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So You Want to be a Physicist?

So you want to be a physicist? Thats a brave choice! But is it actually a good one? In this post we take a deep look
at the field of physics as a career choice and try to answer all the what when and how questions that are usually
asked by young students. For useful links and other good stuff, check out the bottom of the post.
Why Be a Physicist?
Since you already found this page theres a good change that you already have a good reason to be interested in
physics, but just in case you need some extra motivation, here are some amazing reasons to study physics. First and
foremost, science is breath-taking. Some of the most wonderful achievements of our society were done by scientists.
Take the moon landings or the measurements of the age and the size of the universe as a few examples. It also
doesnt take a genius to notice that one of the cornerstones of modern society is technological advancement, which of
course is not possible without the hard work of scientists.
Having said that, there are more practical reasons to choose a career in physics. Physicists obtain a wide technical
education, which is well appreciated in the academia and many industries. Just as an example, a person with a BsC
in physics will most likely know at least a few programming languages and will be exceptionally educated in
mathematics as well as knowing the basics of engineering and electronics . All of this is, of course, even more true for
a person with a PhD. Finally, believe it or not, science is one of those fields that are expected to grow exponentially in
popularity and employability in the near future due to the rapid growth of science and IT industries.
How to Become a Physicist?
If you havent lost all your interest with all that romanticised version of what science is all about, lets talk all about the
how. If you want to work in the academia and fancy being a lecturer and a researcher, a PhD is a must. The reason
for this is that in order to do research, a vast knowledge base is needed.
Of course, the first steps towards a career in science begin with a bachelors degree. A degree in physics usually
requires great grades in physics and mathematics. If you plan on studying in a foreign institution, which these days is
a very popular choice, a great knowledge of English is a great advantages as well. In addition, the earlier you start
programming the better.
A general advice for those, who are still in high school would be to study as much math as possible and, of course,
read a lot. The first few years of university will be all about calculus so be sure to get a good grasp on that. In
addition, reading some classics of physics, such as anything by Feynman is a good start as well. Some often
recommended books for pre-college students are these:
1. The Principles of Physics by Halliday and Resnick: this is one of the most popular college textbooks. If you
can get your hands on it, its a good chance to get a head start. Requires a good knowledge of calculus.
2. Feynman Lectures on Physics: another classic book focusing on the basics of college physics. Easy to read,
however, a bit weak in the problem solving department.
3. Understanding Physics by Isaac Asimov: not very mathematical, more like a novel telling the story of
physics and exploring the mindset of a scientist.
4. Surely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman: its probably not possible to be a physicist and
not to like Mr. Feynman. This book is not really about physics, but rather about the great scientist himself.

5. Great Physicists by William H. Cropper: in order to be a great physicist one day a student firstly has to study
the works of the great physicists themselves.
6. How to Become a Good Theoretical Physicist: an extra link for more advanced resources collected by the
Nobel prize laureate Gerardt Hooft.
For everything else, check out our free book list.
So, say you finish high school, celebrate prom in all its glory, and get that diploma. Whats next? Getting into a good
university would be a good idea. There are a few yearly university ranking lists that are worth to check out (Times
Higher Education, Shanghai Rankings, QS World Rankings). Just by looking at these lists it becomes clear that
most of the top universities happen to be in the US and UK, while Germany, Asutralia and Netherlands are not far
behind. In fact, heres a graph summing up the whole situation quite nicely:

Obviously this doesnt mean that there arent good universities in other countries. Simply, if you plan studying abroad,
this information can be of use.
Another important thing to note is that many universities these days offer a choice of studying a certain sub-field of
physics, say, astrophysics, mathematical physics etc. Thus, it is a good idea to know in advance, which part of
physics interests you mostly.
The last step towards the start of a career in the academia is, of course, obtaining a PhD. This usually takes 3.5 4
years, depending on the country, and focuses on research. Getting a funded PhD position requires good grades,
however, having experience in research (a summer project for example) or certain technical skills are also a great
advantage.
After obtaining a degree in physics one can then continue his career in academia and find a postdoc position or find a
job in a variety of industries.
What Can You Do With a Degree in Physics?
So given that weve already more or less covered the academia path, lets look at some other careers where you
could put your physics knowledge to good use. The chart below shows the typical career paths taken by physics
graduates (see the full study by the IOP here). As we can see the majority of graduates are employed outside the
academia, however, the number of those doing PhDs are not far off.

Typical career paths of physics graduates (BsC) (image from a study by the IOP)
But what are the most popular jobs among physics graduates? The chart below shows typical career choices for
those with a masters degree in physics.

Industries chosen by physics graduates ( IOP)

As we can see, those a degree in physics offers a wide variety of careers, most of which are rather well paid.
Additionally, the growing IT, electronics and science industries offer great career prospects for scientists. Last, but not
least, what about the money matters? How much does a typical physicist gets paid? The same report by the IOP
offers the numbers for the most popular sectors for both male and female graduates.

Salaries of physics graduates one year after graduation ( IOP)

Hopefully these answers will help you out when choosing a career. For more information and guidance visit these
useful links: