• Question: What advice would you give someone wanting to go into your field of work

    Asked by anon-252474 to Susan on 30 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Susan Cartwright

      Susan Cartwright answered on 30 Apr 2020:

      The first thing to say is that many people who start off wanting a career in university-based physics research do not end up doing that. There are many reasons for this. Some people are forced to change their minds because they discover that they just aren’t quite good enough academically (this is particularly true of theoretical physics, which requires a high level of mathematical talent), but some just realise that this isn’t for them. One problem with an academic career is that it involves a lot of moving around (I spent five years in Germany and two in California) at just the age (early 20s to 30 or so) when a lot of people want to get married and start a family. If your partner has a job that requires them to stay in one place, it can be hard to pursue an academic career because there may not be appropriate job openings within commuting distance. I have a colleague whose relationship survived several years when he was in Cardiff and she was in Stockholm, but I’m sure you can imagine that this doesn’t always work out! Also, as our union is fond of pointing out, academics are not all that well paid compared to people with equivalent qualifications outside the university sector.

      On the other hand, the good thing about the academic career ladder is that there are lots of places where you can step off and do something else. A physics degree is a good preparation for a wide range of careers, so if you realise in your third year that you don’t want to do a PhD after all, there are lots of alternatives open to you. Our students go into industry, IT, finance, teaching, the civil service and many other areas. You can also change track after your PhD: a particle physics PhD is an excellent preparation for work in IT, for example, and has given you 3 years of experience working in a large international collaboration, which is very valuable to many industries. People have also moved into industry after doing a stint of postdoctoral research.

      That said, the basic advice for someone wanting to go into research in particle physics is as follows:

      1. You will need a physics degree, which in turn means that you will need good A levels in maths and physics. If you do not enjoy maths, or aren’t very good at it, this is not the right field for you. (This isn’t always obvious at school because the A levels are designed to be independent, so the physics A level can only use GCSE maths – it’s only at university that the two get combined.)
      2. Particle physics is very computational – the only way to analyse the enormous data samples of modern particle physics experiments is with computers. So it is good to learn a programming language. Physics degrees these days recognise this, and do include some programming, but it is good to get a head start. Python is a good first language, though most particle physics experiments use C++.
      3. After your A levels you should plan on doing a physics degree. In the current system, the right preparation for a PhD in physics, which will be your next step, is the 4-year MPhys or MSci (depending on the university) degree. Ideally, you should go to a university with a strong particle physics research group (this should be obvious from the university’s website), because these will generally offer a wider choice of relevant courses and projects in the last couple of years of your degree.
      4. Then you will do a PhD in particle physics. This will be quite specialised – not just “particle physics” but specifically “ATLAS physics” or “neutrino physics with T2K” or something of the sort; it is possible to go on to do postdoctoral research in a sub-field different from the one you started out in, but it’s more common to keep going in the same area (you know the people in that field, and you have acquired relevant skills).
      5. After your PhD you will typically do one or two postdoctoral research posts, either in universities or in labs like CERN. This is the point at which you are likely to do a lot of moving around: postdoctoral jobs are not all that common (our group has probably 3 times as many PhD students as postdocs), and you may find that the best opportunities in your field are, for example, in America. Once you land a position as a lecturer, your life becomes much more stable (or less exciting, depending on your point of view) – most lecturers stay put for many years.

      I hope this is helpful!

Comments

  • olegshebanits commented on :

    Steps to become a scientists are well-defined: get a BSc, MSc (can be skipped in rare cases), start a PhD – at this point you are already a scientist.

    But along the way you will encounter many, many challenges. Maybe you discover a passion for something else. Maybe the timing of you finishing one step and the opening for next step will be so much off that you will be forced to quit academia – in fact, this is a constant worry until you find a permanent position (a tenure). There is no job security until then – job security in a local sense, as different countries have different policies.

    So, if I had to choose one thing, my advice would be: always keep your options open. It is possible to graduate in one subject (like physics) and switch to something completely different (like biology).

    Knowing what kind of career path you can expect is also very useful – this depends on which field you want to go to, and which country. This is from my “things I wish somebody told me upfront” list.

    Generally, it goes like this:
    During a PhD, a huge part of your success will depend on your supervisor. You should have a plan of what you want to achieve, even a vague one is a start – and keep updating it as you go. You may get a supervisor that doesn’t get involved much – then you need to chase them down for meetings, ideas for research, feedback on everything you do or plan to do during your PhD – and in the last year, also after your PhD.

    When you finish your PhD, you are on your own. Your supervisor can (should, really) help you find your first research position, but that’s about it.
    You are expected to find positions in groups in other universities (the further from your own, the better, preferably abroad). These will last 1-3 years each (2 is most common).
    The goal is to be able to apply for your own funding. To get this funding, you will need a good, fleshed out idea for a research project and enough experience to pull it off – and most importantly, you need to be able to show that you can and will do it, to the funding agency.
    Then there are details like, which institution you want to host you, which group to work with – each place will probably have their own rules. And each funding agency will have their rules too – different in each country.

    A lot of this information you can get at the university you study – there is usually some “information desk” organised for this very purpose. You can ask your teachers, some of whom will be PhD students and can help you get in touch with more senior researchers. Just bear in mind that the more senior a researcher is, the more experience they will have – but also, their knowledge may become obsolete because the system may have changed a lot since they were in your shoes.

    Finally, the break-points. They occur in-between every position, just like any other job I imagine. About to finish your PhD? Time to sit down and think what you want to do after – academia or industry, or maybe something completely different. This exact question will keep coming up at the end of every position. Don’t be afraid to quit academia if you don’t like it – it is not a failure, many researchers give up science to pursue other careers, this is your personal decision and choice.