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Careers: Physics/careers in experimental physics in India
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Question
Hi! I am in the tenth standard (Indian CBSE board). Iam planning to take up science as my stream. I want to be a research scientist in physics. I would like to know what are the minimun qualifications to be one. Also, I want to know the institutions that offer such employment.
Thanks!
Hello Charupriya,
in order to be a scientist-researcher by trade one has to have at least a Master's degree, but preferably a Ph.D. degree. Naturally, the degrees must be obtained in some of the natural, exact sciences (physics is one of them). In most of the world this means another 8 to 12 years of study for you.
Employers come in three categories. First, the industry - the manufacturers of consumer products from cosmetics to ballistic missiles. The good ones have their own research and development department (R&D) and that is a place for scientists and engineers. Secondly, there are national laboratories and institutes in every reasonably developed country, where science is carried out at the expense of (mostly governmental) grant agencies. The third and last is academia, or universities if you like. Typically, as a university professor you have part of your time alloted to teaching and part to research of your own choice. Funding of research in academia is partly from your institution, partly from grant agencies.
Which one is best for you, that depends on your inclinations. If you'd like shorter education time or higher salary, you pick an industry job. Master's degree is enough there and the salaries are quite a bit higher than at comparable positions at universities or national labs. If you like a relaxed environment, flexible working hours and freedom of choice of the subject of your research, you pick a job at a university. National labs are somewhere in between in most aspects. I am sure that you can find the names of Indian employers in all three categories better than I can, I could only advise on Europe, North America and perhaps Korea and Japan.
Good luck in finding your direction!
Daniel
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Daniel Mazur
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Questions anyone (teenager, undergrad, graduate, professional) may ask on physics, mathematics or inorganic chemistry. Questions may concern subjects themselves or a possible future career in them, if you need advice on a school or hobby project, or you just came across a question that is beyond your current curriculum. I answer bare textbook problems sometimes, but I reserve the the right to redirect you to Physics-Physics section. The kind of questions I like to answer: I just started having science classes at school and they seem difficult, but I enjoy them. Where do I find more information on this, which is not in textbooks but still comprehensible to me? Just leaving high school, and I feel science is really the thing for me. Can you recommend a school and an undergrad program suitable to my inclinations? I am in my second undergraduate year in Physics. We learned the basics of universe expanding this year, the Hubble constant and all that, but invited speakers that gave talks on astrophysics in our department seemed not to agree with this model at all. Is it of any use at all? I am building a [materials research] experimental device for my masters/doctorate thesis and I have the following problem:... I have tried ..., but it still doesn't work. Where might the problem be?
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