Physics GRE Discussion Forums

How is Condensed Matter Physics for career? Is it now best for career? Which are the top schools for condensed matter? It will be very helpful if anybody can give rank up to 20.

I am undergraduate student of Physics Major. After BSc can i apply directly to Phd?

String theory is currently the most promising subfield for employment after a BSc.

will wrote:String theory is currently the most promising subfield for employment after a BSc.

Will, that was my first thought exactly. But then it occurred to me that saying so would perhaps be too cruel.

will wrote:String theory is currently the most promising subfield for employment after a BSc.

By i know that string theory is most risky for career

Do what you love. It's really the only reason to pursue physics as a career - if you're looking for job security or a weighty income, look elsewhere.

noojens wrote:Do what you love. It's really the only reason to pursue physics as a career - if you're looking for job security or a weighty income, look elsewhere.

Ditto. If looking for security and money, just go into engineering.

Do what you love. It's really the only reason to pursue physics as a career - if you're looking for job security or a weighty income, look elsewhere.

I tend to disagree with this philosophy. I think it is perfectly reasonable to consider the viability of a career and earning potential. It doesn't matter how much you love string theory, if you can't find a job, then you aren't going to have much of a career.

I think the point of that statement was that it's all kinds of silly to pick a subfield of physics that might not actually interest you for the marginally larger job market, and still mediocre salary. No one's saying it's unreasonable to consider the viability of a career, but if we were here for viable careers, this would be cpa-exam.org.

I love to study any topic related to cosmology,gravity, particle physics, blackhole.. but i am scared because now in most of the university are not asking for permanent job... Most of the time post doctoral fellow. If i dont a good permanent job and cant live an easy life.... then can i enjoy physics...?

There are lot of string theorist who left it after doing a lot of research. Because lot of people did not achieve anything. They are called rocket scientists. I read it in an article of Michio kaku 's article. MKaku.org

I also love string theory and hate those people who says its nothing but science fiction.

I am just scared for Career. I don't need huge money. If will be very very happy to be a faculty of a good university at Cosmology or High energy physics.

What i asked in this topic and what are saying! I am in Dilemma .

SuperStringBoy wrote:I love to study any topic related to cosmology,gravity, particle physics, blackhole.. but i am scared because now in most of the university are not asking for permanent job... Most of the time post doctoral fellow. If i dont a good permanent job and cant live an easy life.... then can i enjoy physics...?

There are lot of string theorist who left it after doing a lot of research. Because lot of people did not achieve anything. They are called rocket scientists. I read it in an article of Michio kaku 's article. MKaku.org

I also love string theory and hate those people who says its nothing but science fiction.

I am just scared for Career. I don't need huge money. If will be very very happy to be a faculty of a good university at Cosmology or High energy physics.

What i asked in this topic and what are saying! I am in Dilemma .

Not only you but many hav the same question "which is hot?". As far as I understood ,you should balance both the future (career) and your intension. Although condensed matter and medical physics are hot, don't pick them if you don't like. On the other hand high energy and theoretical sides are very interesting but the future is bit uncertain.

Think about yourself. If you like to join the industry you better pick Condensed matter/nanophysics areas. But if you wanna be a faculty member or would like to work in (government) laboratories then high energy/astro/nuclear sides are not bad.

If i dont a good permanent job and cant live an easy life.... then can i enjoy physics...?

No.

That's crap. Of course you can.

Like sex, without financial incentive physics is boring.

sex financial incentive?hookers?

ler1 wrote:sex financial incentive?hookers?

yes, exactly

I would say the best thing is what you want to do. Who the hell cares what you do as long as you can get a job out of it. Do string theory and if it doesn't work out go do finance. you have a physics degree nearly all doors are open.

Helio wrote:... and if it doesn't work out go do finance. you have a physics degree nearly all doors are open.

Isn't that weird? When I was visiting grad schools and looking at the positions of past graduates I saw so many going into finance, working at Bank of America or Citibank, going into stock brokering, etc. These companies, I guess, want/need smart, analytical people.

