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 head of the university is President Siebert.

Common Locations
The Cafeteria

The Cafeteria has been seen on 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 usually visible in the cafeteria.

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, Ph.D. The Room also has Sheldon's Stevenson Award, framed near the door inside (the certificate is signed incorrectly Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D.). The poster FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES AND INTERACTIONS, which has also been seen around the cafeteria, is on the wall opposing his room.

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.

The Experimental Physics Lab (Leonard's 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 with numerous white boards. This Lab has been shown on numerous episodes as well (mostly when Leonard is conducting an experiment or using the equipment).

Engineering Lab (Howard's Lab)

The Engineering Office, in the Department of Applied Physics, is where Howard works. It's only been shown once (SE 1 E 12 "The Jerusalem Duality") when Sheldon visits. It has white walls and has a row of desks with Howards infront of the others. It also has numerous posters of physics and engineering on the walls.

Mars Rover Lab

The Mars Rover lab 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.

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 fo far.

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 & 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 its strongly suggested that the Physics Department took over the Lab after he left.)