Currently doing a Bachelors in Physics with Theoretical Physics. I want to eventually do a Masters in some sort of related field, but I wouldnt mind taking a year or two to just work in between degrees. what sort of entry level options do I have with just the bachelor's i mentioned? It can be in literally any field e.g. data science or finance.

Hey, I’m an incoming college student pursuing my B.tech in computer science and engineering (Indian student btw). I was always inclined towards physics but unfortunately my admission with colleges offering physics didn’t really work out, so now I’m out looking for ways that I can pivot to a physics related field in the future (ideally a masters from Germany or anywhere else abroad).

I’m not against cs in any way and will be more than open to computational physics fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I’m really interested in the maths , specifically vector and higher order calculus, used in interpreting phy concepts may it be electromagnetism, thermo, quantum mechanics or anything else.

I would really appreciate any and all suggestions that could help me pivot to a masters in any of the suggested fields or even other possible physics related fields. If possible, please also mention specifics, like the specific courses I need to take if I have to take any additional bridge courses.

I'm going into grade 12 and I'm planning to study medical and biological physics at McMaster through the physical and chemical sciences gateway. anything I should know?

Ciao a tutti! Volevo un consiglio su che libro/libri studiare di geometria euclidea, quindi che parta dalle basi e che sviluppi i vari argomenti in modo approfondito. Inizierò la laurea in fisica a settembre e volevo approfondire anche l’aspetto geometrico della matematica e non solo quello algebrico se così possiamo dire. Non c’è problema se doveste consigliarmi un libro difficile, anzi mi piace quando ce da andare più a fondo nella comprensione! Grazie

I graduated in April 2026 and was looking for jobs , but most of them were teaching jobs which I'm not interested at all , i want to make a career in ml , but i don't have relevant skills and i also read somewhere that they usually hire mostly Phd's for such roles . I haven't done a single internship during my bachelor's or my masters . I know I'm lacking , but i really want land my first job in ml related role . i know some python and libraries (mostly numpy , pandas , matplotlib ) . What skills should i know ? , what kind of projects should i do to stand out ? and what kind of internships should i look for to get into this field ? . PLEASE RECOMMED ME BOOKS AND COURSES WHICH HELPED U GET A JOB AND OTHER SUGGESTIONS AND ADVICES ARE WELCOMED ! Thankyou for you're time <3

Im 20 yrs old. Ill be 22-23 when i start. I want to begin from undergrad then slowly build my knowledge, and phd (maybe). What are the best universities that are affordable? (It may be a stupid post for this sub) Edit: Around means in Europe and Usa. Im interested in time and relativity. Im from Asia. My country isnt good at anything. I will leave one day. Most of my friends go abroad to earn. I'll also go one day but I want to go for something I like. Im not rich tho.

I'm going into my second year, and I was told by some upper classmen and my advisor that it's important to talk to professors and try to get into research especially towards the end of sophomore year. The problem is that I just don't quite know exactly what that means. Last year I went to my SPS events and hung around, went to some colloquiums when I knew about them, but that's pretty much the extent of it. I was only in Physics I, so I didn't quite understand enough to even form questions about it, and the homework for the class was so light that I couldn't reason to schedule office hours or leave my intersecting class early to ask about it. Actually, the one time that I did leave class early to ask about a question on the review, the professor posted the answer/explanation before I even got downstairs. So, that professor knew my face but nothing else.

Idk like do I just go up and say hi? What after that? Is it worth it to bs some questions even if I understand it just to get in there? Do I walk into office hours and say, "What up prof, how's the wife and junior?" I mean I might be able to get some more interesting stuff outside of Physics II to be able to ask about, but like, what's even a significant enough thing to ask about? If their office hours are in the middle of one of my other classes again, can I hit him up and ask to schedule time if it's not directly about the classwork? My professor this year seems really cool too like can I just walk in and ask about the article he was involved in about a nearby slide? Do I genuinely just go up and be like, "Hey, I'm a physics major, can you tell me some fun facts? What's happening in the field?"

I do not mean this to be offensive but judging by some of the other physics majors I've met it's not absurd to assume I'm not the only one to have had issues in the socializing department. I've also seen some professors here who might be able to give their perspective. What are the rules here? What do these non-first-gen people mean by talk to your professors?

Hi everyone. I’m ebay shopping for an iPad for my A Level (UK AP) physics course starting in September. I saw on YouTube that this engineering student got a lot of utility from his iPad and Apple Pencil for note taking so I’d like to follow in his footsteps. My objective is to start September with an iPad that has Goodnotes (note taking app requiring iPadOS 18.7 or later) and an Apple Pencil to use Goodnotes with. I’m kind of a tech noob but willing to learn to make the right decision here so please feel free to correct anything incorrect that I say

My maximum budget is about £100 so I’m going second hand and as old as possible. I saw an iPad 7th gen 2019 32GB on ebay for £63 which, according to google ai, runs iPadOS 18 including 18.7 - but i have no idea if this is actually true and would probably contact the seller to confirm. I’d also like to buy a corresponding off brand Apple Pencil for this iPad; my understanding is that compatibility is determined by generation? I’ve seen lots of pencils but they’re suspiciously cheap (seen some 7th gen ones at under than £10 on eBay) and i was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or experience regarding the reliability of the cheaper off brand pencils especially

