The Department of Physics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is one of the distinguished departments in teaching, research, and community services. The department obtained accreditation from the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) in 2014. The faculty of the department includes over thirty members who are PhD holders from prestigious international universities. The department undertakes research in a variety of Physics subjects and houses research groups that carry out research in Atomic/Molecular/Optical physics, Condensed Matter physics, and Nuclear Physics. The department offers a B.S. degree for undergraduate students as well as M.S. and PhD degrees for graduate students.

Physics deals with the study of natural phenomena originating from matter, motion, and energy. It therefore represents the foundation of all scientific, technological, and engineering disciplines. The main purpose of physics is to understand and describe the apparent complexities of nature with as few unifying concepts as possible.