The people who fail at physics tend to make at least twice the salary of the people who succeed.

Or is it just that the truly smart people realize they're not being fairly compensated for their hard work?

But if you spend all day counting your money, how are you supposed to do string theory?

will wrote:But if you spend all day counting your money, how are you supposed to do string theory?

Hire someone to count your money for you, and then do string theory?

Hi
I am an international student, after struggling for a year i get admitted in University of Idaho and wayne state university. I know these are not well known and highly ranked. Can you please help me to select one of these. I will appreciate your advice and help. And good luck for all of you.

twistor wrote:Like sex, without financial incentive physics is boring.

Corrrect

dlenmn wrote:

will wrote:But if you spend all day counting your money, how are you supposed to do string theory?

Hire someone to count your money for you, and then do string theory?

Nice Reply

jupiter_oct23 wrote:Hi
I am an international student, after struggling for a year i get admitted in University of Idaho and wayne state university. I know these are not well known and highly ranked. Can you please help me to select one of these. I will appreciate your advice and help. And good luck for all of you.

Juniper, there's no way we can give you advise unless you tell us what you're looking for in a grad school. What are your research interests? What sort of place do you want to live in?

Personally, knowing nothing about the physics departments, I would probably pick Idaho over Wayne State. I value access to the outdoors, and Idaho is going to be far prettier place, although it's also in a smaller town. Wayne State is in Detriot, which is a large, economically depressed city. I don't think I'd want to live there, but that's just me.

Juniper, there's no way we can give you advise unless you tell us what you're looking for in a grad school. What are your research interests? What sort of place do you want to live in?

Personally, knowing nothing about the physics departments, I would probably pick Idaho over Wayne State. I value access to the outdoors, and Idaho is going to be far prettier place, although it's also in a smaller town. Wayne State is in Detriot, which is a large, economically depressed city. I don't think I'd want to live there, but that's just me.

Thanks ZXCV.
I am interested in exp. condensed matter and currently working on magnetic nanoparticles. I liked the research work in Univ. of Idaho, one research group is working on nanomedicine which sounds very interesting. Wayne state Univ. is mainly focusing on smart sensors with other kinds of research. I get confused here. Physics dept of Idaho is very small, about 10-12 faculties, and it is collaborated with washington state university. If I go to Idaho, I will get chance to work with PNNL(pacific northwest national lab) as it is collaborated with univ. of Idaho. Wayne state univ. is huge, physics department has more than 25 faculties. What do you think, is it matter If I get Phd from a small university ? I will appreciate your advice. Thanks.

Personally, I don't think the size of the university you go to for grad school matters very much in itself. What matters much more is the overall reputation of the school, and on that count it's probably a wash, as neither school even is ranked by US News or the NRC. That's not terrible, it just means your success will rely on making a name for yourself, not riding on the reputation of where you went to school.

Where size matters is in the flexibility you gain in terms of choosing a field and an adviser. Since I'm still pretty much undecided, size was an important consideration for me. But if you have fairly narrow interests and there are several faculty you like at each school, then size is not so important. It sounds like you would have good research opportunities in either case, so that makes it harder to decide.

If you can't decide on research, I would try to get a sense of the culture of the specific schools and their graduate programs. If at all possible, you should try to speak with grad students from program, and see if you can get a sense of whether you like the people better at one place or the other.

Thanks ZXCV
I appreciate your helpful advice. I will try to contact some graduate students and find out more about the department. I already contacted one student who had phd from univ of Idaho and with the same advisor with whom I likely to do my research. Currently she is doing post doc at stanford university. She replied my email as ...
Dr.Qiang recently got tenured. He is a better person to comment on his experience. I can tell you what experience I gained as his grad student. While working with him, I gained experience in Magnetron sputtering system, SQUID and lots of other devices by using facilities at PNNL. I also gained experience in writing journal papers. As he has
collaboration with PNNL, I could access PNNL site and work with many scientist there. He is a friendly person and a hard worker, and can guide you pretty well with your research.

As per your suggestion I will contact grad students from wayne state and find out more. Once again thank you.