The physics department of South China Normal University was founded in 1933. In 1940, the Guangdong Province Liberal Arts College founded a Physics Department, which was united with the Physics Department of South China Normal University in 1951. On the basis of the original Physics Department and the Department of Telecommunication Engineering, the School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering was founded in 2003. In the past 80 years, the School has nurtured over 20000 university graduates,  who have contributed in various fields both in China and overseas. Remarkably, among the alumni there are Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, legislators of the Macao Special Administrative Region, National Role Models of Labor, National Role Models of Teachers, renowned entrepreneurs, and elites in the fields of education and government administration.

The teaching staff of the School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering form a well-structured team with a diverse background.  The teaching staff consist of 179 people, including 83 at the level of associate professor or associate researcher or higher, 20 PhD supervisors, 63 master supervisors, one doubly-employed Academician, two Changjiang Scholars, two National Distinguished Young Scholars, two National Excellent Young Scholars, two National Academic Leaders under the National ``New Millennium Hundred-Thousand-Ten-Thousand Talent Program," three recipients of the ``New Millennium Talent" under the Education Department, one member of the Committee of Guidance of Physics Education under the Education Department, one National Role Model of Teachers, one recipient of the National ``First of May" Labor Medal, two recipients of  National Nurturing under the Guangdong Province ``Thousand-Hundred-Ten Program," six recipients of Province-Level Nurturing, three Zhujiang Scholars, two Zhujiang Young Scholars, two Guangdong Province Distinguished Young Scholars, one Guangdong Province Excellent Young Scholar, two recipients of the Guangdong Province Specially-Funded Young Talent of Creative Technology, one Zhujiang Technology New Star, one Guangdong Province Southern Canton Excellent Teacher, and one Guangdong Province Renowned Teacher.

Physics is a National ``Worldwide First-Class Subject" and a Guangdong Province Summit Core Subject. Optics is a National Core Subject, one among the National First-Class Undergraduate Subjects of the ``Double Ten-Thousand Project." The undergraduate-master-doctor system has already been established for the two first-class subjects physics and electronics technologies. In addition, the School offers master and doctoral degrees in the theory of curriculum and teaching (in physics and science), master of material science and engineering, master of education in physics education, master of engineering in electronics and telecommunication, and master of engineering in optics.

The motto of the School is ``priority on students, nurturing practical skills and creativity, emphases on processes and methods, all-rounded development in knowledge, capability, and quality." The School has been awarded the National Teaching Achievement Second Class Award, and for multiple times the Guangdong Province Excellent Teaching Achievement First Class Award. The School possesses a National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Fundamental Physics, two Guangdong Province Core Laboratories, four Province Engineering Centers, and three School-Enterprise Joint Laboratories.

In recent years, the School has been in charge of over 100 high-level scientific research funds, including National Natural Science Fund Core Projects, National Core Research Projects, and the``Changjiang Scholar and Creative Team Development Project" under the Education Department. Around 140 million yuan has been spent on research, leading to over 500 publications in authoritative physics journals such as Nature, Nature Photonics, Nat. Comm., Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev. A/B/C/D/E, Appl. Phys. Lett., Opt. Lett., and Opt. Express. The School has been awarded the National Natural Science First Class Award, the Education Department Natural Science First Class Award, and the Guangdong Province Science and Technology First Class Award and Second Class Awards (twice).