Expert: Carlo Segre - 2/11/2012

Question
I recently graduated with a degree in physics, and for a long time I planned on going into academia to teach, do research etc. However, I became scared away by extensive research on the internet I did about the job market in academia, especially in physics (it seems pretty awful). Also, I'm that kind of person who sails through tests and problem sets but tends to just break things in lab, so I don't see myself as an experimentalist at all, and it seems the market is even worse for theorists. I have basically no research experience so I wouldn't expect to get into a top grad school despite my excellent grades (my school was not research oriented and in the one internship I got they gave me only trivial non-physics work to do). Right now, I'm taking some classes post-bac so I could apply to med school (that was my original plan when I entered college), but I'm finding the memorizing for biology tedious and mind-numbing--not hard, just mind-numbing. Therefore, I'm reconsidering physics and contemplating private industry, which I never thought would appeal to me. Problem is, theorists are definitely less useful there than experimentalists. Do you know of whether any private companies do research on plasma physics/nuclear fusion technology, and if they employ theory-minded people to do calculations and simulations? That I could see myself doing. If there is no realistic job avenue for a theory PhD in physics proper I don't think I could justify the risk, and like I said, if I go to graduate school I assume it will be to a middling school.

Answer
Hi Anthony:

Going to graduate school is a commitment you make only if you are truly passionate about the field and about doing research.  The reason is that the 6 years (average) that it will take you will never be recovered as income-producing years and a Ph.D. won't get you a huge salary increase over a Masters.

That being said, you also need to be realistic about the job prospects.  In my opinion, if you have the research training that is offered by a Ph.D. you will be able to find a job in some field because your analytical skills will be valued.  It may not be the field you studied but likely it will be an interesting career.  Furthermore, how can we predict what the job market for your field will be in academia in 6 years or so when you finish?

So, if you are passionate, you should give graduate school a try because you might regret it later in your life if you don't.  However, if you are not convinced, then look for a job now and see where you find yourself in a year or two.  If you go to med school and are not convinced you will make a very poor doctor and not be very happy.

So, your other question was about whether you can get into a good graduate school given the fact that you have not done a lot of research and your B.S. is from a school which does not have a lot of research opportunities.  Well, if your grades are good and your GRE scores are strong, you should be able to get into a pretty good graduate school.  It may not be a top 20 school but that is not such a big problem in my mind.  At my university, Illinois Institute of Technology, the physics department is not in the top 20 by any means but my Ph.D. students and those of my colleagues have always been able to find good positions after graduation.  Choosing a good advisor is the most important thing in this case.

One final note.  I see that you are particularly interested in plasma physics.  Perhaps you should look into accelerator and beam physics as well.  It is somewhat related to plasma physics and there is a need for good computational accelerator physicists as well as experimentalists (you won't break an accelerator too easily!).  There are jobs in industry and national labs for accelerator physicists.

Good Luck!

Carlo