The Physics Department of the University of Salerno is a very prestigious under- and graduate- school in physics in Italy. It covers a broad range of research areas with a longstanding and excellent tradition, including high-energy physics, theoretical physics, geophysics, statistical mechanics, nanotechnology, astrophysics, and solid-state physics. Recently, a new first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary Bachelor’s program was opened on Science and nanotechnology for sustainability, thus demonstrating a steady growth both in the direction of novel research interests and from the educational point of view.

The research groups collaborate with several national and international research institutes such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the National Council for Research (CNR), the National Agency for Alternative Energies (ENEA), and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

The University Campus hosts a highly-specialized superconductivity laboratory of INFN with a cryogenic testing infrastructure capable of reaching temperatures of -269℃. Within the IRIS project, this facility will be extended with the construction of an excellence center dedicated to testing industrial products and to the development of the technology for "high-temperature" superconductivity.