UCLA Physical Sciences

What UCLA Physical Sciences does

UCLA Division of Physical Sciences is an academic division of the University of California, Los Angeles, comprising six departments: Chemistry & Biochemistry, Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics, Statistics & Data Science, Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. The division conducts fundamental and applied research across the physical sciences, delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs (including the Master of Quantum Science & Technology and the Master's in Applied Chemical Sciences), and trains postdoctoral scholars. Its research portfolio spans dark matter detection through the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, exoplanet discovery via Kepler K2 data analysis, silicon-based quantum computing with HRL Laboratories, lunar magnetometry with NASA, and AI/ML-driven studies in Lyme disease diagnostics, landslides, and statistical foundations.

The division is funded primarily through competitive federal research grants (NSF, DOE, NASA, DoD), private foundation awards (Moore, Keck, Brown Institute), corporate partnerships (Boeing, HRL Laboratories), and philanthropic gifts including endowed chairs. UCLA Physical Sciences serves three primary constituencies: undergraduate and graduate students pursuing STEM degrees; research faculty and postdoctoral scholars conducting frontier science; and large international research collaborations including the 38-institution LZ dark matter consortium and the NASA/JAXA-supported GAPS Antarctic balloon experiment. Notable outputs include the discovery of 366 new exoplanets, world-record WIMP sensitivity measurements, a quantum chain reaction technique achieving over 500 reactions per photon, and a faculty roster that includes a 2020 Nobel laureate (Andrea Ghez) and a 2023 MacArthur Fellow (Park Williams).

The division's go-to-market is not commercial; rather, it distributes research outputs through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and technology transfer, while recruiting students through UCLA's undergraduate and graduate admissions processes and attracting faculty through national hiring and foundation-backed investigator awards. Revenue is grant- and gift-driven rather than transaction-based, with no commercial pricing model.

Name

UCLA Physical Sciences

Legal name

UCLA Division of Physical Sciences

Website

https://physicalsciences.ucla.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1919

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UCLA Division of Physical Sciences is an academic division of UCLA encompassing six departments (chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics & data science, Earth/planetary/space sciences, and atmospheric & oceanic sciences) that conducts fundamental research and trains students through undergraduate and graduate degree programs funded primarily by federal grants and private foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Research

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities (EDAHAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialized Military Schools (Aviation, Naval, Cyber, Intelligence, Medical) (EDAHAOAG), Subject-Specific Short Courses & Academies (e.g., STEM, Business, Arts) (EDAIAIAC), Health Science & Medical STEM Programs (Pre-Med, Public Health) (EDAMABAJ)

Keywords

• Physical sciences research
• Graduate education programs
• Academic degree programs
• STEM higher education
• University research division

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: Primary research funding from federal agencies including NSF, DOE, NASA, and DoD to support faculty research programs, graduate student training, postdoctoral scholars, and equipment development.
2. NSF Research Training Group Award: $2 million NSF award over five years supporting graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, undergraduate researchers, fellowships, workshops, summer schools, seminars, and undergraduate research experiences in Statistics & Data Science.
3. Private Foundation Grants: Funding from private foundations including the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences ($2M investigator awards), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation ($1.25M awards), W.M. Keck Foundation ($1.4M), and Heising-Simons Foundation supporting specific research initiatives.
4. Corporate Partnerships and Philanthropy: Corporate giving programs, alumni donations, and endowed chairs such as the Keith and Cecilia Terasaki Endowed Chair in Physical Sciences support faculty positions and student programs.
5. Graduate Student Excellence Campaign: Philanthropic campaign specifically targeting graduate student support, fellowships, and excellence initiatives across the division.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

