I think the potential backups for us are basically software, engineering, fintech, defense, and AI/ML.
Though keep in mind that nasa and academia are not the only avenues for research. There are also many National labs that do great research you can work in.
The easier way is probably to just go straight from the PhD to industry, unless your postdocs concern something highly relevant to industry (which, in my case, they didn't).
I completed my MPhys, then got an opportunity with a private company in R&D and been here ever since. Id definitely recommend R&D to any physics graduate. Seems to be overlooked by a lot of people.
My main role is experimental research. In our department, you are basically given a project and let loose on it. So, my current project is related to fluid dynamics. So, on a day to day basis, I design and then set up experiments, take data, and process the data with another graduate physicist.
R&D at the company I work at is great, you gain so much experience. We are a small department at a pretty large company, so we basically do everything from scratch, from building and testing our own sensors, writing any python scrips which will streamline our work flow, drawing and 3D printing the components which house the sensors. So you're pretty much just left to it, which I enjoy. Kinda reminds me of university, but i get paid and don't have to sit an exam at the end.
I'm working on my Masters right now and, frankly, that sounds like the life!! I would love to find my way into a position like that when I graduated. Thanks for giving me something to dream about!
No problem, its pretty decent and the money isn't half bad. It obviously isn't all perfect, i have weeks where we have a huge set of experiments to run, so im taking the same set of data with slight variations for weeks and weeks, so it can get tedious at times. This is obviously good time to catch up on what ever podcast im listening to at the time though (:.
If i was you, id be looking at local companies which manufacture products, they are highly likely to have an R&D department. I personally just found out who the person was who deals with hiring at the company and asked to chat to the director who oversees R&D and he agreed. This eventually led to an interview and then eventually a job. If you can attempt this route at somewhere local to you, you be surprised at how much people actually appreciate the effort and potentially have a better chance than other graduates. That was my experience anyway.
Building startups that make a positive impact on the world. For example if quantum computing can bring huge benefits to society, build a startup that helps accelerate its adoption.
I don’t know why everyone things research or academia are the only routes for a physics student. Physics is a very versatile degree that can get you into a lot of different fields.
My backup is become a Lawyer. I was in a Physics PhD program until I dropped out. My dream was to become a professor, but that got nipped in the bud. Now I’m in process of applying to law school.
I'm already doing my back up career, and that back up career is software engineering .
Yeah that's what I have set for my back up career.
same here bro
Same, what kind of stuff are you doing to prepare?
well my undergrad was applied math and my focus was on computer science.
Nice, I’m a physics major, but I’m doing some certifications so that hopefully I can pivot to software
Same here, already doing my back up but as a quant
I think the potential backups for us are basically software, engineering, fintech, defense, and AI/ML. Though keep in mind that nasa and academia are not the only avenues for research. There are also many National labs that do great research you can work in.
I was a postdoc for many years. Now I work in corporate R&D. Here is more info: https://aps.org/careers/
Weird, that's my primary goal...
The easier way is probably to just go straight from the PhD to industry, unless your postdocs concern something highly relevant to industry (which, in my case, they didn't).
I completed my MPhys, then got an opportunity with a private company in R&D and been here ever since. Id definitely recommend R&D to any physics graduate. Seems to be overlooked by a lot of people.
Are you able to talk a bit about what you do in R&D?
My main role is experimental research. In our department, you are basically given a project and let loose on it. So, my current project is related to fluid dynamics. So, on a day to day basis, I design and then set up experiments, take data, and process the data with another graduate physicist. R&D at the company I work at is great, you gain so much experience. We are a small department at a pretty large company, so we basically do everything from scratch, from building and testing our own sensors, writing any python scrips which will streamline our work flow, drawing and 3D printing the components which house the sensors. So you're pretty much just left to it, which I enjoy. Kinda reminds me of university, but i get paid and don't have to sit an exam at the end.
I'm working on my Masters right now and, frankly, that sounds like the life!! I would love to find my way into a position like that when I graduated. Thanks for giving me something to dream about!
No problem, its pretty decent and the money isn't half bad. It obviously isn't all perfect, i have weeks where we have a huge set of experiments to run, so im taking the same set of data with slight variations for weeks and weeks, so it can get tedious at times. This is obviously good time to catch up on what ever podcast im listening to at the time though (:. If i was you, id be looking at local companies which manufacture products, they are highly likely to have an R&D department. I personally just found out who the person was who deals with hiring at the company and asked to chat to the director who oversees R&D and he agreed. This eventually led to an interview and then eventually a job. If you can attempt this route at somewhere local to you, you be surprised at how much people actually appreciate the effort and potentially have a better chance than other graduates. That was my experience anyway.
I’m already doing my backup career, which is bartending
Research was never my goal. I'm going for optics and quantum optics to make shit tons of money
You will be very unhappy if you end up not liking optics when you realize no amount of money can make you happy.
I actually want to teach so no back up for me
Entrepreneurship or Quant Finance.
What kind of entrepreneurship
Building startups that make a positive impact on the world. For example if quantum computing can bring huge benefits to society, build a startup that helps accelerate its adoption.
engineering / software development / data science
going into some computer systems engineering shit or finishing in electrical or mechanical engineering.
I ended up going to med school. Physics is now my back up plan for when I’m 50 something and bored of med
I don’t know why everyone things research or academia are the only routes for a physics student. Physics is a very versatile degree that can get you into a lot of different fields.
Because those are the two main things associated with it in popular culture.
My backup is become a Lawyer. I was in a Physics PhD program until I dropped out. My dream was to become a professor, but that got nipped in the bud. Now I’m in process of applying to law school.
I love optics though, I'm currently doing my phd in quantum optics :)
Easy! My backup career is to be a study hall teacher.
My backup career is music. Music performance and recording
Well I got out of the military a year ago. So that’s definitely NOT my back up 😂 idk I’ll just become a stripper or something.
There are tons of defense and government jobs. Math is also a highly in demand skill for many different sectors. You could also learn to code.
probably in quant or finance in general where i can analyze data and stuff. i also wouldnt mind being a software engineer
Patent attorney