Careers applying theoretical physics?

[Tr0x]

I'm a bit out of my element here (biochem grad), but I'd like to give my cousin some guidance regarding careers in theoretical physics.

 

This is really to alleviate pressure from her parents, as they're skeptical she can come out of academia and apply her degree (she's nearly done her 1st undergrad year, so there's still a long road ahead).

 

So I have a couple questions:

 

1) After her undergrad, what's a good next-step for a recent graduate of theoretical physics?

 

2) What sort of jobs/other fields can leverage a degree in theoretical physics? (And yes, I understand that asking advice on applying a degree based on theory is rather ironic!)

 

3) If you have a similar background, a breakdown of your own personal academic timeline would be very helpful!

 

Thanks,

 

-Tr0x

[ajb]

I went on to do a MSc and a PhD. Right now things are very hard, few postdocs are being offered and these are now 2 years in length rather than 3 as they used to be.

[CharonY]

Not my field, but I assume that it may also depend on the country?

[mooeypoo]

The American Physical Society has a page dedicated to different (and sometimes quite surprising) careers in Physics. Not all physicists go on the strictly academic research or to be professors. Many of them go out to the industry, and some are "hidden physicists" because they work in jobs that are related to engineering or r&d and tend to lose the"Physicist" in the title.

 

Here's a few examples that can be cool in seeing the different careers and also the diversity of how a physics degere (BSc, MS or PhD) can help people in ways many of us wouldn't think about:

 

PhysicsCentral's People in Physics (notice there's a "by topic" on the right side): http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/people/index.cfm

 

An interesting list of physicists who now do something different but rely on their physics background a lot for it: http://www.aip.org/tip/profiles.html

 

Many physicists go to Medicine or Law (though this is likely less relevant to a career in theoretical physics per say, still a nice stat to look at): http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/mcat2009.pdf and also, it appears that a Physics BSc is better preparation for the MCAT and LSAT than anything else (INCLUDING 'premed')

 

I will try and find the other database of "hidden physicists", it has a really nice overlay of a lot of theoretical and experimental physicists who now work in the industry in jobs we don't usually think about when we think of physicists.

 

~mooey

[timo]

I went on to do a MSc and a PhD. Right now things are very hard, few postdocs are being offered and these are now 2 years in length rather than 3 as they used to be.

Not my field, but I assume that it may also depend on the country?

In Andrew's case it's due to the field. "Theoretical physics" is not a field (a theoretical particle physicist will have more trouble communicating with a theoretical biophysicist than with an experimental cosmologist), but "mathematical physics" is. And it's the field which offers the least superlatives to describe its results ("we create a mini big bang" is silly, but it sells), the least amount of publications per time, no fancy promises (e.g. "build better computers and solar cells" (solid state physics), "understand cells better and heal people" (biophysics)) beyond an improved mathematical structure of physics (*), and as a consequence attracts pretty much no external funding. I haven't heard of any colleague having trouble finding a post-doc position (but of a lot of colleagues not making the jump to a permanent one).

 

(*) And most physicist don't really want to hear that from a mathematical point of view their beloved calculations are rather questionable for a whole zoo of reasons.

 

On topic: The typical fields for a theoretical physicist (and indeed, there "theoretical physics" is what matters, not the field of physics) outside of academia that I know of are consulting, banking, insurances, and software development (not to be confused with programming, although that may be part of it in smaller companies). I should note that this refers to Germany, and to people with a PhD in theoretical physics, since this is the de-factor standard degree for a German physicist.

Edited June 27, 2011 by timo

[CharonY]

I meant it as comment to the OP, specifically to the academic timeline (I cross-posted with ajb), which depends quite a bit on the academic system. The field referred to physics in general, as there may also be certain differences when it comes to disciplines (especially post-graduation timelines).

 

An interesting point is also the length of postdocs. In biology and in Germany the average postdoc length used to be basically 2x2 years, for example. In the US postdocs are, on average, more often associated with a project and can go up to five years. But then, it is expected that you find a tenure-track position earlier than in Germany (just to highlight some rough differences).

 

The typical fields for a theoretical physicist (and indeed, there "theoretical physics" is what matters, not the field of physics) outside of academia that I know of are consulting, banking, insurances, and software development (not to be confused with programming, although that may be part of it in smaller companies).

 

This is basically what I heard, too. I also heard (anecdotically) that in marketing they also sometimes hire theoretical physicists especially in conjunction with the development if some statistical models.

Edited June 28, 2011 by CharonY

[ajb]

... "mathematical physics" is.

 

Which itself is cut up into various subjects. In reality it is all more like mathematics than physics for most of us.

 

And most physicist don't really want to hear that from a mathematical point of view their beloved calculations are rather questionable for a whole zoo of reasons.

 

We can talk about this another time

 

... outside of academia that I know of are consulting, banking, insurances, and software development (not to be confused with programming, although that may be part of it in smaller companies)

 

These are the sort of things that spring to mind outside of academia for people with good physics degrees. Anything that uses mathematical and analytical skills. Software and computer programming seems quite in demand, being very competent with C++ etc would be very useful.

 

Quite a few physicists work in more engineering roles and things akin to applied mathematics.

 

Also I guess high school teaching must be mentioned

 

Have a look at the Institute of Physics careers page here. It will give some idea of what is possible.