UCLA Division of Physical Sciences delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs across six departments (Chemistry & Biochemistry, Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics, Statistics & Data Science, Earth Planetary and Space Sciences, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences). The division conducts fundamental and applied research funded by federal agencies (NSF, DOE, NASA, DoD) and private foundations, and trains the next generation of scientists through postdoctoral programs and research experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Master of Quantum Science & Technology (MQST) Professional master's degree program designed to prepare students for careers in research and development of quantum technologies, combining interdisciplinary coursework with hands-on laboratory experience and industry capstone internships.
• Master's in Applied Chemical Sciences New degree program in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA offering graduate-level training in applied chemistry for industry and research careers.
• UCLA Physical Sciences Academic Degree Programs Division-wide academic programs encompassing undergraduate and graduate degrees across Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Statistics & Data Science, Mathematics, Earth/Planetary/Space Sciences, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences departments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Statistics & Data Science PhD program rose from 19th to 12th nationally (US News & World Report)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Science Foundation (NSF) - CLaSH CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026NSF-funded Center for Land Surface Hazards (CLaSH) brings together scientists from across the US including UCLA's Seulgi Moon and Chuxuan Li to study interconnections between compound climate hazards.
• Northwestern University, University of Bern, ETH Zurich, Oak Ridge NL, PNNL, Florida Institute of Technology, Utrecht University, Montana Technological University, University at AlbanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026International and domestic research collaborators on the Nature Geoscience paper on compound hazards, involving scientists from nine institutions across the US, Switzerland, and Netherlands.
• NASAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025UCLA Physics Professor Rene Ong and his lab designed and built the Time of Flight system for the GAPS (General Antiparticle Spectrometer) experiment, a house-sized antiparticle detector flown on a NASA balloon over Antarctica. NASA's CSBF managed the balloon launch. Data retrieved January 2026.
• JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025Japanese space agency contributing funding and expertise to the GAPS Antarctic experiment alongside NASA, ASI, and NSF for detecting antideuterons and antihelium from dark matter.
• NSF Green Bank Telescope and NASA Goldstone RadarminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025UCLA researchers collaborated with NSF's Green Bank Telescope and NASA's Goldstone radar to set new bounds on radar visibility into Europa's frozen ice shell in support of planetary science research.
• LymeDisease.orgminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2025Professor Deanna Needell collaborates with LymeDisease.org CEO Lorraine Johnson, leveraging their MyLymeData patient registry of over 19,000 patients for machine learning research on Lyme disease diagnostics and treatment outcomes.
• The College of New JerseyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2025Professor Jana Gevertz at The College of New Jersey collaborates with UCLA's Deanna Needell on Lyme disease research using topic modeling and machine learning on patient data.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 August 2024UCLA is one of 38 institutions in the international LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter collaboration managed by LBNL. Professor Alvine Kamaha leads UCLA's dark matter detection group contributing to the world's most sensitive WIMP search using 10 tonnes of liquid xenon.
• NASA DALI ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Professor Hao Cao and UCLA's MAG Lab received a 3-year, $3-million NASA Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) grant to design, build, and test a magnetometer durable enough to detect water on the lunar surface despite extreme temperature fluctuations.
• HRL LaboratoriescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024UCLA Physics & Astronomy Professor Jason Petta leads the UCS3 project in collaboration with HRL Laboratories in Malibu, CA, to develop silicon-based quantum processors by embedding cutting-edge quantum science technology onto semiconductor chips. HRL fabricates the chips while UCLA provides research expertise in quantum circuit development. Funded by Army Research Office.
• Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) - Qubits for Computing Foundry (QCF)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024LPS launched the QCF program designed to distribute quantum devices to academic researchers including UCLA under the UCS3 project to accelerate silicon-based quantum computing research.
• SETI InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2023Megan Grace Li, PhD student in UCLA Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, participates in UCLA SETI initiative searching for technosignatures, working with Professor Jean-Luc Margot and collaborating with the broader SETI community globally.
• Berkeley SETI Research CenterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Megan Grace Li's PhD mentor Sofia Sheikh (the only person in the world with a PhD in SETI) is affiliated with the Berkeley SETI Research Center, representing a key collaboration link for UCLA's SETI program.
• NASA Kepler Space Telescope / K2 MissioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2021UCLA astronomers Jon Zink and Erik Petigura analyzed 500 terabytes of Kepler K2 mission data using a new planet detection algorithm to identify 366 new exoplanets and 381 previously known planets, incorporated into NASA's master exoplanet archive.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Stanford University: Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences encompasses physics, applied physics, mathematics, statistics, and earth sciences, with comparable funding profiles from federal agencies and foundations. It competes with UCLA for talent in AI, quantum, and data science.
• Columbia University: Columbia's Department of Physics, Department of Mathematics, and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences operate at a comparable research-intensive scale in the same geographic region of elite private research universities, with similar federal funding portfolios.
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech): Caltech is a peer STEM-focused research university with deep strength in physics, astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics. It hosts the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences, which is a direct funder of UCLA faculty, and competes with UCLA for the same faculty and graduate students in physical sciences.
• University of California, Berkeley: Berkeley is a sibling UC campus with a directly comparable Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, including LBNL-managed collaborations and SETI research at the Berkeley SETI Research Center. Direct competitor for UC system funding, faculty hiring, and graduate students.
• University of Chicago: The University of Chicago's Department of Physics, Department of Mathematics, and Department of Geophysical Sciences have comparable research-intensive profiles, with strong federal funding in astrophysics, quantum, and earth sciences. Direct competitor for elite faculty and research funding.
• Cornell University: Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences houses physics, mathematics, statistics, and earth and atmospheric sciences departments that compete directly with UCLA for federal funding, faculty, and graduate students in physical sciences.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): MIT is a top-tier STEM research university with comparable departments in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and earth/atmospheric sciences, and a major recipient of NSF, DOE, and DoD funding. It competes directly with UCLA for Nobel-tier faculty and large-scale instrumentation leadership.
• Princeton University: Princeton's Department of Physics, Mathematics, and Geosciences operates at a similar research-intensive scale, with comparable federal funding profiles in astrophysics, quantum, and theoretical sciences. It competes for the same pool of elite graduate students and faculty.
• Harvard University: Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Department of Physics cover the same physical sciences footprint with similar endowment and federal funding capabilities, competing for Nobel-tier faculty and large research initiatives.

Broad incumbents

• University of Michigan: A large public research university with a comparable College of Literature, Science, and the Arts encompassing physical sciences. While broader in scope than UCLA's Physical Sciences division, it competes for similar federal funding and public university faculty hires.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ucla
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/UCLA
• Facebookfacebook.com/UCLA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucla-physical-sciences
• Instagraminstagram.com/ucla
• TikToktiktok.com/@ucla

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UCLA Physical Sciences