The Student Machine Shop
The Physics Student Machine Shop has been an integral and necessary part of experimental research within the department for more than 100 years – providing hands-on opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to learn how to safely operate the high-precision machinery and equipment needed to manufacture the complex components of their projects, apparatuses, and instrumentation.
The Paul L. Richards Physics Innovation Laboratory
The Berkeley Paul L. Richards Physics Innovation Lab (PIL) employs a student-led staffing model designed to foster an inclusive environment that encourages peer-to-peer mentorship and leadership. Unlike larger maker spaces, which often present significant barriers to entry through stringent training requirements, cost to enter, or restrictions tied to specific coursework, PIL is intentionally structured to lower these barriers. It provides a welcoming, approachable environment that invites students of diverse backgrounds, particularly those who might otherwise hesitate to engage with makerspaces. “It's somewhere that students can go and work safely and not have to have lengthy training,” says Student Machine Shop Manager, Jesse Lopez."
Tutoring
Peer Tutors
In collaboration with the Student Learning Center (SLC), the Physics and Astronomy (PA) Scholars Program provides drop-in tutoring for the following courses: PHYS 5-series, PHYS 7-series, PHYS 105, PHYS 110A, PHYS 111A/B, PHYS 112, PHYS 137A, ASTRON 7A, and ASTRON 160. Drop-in service for Python learning is also available.
Fall service hours will be announced in late August. For the latest service hours, please see the SLC Science Service Schedule.
Fall 2025 tutor information will be posted in the first few weeks of the semester.
Libraries
The UC Berkeley Library connects students and scholars to the world of information and ideas. The Library consists of 20 campus libraries—including the Doe/Moffitt Libraries, the Bancroft Library, the C. V. Starr East Asian Library and subject specialty libraries.
With a collection of more than 11 million print volumes, over 800,000 ebooks, and approximately 72,000 electronic journals, the Library offers extensive collections in all formats and robust services to connect users with those collections and build their related-research skills.
The Physics-Astronomy Library and its resources remain accessible to our students. See this slidedeck for information about how to access them. You can visit the Chemistry, Astronomy and Physics Library at 100 Hildbrand Hall.
The Physics-Astronomy library houses our major collections of physics and astronomy materials and licenses a wide array of digital resources to support the research and teaching needs of the Department of Astronomy and Department of Physics. These books will be cordoned off to accommodate the space's transition to becoming a study center, but they are still available for checkout through the UCB Library site: https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/.
The library provides access to major databases such as the Astrophysics Data System, arXiv, INSPEC, Optics InfoBase, SpringerMaterials, and Web of Science as well as ebook and electronic journal collections from major publishers such as the American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Oxford University Press, Springer, Wiley and more.