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#1
04-08-2006, 09:45 PM
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What to do with a degree in Physics
Hey, I'm in first year right now working on an astrophysics plan. Plan has always been to eventually get a Ph.D and do research in the field. However, I'm not really too keen on becoming a prof and I know of only one place in Canada where you can get a job solely as an astrophysicist, so I'm starting to doubt this goal. So I'm asking anyone with a B.Sc, masters, or Ph.d in physics to let me know what you've done with it (or anyone else that has some decent ideas). Thanks .
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#3
04-08-2006, 09:53 PM
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Re: What to do with a degree in Physics
Haha, wow. Real estate? Whats up with that, could you not get a job in the field or did you decide you wanted to do something else? Also, how hard was that Ph.D to get? I mean relative to other Ph.D programs.
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#4
04-08-2006, 09:55 PM
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Re: What to do with a degree in Physics
think Billy Bob Thorton in Armageddon
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#6
04-08-2006, 10:00 PM
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Re: What to do with a degree in Physics
[ QUOTE ]
Haha, wow. Real estate? Whats up with that, could you not get a job in the field or did you decide you wanted to do something else? Also, how hard was that Ph.D to get? I mean relative to other Ph.D programs. [/ QUOTE ] I was an assistant professor at a university for a while. I've told the story before, but long story short, I became morally opposed to being paid with taxpayer money. The only way to be an astrophysicist is to live off of the taxpayer, so I quit. And I can't really compare it to other Ph.D. programs. It was not easy, but it was not particularly hard either. I enjoyed the research a lot. I still miss it. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Someday I may seriously take a stab at doing research on my own if I can build a powerful enough cluster to do any really competitive work (which I doubt).
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#9
04-08-2006, 10:10 PM
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Re: What to do with a degree in Physics
[ QUOTE ]
Whats wrong with being paod with taxpayer money? You're advancing human knowledge by doing reseach, I think thats a fair trade. [/ QUOTE ] Taxation is theft. Why should I be subsidized in my playtime simulating accretion disks on supercomputers with money that was stolen from people who had their own uses for their money?
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#10
04-08-2006, 11:54 PM
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Re: What to do with a degree in Physics
Borodog:
[ QUOTE ] The only way to be an astrophysicist is to live off of the taxpayer, so I quit. [/ QUOTE ] Check out the Center for Astrophysics ( CfA ). Last I checked (~5-10 years ago), I was told that they didn't get a dime from the federal government. I haven't checked recently, but I'd guess that there's a very good chance that you could work there and not get paid via taxes. OP: I don't know about Canada, but National Labs in the US are *really* sweet places. I'm tempted to try to end up at one. If that's not really your gig, I have physics-major friends who are pretty happy these days doing the following things: - Math (String Theory) - IP Law (this makes people surprisingly happy. And wealthy) - Software Engineer (if you can think well enough to major in physics, you'll be fine. I found it mind-bendingly boooooring, though) - Financial Stuff (modern economics is pretty mathy and exciting) - Actuarial work (I don't think this will make most physics folks happy long term) - Dentistry (work 4 days a week, think about physics in your spare time) - Biophysics (Academia and Industry) - Materials Science - many flavors of engineers
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Hybrid Mode
