California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, where most of the main characters of The Big Bang Theory work. Caltech operates the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The university's Departments include Physics, Astronomy, Applied Physics, Engineering, Geology, Chemistry, Biology, Entomology, Neurology, Pharmacology, and Humanities.

As of The Jerusalem Duality, the physics research facility doesn't have an open science grid computer or a free-electron laser, but Department Chair Dr. Eric Gablehauser says they are in the process of updating their equipment. By The Friendship Algorithm and The Euclid Alternative, Caltech acquires this new equipment. Benefactor Mrs. Latham donates millions of dollars to the physics department to get a cryogenic centrifugal pump and molecular sieve, while Sheldon expresses a need for a new linear accelerator. Other machines owned by the department include a 500 kW oxygen-iodine laser, a helium-neon laser, an electron accelerator, and a mainframe in Buckman 204. The physics facilities include a laser lab, radiation lab, particle physics lab, plasma lab, kinetics lab, and photomultiplier lab. Aside from the physics laboratories, there is a primate lab, a biology lab with mice, a chem lab with micro-porous charcoal, and a geology lab with shakers. The neurology department has a culture of prions.

The head of the university is President Siebert. Most of the faculty named are affiliated with the Department of Physics, among them, the less well-known Professor Finkleday, Elliot Wong (had a little mishap with high energy radiation research), Professor Goldfarb, Fishman, Chen, Chowdry, McNair, Von Gerlick, Fishbine, Professor Norton (he hasn’t published anything of note since he won the Nobel Prize), Professor Hoskins, Mindy, Dr. Nakamora (the Swedes disproved his theory), and Professor Davenport, as well as possibly Professor Wilkinson. Another minor character, Dr. Randall, is faculty in the Department of Geology.

Common Locations
The Cafeteria

The Cafeteria has been seen in numerous episodes and is commonly where the guys get lunch or chat while at Caltech. It has a set of doors on the right side of the room with a food bar on the left side. There are 3 vending machines on the right side wall of the room. There are also around 20+ tables. A poster for The Journal of Chemical Physics is sometimes visible in the cafeteria. The space was cleared for the introduction of Dennis Kim to the physics faculty. There is also a President's dining room with the same food as the Cafeteria, only fresh.

Sheldon's Office Sheldon's office is seen in many episodes as well. It is to the right of the Lecture Hall and to the left of A1 - A5. The plaque on his door initially reads: SHELDON COOPER (followed by) Ph.D. PARTICLE THEORY. However, it is later changed to: SHELDON COOPER, PhD. (followed by) PARTICLE THEORY. It features Sheldon's desk, a series of book shelves and about 5 - 10 white boards. It is also Raj's office after he begins to work with Sheldon, with a paper banner on the door underneath Sheldon's plaque: RAJESH KOOTHRAPPALI, PhD.; later a permanent plaque replaces the paper and reads: RAJESH KOOTHRAPPALI, PhD. (followed by) ASTROPHYSICS. Raj brings in a "Brobdingnagian" desk in The Hot Troll Deviation, and it is still there as seen in The Good Guy Fluctuation and onward. The room also has Sheldon's Stevenson Award, framed near the door inside (the certificate is signed incorrectly Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D., as he had not yet received a doctorate when he was the recipient). Additionally, an issue of the The Journal of Physical Chemistry A (Dynamics, Kinetics, Environmental Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Structure, Theory) with a picture of Sheldon on the cover is framed in his office. The poster FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES AND INTERACTIONS, which has also been seen around the cafeteria and the experimental physics lab, is on the wall opposing his room. Once, next to the left of his door, was a placard, GRADUATE SEMINAR 269B, Spring 2007 NEUTRINO PHYSICS Professor David Saltzberg.

Professor Rothman's Office/Sheldon's Office In The Rothman Disintegration, Sheldon and Kripke compete for Professor Rothman's office, with Sheldon eventually getting it. The plaque on the door reads: ROBB ROTHMAN PhD (followed by) THEORETICAL PHYSICIST; Sheldon replaces it with his plaque: SHELDON COOPER, PhD. (followed by) PARTICLE THEORY. Raj says he will miss sharing an office with Sheldon. The interior has two whiteboards (originally with a physics and engineering fields flowchart including a spelling error of "Leptions" on one of them), a large opening window, desks, a sofa, bookcase, and filing cabinets, while a poster of a supernova is seen to the left outside entrance. The air vent is really intense in the room, the thermostat is next door in Professor Davenport's office ("who is currently enjoying the hotflashes associated with menopause"), the mockingbirds are out of tune with the wind chimes outside the window (the board filled with musical notes of the chimes and bird), there’s a giant hole in the wall that Sheldon gets his head stuck in (Sheldon postulates "there was something in the wall that someone outside the wall wanted or, the more disturbing, there was something in the wall that wanted out"), and the room is directly under the geology lab with its shakers causing vibrations.

