classof2020- ross kliegman.png

Name: Ross Kliegman

Concentration: Mathematical Physics

What was your favorite part about being a student at Brown?

It sounds cliché but definitely the people. I'm grateful to have found friends here who I will have with me for the rest of my life. Oh, and the Andrews breakfast burritos. Really gonna miss those.

What was the most surprising part about your research experience?

You don't need a PhD to do meaningful work in research, even in theoretical work. Professors are brilliant and know a lot, but they study questions to which they don't yet have the answers. It wasn't until I began doing research that I saw professors face questions they can't answer because the answers do not yet exist. It turned out I was able to do a lot of productive work in research with just a few math and physics classes under my belt. That felt good.

Do you have any advice for new physics students?

Don't be deterred. Physics is hard, even for people who have studied it before. You get better at it as you practice, just like anything else. If you like it, keep working at it. 

What are you planning/looking forward to doing after you graduate?

I will be working for a small company in Maryland that develops detectors that can be used to screen for infectious diseases and other airborne bio-threats. I am looking forward to doing some science outside of academia. Plus, this work seems especially important now more than ever. 

What was your favorite Physics course and why?

My favorite course was PHYS 470: "Electricity and Magnetism," which I largely attribute to the instructor, Prof. Koushiappas. On the first day, he began the lecture by raising the following point: the electromagnetic force is nearly 10^40 times stronger than gravity and we are grounded to Earth, yet we are not flung against each other due to the balance of protons and electrons that make us up. Miraculously, nearly everything in nature is electrically balanced. If there were just a one percent difference between the number of positive and negative charges in our bodies, we would feel between us an electric force of attraction greater than the weight of the Earth!  We do not encounter the electromagnetic force directly in our everyday lives, so it is difficult to have a strong intuition for how it works. This hypothetical example gave me a sense for just how powerful the electromagnetic force is— the lecture made me stop and think about how amazing it is that the world operates as it does. As the class progressed, I learned to appreciate more and more the subtleties that a study of physics can unveil.

Read more Class of 2020 Student Spotlights