Expert: Carlo Segre - 4/10/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dear sir
     I'm a secondary school student in Ireland, this September i'll be starting a college course. My main interests are in Physics and Maths, I've read books like "A brief history of time" and "The universe in a nutshell". I found absolutely amazing, its because of this that I've been thinking of going into a degree in NUI Maynooth called "Theoretical Physics and Maths". The topics in this course appealed to me more than those in Experimental Physics but I wonder if Theoretical physics may be boring with no experiments. My second problem is also to do with boredom, I don't know what careers I could get out of such a degree. Most people tell me I can get a well paid job in Finance or I can try and get a research post. A research post seems more interesting but less well paid unless I'm very amazing at Physics (which I'm not really, I get mostly B's). So I get the feeling that for my career I have to choose between Well Paid and Boring or Low Paid and Interesting. perhaps I'm being to quick to draw conclusions on the finance sector........... Thank you very much for reading, any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated :)

ANSWER: Hello Adam:

In my opinion, it is always good to have some experience in experimental physics at University.  Physics is highly theoretical in any case, and I believe that you will have more career options after your BSc if you have a more well-rounded physics education.

In the United States, specialization in theoretical physics comes in the MS or PhD program, not in the Bachelor's.

As for your second question, I believe that a degree which includes experimental physics will open more possibilities for a career after your BSc.  A physicist can compete for positions in engineering which can be quite interesting and can be in the research and development area.  If engineering is not appealing, you are not restricted to the finance sector, there are careers in the medical physics and radiation health physics fields as well as patent law just to name a few.

When you choose your field of study, you should certainly consider the career options when you finish but you also need to consider what fields you will be excited by and therefore, study with more enthusiasm.  I can guarantee that you will achieve better results when you are studying a field that is not boring to you.  The key to a successful career after your studies is to use University studies to "learn how to learn" and develop fundamental skills and insights.  This will help you in finding a rewarding career afterward.  The second thing you need to always keep in mind is that you need to work on selling yourself and your experiences so that you can compete more effectively for a position.  I am sure that most universities in your country have career centers where they will help you develop interview skills and your resume.

Best of luck in your decision,

Carlo

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again, thank you for your response to my question, I found it very interesting and helpful. Do you think that the research area of Physics is elitist or would there be many opportunities? I'm still a little unsure about experimental physics but I'll certainly put some more research into it now, I find myself more interested by the theory side although I we recently learnt about the famous irish physicist Ernest Walton in class and  I found his experiments really interesting. In an ideal world i would love to work on something like the Hadron Collider at CERN, are projects like that hard to get into?
I hope I'm not bothering you with this follow up question :) thank you again for taking the time to read this

ANSWER: Hello again Adam:

Of course you are not bothering me.  I volunteer on this site because I like to answer these kinds of questions!

First of all, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is certainly an exciting project.  There are a number of different ways one could contribute to this effort.  These include accelerator physics, high energy physics experiment and theory, materials science, engineering, software engineering and so on.

I don't consider physics to be an elitist area of study, it does require a certain mathematical ability that not everyone has but many engineering disciplines are just as challenging.  It really boils down to what you find exciting.  As I said before, with a degree in physics, there are lots of options because you will have a very fundamental understanding of nature and how to describe it mathematically.  These skills can translate well into many areas of work.

Now back to the LHC.  If you really want to contribute to the physics being done there, you will have to go all the way for a PhD, either in theory or experiment.  My suggestion is to go to a university where students are encouraged to become involved in undergraduate research and there are professors who are involved in experiments at the LHC.  You might be able to participate during summers.  As an undergraduate, of course, you really will not have the understanding of theoretical physics to make a contribution in that area, however, you can certainly be involved in the experimental side.  In addition, I have it from excellent sources (my theoretical physics colleagues), that having an understanding of theoretical physics is important for any theorist.  This is why I initially suggested that an experimental program of study might be valuable.

Even if you can't find someone who is working on the LHC at your university, get involved in undergraduate research.  This will help you to decide whether an advanced degree is for you.

Cheers,

Carlo

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again :)
I think I have one last question, are people paid when doing P.hd research, and what are the wages like for a research post in a university?
Adam

Answer
Hello Adam:

The answer is yes, graduate students in a Ph.D. program are paid either as Teaching Assistants (in physics this is for the first year or two only) and then as Research Assistants for the rest of their time to degree.  There are also Fellowships which carry stipend and in all cases, the tuition is completely paid for you.  The stipend is not large but sufficient to live on.  I know that my students are able to live comfortably and even save some money.

In the UK, the Ph.D. lasts for 3 years but in the U.S. it may take 4-6 years beyond the B.S. degree, however long it takes to finish the dissertation research.

After the Ph.D. you can pursue an academic or research career by taking a postdoctoral position for a few years.  Then it is usually possible to seek a research position in academia, industry or a government laboratory.  other Ph.D.s opt immediately to look for positions in industry where the Ph.D. in physics is not directly used but the knowledge of how to carry out a project is valued.  The postdoc positions in physics typically are paid between $45,000 and $60,000 depending on where it is (universities are lower).

The Ph.D. is not for everyone.  It is a long road and the income that you lose while in graduate school will not be recovered later on because a research job is lower paid than an industrial position.  What I advise my students is that if you have a passion to get the Ph.D. do it because you will regret not taking the chance later.  If you have doubts, then look for a job first to see how you like the working world and then decide in a year or so.  A research career is not for everyone, it is rewarding, there is a great deal of independence, and you can earn enough to live comfortably (usually because you spend all your time in the lab or doing your research and don't spend much money on outside activities ;-) but the big bucks are never really accessible.  It is a personal lifestyle decision.

Cheers,

Carlo