian motion, molecular order, chaotic dynamics, Doppler broadening of stellar spectra, and biophysical forces using techniques such as interference, optical trapping, and spectroscopy. Attention will also be given to more general skills, including experimental design, operating and troubleshooting experimental equipment, modeling of experimental results, data analysis, and the presentation of experimental results. Biological Physics students will do a selected set of experiments. Prerequisite: PHYS 233; PHYS 285 or CHEM 260; both with a minimum grade of C-. Writing/Quantitative.

STAT 240 - Introduction to Data Science (3)

Introduction to modern tools and methods for data acquisition, management, and visualization capable of scaling to Big Data. Prerequisite: One of STAT 201, STAT 203, STAT 205, STAT 270, BUS 232, or ECON 233, and one of CMPT 102, CMPT 120, CMPT 125, CMPT 128, CMPT 129, CMPT 130, all with a minimum grade of C- or permission of the instructor. STAT 260 is also recommended. Quantitative.

STAT 270 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3)

Basic laws of probability, sample distributions. Introduction to statistical inference and applications. Prerequisite: or Corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 or 158, with a minimum grade of C-. Students wishing an intuitive appreciation of a broad range of statistical strategies may wish to take STAT 100 first. Quantitative.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
Jinko Graham
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Mon, Wed, Fri, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
Liangliang Wang
Online
OP01 TBD
STAT 302 - Analysis of Experimental and Observational Data (3)

The standard techniques of multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance, and their role in observational and experimental studies. This course may not be used to satisfy the upper division requirements of the following programs: statistics major, statistics honours, actuarial science major, and actuarial science honours. Prerequisite: One of STAT 201, STAT 203, STAT 205, STAT 270, BUS 232, or ECON 233, with a minimum grade of C-. Students who have taken STAT 350 first may not then take the course for further credit. Quantitative.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
Brad McNeney
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Mon, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby
Burnaby
Liangliang Wang
Online
OP01 TBD
STAT 452 - Statistical Learning and Prediction (3)

An introduction to the essential modern supervised and unsupervised statistical learning methods. Topics include review of linear regression, classification, statistical error measurement, flexible regression and classification methods, clustering and dimension reduction. Prerequisite: STAT 260 and one of STAT 302 or STAT 305 or STAT 350 or ECON 333 or equivalent, with a minimum grade of C-. Quantitative.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
Owen Ward
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 1:30–2:20 p.m.
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby
Burnaby
D101 Owen Ward
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D102 Owen Ward
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D103 Owen Ward
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D104 Owen Ward
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby

and one of

PHYS 234 - Physics Laboratory IV (3)

Introduction to modern techniques in experimental physics, including computer-aided data acquisition, electronics, control theory, and statistical data analysis. Prerequisite: PHYS 233 and PHYS 255, both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for PHYS 231 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.

PHYS 391 - Introduction to Observational Astrophysics (3)

Hands-on introduction to observational astronomy including the astrophysics of stellar clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and the expanding universe; calculation of the conditions for observing target objects; and analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data with Python. Data will be acquired using the Trottier Observatory, weather permitting, otherwise, archival data will be used. Prerequisite: PHYS 233 or equivalent, with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended Prerequisite: CMPT 120 or equivalent.

PHYS 395 - Computational Physics (3)

Computer-based approaches to solving complex physical problems. Includes topics such as Monte-Carlo and molecular dynamics techniques applied to thermal properties of materials; dynamical behavior of systems, including chaotic motion; methods for ground state determination and optimization, including Newton-Raphson, simulated annealing, neural nets, and genetic algorithms: symplectic methods; and analysis of numerical data. Prerequisite: MATH 260 or MATH 310; PHYS 255 or ENSC 380; CMPT 120 or equivalent. All prerequisite courses require a minimum grade of C-. Quantitative.

PHYS 416 - Introduction to Quantum Information Science (3)

Includes topics such as qubits, density matrices, mixed states, entanglement, basic quantum algorithms, quantum cryptography, computational models and complexity, introductory quantum error correction, and applications. Prerequisite: PHYS 385; PHYS 384 or both MATH 314 and MATH 419, or equivalent. All prerequisite courses require a minimum grade of C-. Quantitative.

PHYS 445 - Statistical Physics (3)

Postulates of statistical mechanics, partition functions, applications to gases, paramagnetism and equilibrium. Quantum statistics and applications. Prerequisite: PHYS 344 or CHEM 360, with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended: PHYS 385. Quantitative.