Marcus Rose felt part of Towson University鈥檚 applied physics master鈥檚 program鈥攅ven before he enrolled.

Rose took some of his general physics classes at 撸先生 during the summer while earning his undergraduate degree at a school in Philadelphia. The Baltimore native appreciated the fact he could take classes just five minutes from home.

He also appreciated that while he was not technically part of the program, they welcomed him with open arms. He felt so welcomed he made it official and joined 撸先生 as a graduate student.

鈥淚 owe coming to Towson University entirely to the community here,鈥� Rose says. 鈥淚 was able to visit or shadow a lot of physics programs on the Eastern Seaboard, and a lot of schools have a community among the professors who work and research together. Other schools have this collaborative community of students. And then there's those rare universities that have an integrated third community, which is the professors to the students. 

鈥淭owson University has all three.鈥�

...lot of schools have a community among the professors who work and research together. Other schools have this collaborative community of students. And then there's those rare universities that have an integrated third community, which is the professors to the students...Towson University has all three.

Marcus Rose

One of Rose鈥檚 biggest advocates at 撸先生 is professor and program director Rajeswari Kolagani.

Even when he was just a visitor, Rose says Kolagani always made sure he met the right people as he learned the right methods. He even jokes it was Kolagani who adopted him into the program.

鈥淪he sees the potential in all of us students and is really one of our biggest advocates,鈥� Rose says. 鈥淪he gets students used to the program, introduces them to other professors who are doing things they like and is completely on everyone's side and happy to be a part of this community and foster it.鈥�

Even when he took a gap year between undergrad and graduate school, Kolagani helped Rose get research experience.

She introduced him to a professor at Morgan State who needed a local assistant for a research project both at Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland with professors and scientists from across Maryland, including Kolagani.

This was a big deal for Rose because he didn鈥檛 have undergraduate lab courses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淭he Morgan State professor really leaned on his post grads to mentor me and show me the ropes,鈥� Rose says. 鈥淧rofessor Kolagani also was very patient with me and taught me how these different machines can speak to one another and tell you about the materials you're making.鈥�

Now as a full-time student at 撸先生, Rose works as a teacher鈥檚 assistant and performs research with faculty in the physics department.

He says being at 撸先生 is better than he could have imagined because he got involved right away.

鈥淗aving the opportunity to do research right from the get-go is amazing,鈥� Rose says. 鈥淕etting these research opportunities at 撸先生 is important because that gets me a taste of what I would do in the industry, knowing what I want to focus on and what research in this field looks like.鈥