Rajesh's Office Raj's office, before he receives Fishbine's large office or shares Sheldon's office, is the smallest seen thus far. Aside from the two desks, a cabinet, model rockets, a green chalk board, and two bookshelves fill the space. The plaque on the door reads: RAJESH KOOTHRAPPALI (followed by) Ph. D. ASTRO PHYSICS. To the right of his door is a poster for a colloquium in Budapest, Hungary entitled Astroparticle Physics Current Issues, 2007. An earlier poster, DARK MATTER, has also appeared there. Both have been posted around Sheldon's office as well.

Astronomy Remote Observing Room In The Boyfriend Complexity, Raj spends twelve hours in this control room for a ground-based telescope operating in Hawaii. It contains a coffee maker, sofa, computers, and several posters.

The Experimental Physics Lab The Lab where Leonard and Leslie Winkle work is a larger room (a tad smaller than the cafeteria) and has a series of tables. This Lab has been shown in The Fuzzy Boots Corollary and The Hamburger Postulate. Both the Fundamental Particles and Interactions and Astroparticle Physics posters can be seen on the wall. Leslie uses a 500 kW oxygen-iodine laser to heat ramen noodles and liquid nitrogen, 320 degrees below zero, to break up a banana in this room.

Leonard's Lab

Leonard's own lab appears in The Gorilla Experiment, The Psychic Vortex, The Irish Pub Formulation, and The Apology Insufficiency with a white board, computer monitors, and experimental equipment such as an electron accelerator and a helium-neon laser.

Astronautical Engineering Lab

ASTRONAUTICAL ENGINEERING, as the plaque on the door reads, is where Howard works. It's only been shown once (in The Jerusalem Duality) when Sheldon visits. It has white walls and has a row of desks with Howard's in front of the others. It also has numerous posters of physics and engineering on the walls.

Howard's Lab

Howard's personal lab (seen in The Infestation Hypothesis), in the Department of Applied Physics, has his MIT Engineering Diploma, a $175,000 hydraulic thermoforming press, tool cabinets (one with a NASA picture), a desk, and various equipment including an oxy-acetylene torch.

Mars Rover Lab (Deep Space Operations Center)



The Mars Rover control room (room 105) has only been shown once, when Howard got the Mars Rover stuck in a ditch. The guys tried to fix it, but settled on erasing the data tapes, grabbing the security camera tapes, wiping their fingerprints from all the surfaces and running. A sign reads: "Restricted Area by Order of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Unauthorized Persons Who Enter May be Subject to Prosecution Under 18 U.S.C. 799 - Form 1500A."

The Plasma Lab (Barry Kripke's Lab) Barry Kripke works in the plasma lab, mentioned in The Killer Robot Instability and seen in The Vengeance Formulation. An NSA grant funds a micro-controlled plasma experiment in the lab.

The Kinetics Lab The kinetics lab appears in The Killer Robot Instability. The fighter robots M.O.N.T.E. and the Kripke Krippler battle in this lab.

Physics Faculty Lounge The Physics Department parties are held in this room, shown in The Luminous Fish Effect. Raj takes delight in the buffet table including fruit, vegetables, bagels, and pastries. Department head Eric Gablehauser is introduced to the faculty here, before he fires Sheldon. At the last department party, Dr. Finkleday cornered Sheldon and talked about spelunking for 45 minutes.

Eric Gablehauser's Office

The Head of the Physics Department (Professor Eric Gablehauser) has a larger office than Sheldon's. It's only been shown in a few episodes so far. The plaque on the door reads: PROF. ERIC GABLEHAUSER (followed by) DEPARTMENT CHAIR.

Professor Laughlin's Office Professor Laughlin's office is observed once in The Pirate Solution when Rajesh is interviewed by the British astronomer for a chance to join his stellar evolution research team. The plaque on the door reads: PROF. LAUGHLIN, PhD. (followed by) ASTRONOMY. His office is furnished with celestial and planetary globes, an astrolabe, an orerry, several astronomical posters (featuring supernova remnants and planetary atmospheres), a small bronze telescope replica, a wooden bookcase with science books and an antique Dollond telescope, wooden lockboxes, metal filing cabinets, cushioned chairs, a wooden desk with a computer, and a window. Precariously, it also contains an area atop a table with a silver platter and copita for pouring a sherry, of which there are two selections.

Professor Crawley's Lab Professor Crawley's lab was only shown once, it has rows of tables with glass cages on them featuring all kinds of different insects, bugs and arachnids. Professor Crawley was forced to leave the lab when his funding was cut off to go live with his daughter in Oxnard. So it's unknown what is of the lab today (however it's strongly suggested that the Physics Department took over the Lab after he left). The door has signs that read AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and ENTOMOLOGY DEPARTMENT.

Norton Hall Multipurpose Room In The Psychic Vortex, the Norton Hall Multipurpose Room is seen. Raj repeats the following from the university web site: "7pm to 10pm, Norton Hall Multipurpose Room, mixer for grad students and faculty of the science and humanities departments. Whether you split atoms or infinitives, this is the place to be." Sheldon and Raj meet Abby and Martha in this room, and see Professor Wilkinson's wife.

Men's Restroom In The Rothman Disintegration, Sheldon and Kripke try to resolve who will get Professor Rothman's office with President Siebert in the restroom.