DEPARTMENT of PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Courses

Our department offers courses in the disciplines listed below. For individual course descriptions, follow the links to MacEwan University’s Academic Calendar.

The ultimate goal of earth science is to unravel the sequence of geological events from the Earth’s origin to the present day, all without the use of a time machine.
Dr. Serhiy Buryak, assistant professor, Department of Physical Science

Special topics

Special topics courses focus on specific areas of interest within a discipline. The topics are chosen based on the expertise of our instructors, and the topics usually vary from term to term.

Fall 2026

Course: PHYS 495: Physics and Astrophysics | Electromagnetic Theory
Term: Fall 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Vahid Rezania

This course examines the laws of electrostatic and magnetostatic fields based on vector calculus. Topics covered include review of scalar and vector fields; curvilinear coordinates; electrostatic field and potential; electrostatic energy; conductors and capacitors; Laplace's equation; boundary value problems; methods of images; multipoles; electrostatic field in matter; polarization; displacement; linear dielectrics; magnetostatic field; Biot-Savart and Ampere's law; vector potential; magnetostatic field in matter; magnetization; linear and nonlinear magnetic media; electromotive force; Faraday’s law; inductance; and Maxwell's equations in free space and in matter.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in PHYS 126/146, MATH 115, any 200-level PHYS and permission of the department

Permission Required: Yes. Please email the chair (rezaniav@macewan.ca) to obtain a permission number.

Course: CHEM 496: Techniques in Applied Laboratory Chemistry | Applied Analytical Chromatography
Term: Fall 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Ross

In this course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), students engage in original research on chromatography method development and analyte quantitation. Students learn about the theoretical aspects of chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry and apply this knowledge in the laboratory through research projects that apply chromatography to real-world problems (e.g., environmental, forensic, industrial). Students develop gas and liquid chromatography methods for the separation and identification of analytes in complex chemical mixtures, validate these methods and apply them to address the identified research problem.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in CHEM 311 or CHEM 353 and consent of the department.

Permission Required: Yes. Please email the chair (rezaniav@macewan.ca) to obtain a permission number.

Winter 2027

Course: EASC 495: Geoscience Special Topic | Radioactive Systems in Geoscience
Term: Winter 2027
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Serhiy Buryak

This course examines the fundamentals of radioactive decay and the behaviour of radioactive isotope systems used in geochronology and geochemical tracing. Students explore U–Pb, U-Th, (U-Th)/He, Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd and related systems and apply natural isotopic variations to interpret geological processes operating across a broad range of temperatures and timescales. Includes an introduction to analytical instrumentation (e.g., TIMS, SIMS and ICP–MS) and the statistical treatment of geochronologic data.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in EASC 219 or EASC 320 or permission of the department.
Permission required: Yes. Students can email the chair at rezaniav@macewan.ca to request a permission number.

Course: CHEM 496: Course-Based Research in Chemistry | Structure-Activity Relationships in Antimicrobial Peptides
Term: Winter 2027
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Kaitlyn Towle

This course is a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in which students engage in original research on antimicrobial peptide design. Students explore the structural features that contribute to antimicrobial activity by analyzing literature and applying rational design principles to modify the peptide sequence of cancrin analogues. They synthesize their designed peptides, purify them and characterize their structural properties using techniques such as circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Finally, students evaluate the antimicrobial activity of their peptides through biological testing.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in CHEM 391 and consent of the department
Permission required: Yes. Students can email the chair at rezaniav@macewan.ca to request a permission number.