Physicist

[Scientia]

I'm starting college in three months. I've declared my major as Electrical Engineering at the moment. I work with computers, I enjoy that work, however, I don't want a career focusing on computers. Electrical Engineering seemed fun due to the technical aspect of it. I've always had an interest in physics and an even greater interest in the cosmos. If I switched majors to physics and wanted to get into something like astrophysics, what career opportunities would I have? Is the salary generally pretty good in this field? It's may seem a bit over confident, but I am planning on pursuing whatever field I chose to a Ph.D. What kind of work would I be doing with a Bachelors while I work on Masters or as I read now, jump to Ph.D?

[PhDP]

What kind of work would I be doing with a Bachelors while I work on Masters or as I read now, jump to Ph.D?

 

Most M.Sc/Ph.D students are working as reasearch assistant/teacher's assistant.

 

After you get your Ph.D., if you want to teach/do research at an university, then yes the salary is quite good, above 100k pretty much anywhere in North America. And although it's a lot of work, few people can enjoy as much freedom in their job as uni. teachers...

[Scientia]

That is precisely what I would like to be doing. I would love to end up doing research, the resources available for certain universities are far more then I could find elsewhere. Is that the Usual job for astrophysicists? I had the idea that it was research for a university or working for the government. I'm sure that I just don't know nearly enough on the subject.

[ajb]

If you want to be a professional scientist you will need a PhD.

 

The salary is not very good here in the UK. Don't really know about USA.

[swansont]

After you get your Ph.D., if you want to teach/do research at an university, then yes the salary is quite good, above 100k pretty much anywhere in North America.

 

Depends on what stage of a career you're discussing. It's more likely if you are at a major university and have a research grant that can pay you a summer salary, and have moved up the ranks. The median salary of an assistant professor of physics in the US is about $54k, but of course that rises for associate ($65k median) and and again for full professor.

 

http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/salary/salary04.htm

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_ED03000211.html

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_ED03000221.html

 

My advice: a physicist doing physics can make a good living, but won't make you really rich. Do it because you enjoy it.