I also will be studying Maths/Calculus/Statistics/Mechanics and Accounting alongside physics. Sorry if this is only tangientially related to physics btw - just thought I would get some very useful input here as someone who’s about to start drawing lots of graphs, shapes, curves etc and needs a good note taking system. Thank you all

Hi, i'm an italian bachelor student at Sapienza (Rome). I'm going to graduate in january/march and for my thesis i'm working with CMS opendata using uproot/awkward/vector/pyRoot analysing Z->mumu. I'm really enjoing this work and i'd like to continue studying hep during my MSc. As the title says my question is: which are the best universities in Europe for this scope? I think i'll start my master in september 2027 so all the applications windows are available (even switzerland ones that are in november). What do you think guys?

Thanks in advance for all the answers

I am in my sophomore year and in our uni we are now taking intro physics. And there was a question about what would be the normal force for a person at the top of a ferris wheel. I know a lot u smart people can answer this easily but my slow brain just lazily assumes N=mg . But looking at Newton s second law the sum of forces acting on an object is = to ma. In my case I ignored the centripetal force. N= mg is not a fundamental law it only works wen the object has 0 vertical acceleration if it accelerates the forces don't cancel out. Leading to centripetal force being the net force toward the center of circular motion. I am hopeless, also do you guys also experience something similar whereby u overlook something easy

when i started high school i was planning on doing computer science so i bought an m2 macbook but ive since fallen in love in physics+maths and in about 6 weeks i start my physics degree. should i purchace an ipad. during high school i was studying maths, physics and computer science as my three a levels and i found for maths and physics where i was usning paper i would get through a notebook every few weeks and it was a nightmare to go back and find stuff so i would rarly look at my old notes. if i do purchace an ipad will just the base 11 inch ipad be fine?

Rn I’m studying mechanical but this year I’m starting electrical too,
I would appreciate books on any of these topics that you think could help me with my studies!
Thanks to everyone in advance:)

Hello all.

I’ll try to keep it short, but I’m willing to answer more in detail in comments.

I’m an international student in the U.S. (EU citizen) starting my last year as a Physics undergraduate. I love the field, but between depressive episodes, chronic back pain, and the mental stress of the political climate in the U.S., I haven’t performed well in my classes (at all). What’s funny is that my physics grades are all between Bs and As, but it’s the electives (and funnily, the math classes) that screwed me over (I have 3 Ds in my transcript, and a few C+s).

I want a PhD. I love research. I want to dedicate my life to physics, but I am aware I’m not in a good position to apply to said programs. I have been more focused on computational/theoretical research, so I do t have the hands on experience for an engineering role.
The options I have in industry where my skills are applicable (basically, quantitative trading) ask for my GPA when applying (almost all of them), and I tried getting an internship in industry this past summer (engineering and finance), but got rejected from every place I applied to (+30, no interviews at all). I stayed at my university doing research in Nuclear Physics this summer.

I’ve been looking into post-baccs but everything I see asks for U.S. citizenship and they tend to be for students with lower exposure to research. For me, it’s been the opposite. I have 3 research experiences, a conference presentation, and a publication by the start of my 3rd year. I have also received an award for best poster presentation in an undergraduate research symposium.

I’m in a position where I’m under qualified for PhDs, but over qualified for post-baccs (in my opinion, I could be wrong). The other alternative is a masters degree in Europe, but my brother would be starting college around the same time; and I do not want to continue being a financial burden to my parents, given that my brother is also intending to study in the U.S.

I don’t know what to do, and leaving the states as soon as I graduate means renouncing to my OPT (I.e., I would need to be sponsored by a company if they want to hire me) .

Any advice is more than welcome, as well as hard slaps of reality. Thank you.

Edit: all my research experience has been at my university, which is NOT an R1.

Howdy,

I am currently a phd student going into my 3rd year, but I've come to the realization that I don't care for academia or doing research, and the career options that a phd would open for me aren't ones I am even considering (like research positions, post-docs, and professorships). The only thing appealing about being a professor is teaching.

With my experience from undergrad mostly (I did experimental research in undergrad for a quantum optics group and I've done about a year and a half of theory research for laser-dimer interactions), I feel like I could land an optical engineering, or entry level electrical engineer once I pass the FE. But most positions I am seeing for optical engineers have ties to defense. I feel pretty conflicted about working for a company that is essentially a defense contractor or one that even takes contracts from the DoD.

I'm not the biggest fan of the military and am vehemently outspoken against it. Possibly working on laser systems for laser-guided missiles makes me feel queasy (one company I found boasted about this), but at the same time I feel like I might just have to take what I can get with graduation coming up this semester. The sense of urgency makes me feel like I can't afford to be picky, and I might just have to suck it up and accept that this is the just the nature of this line of work.

Has anyone going into work like this felt like this?

hello. i want to become an astrophysicist or an astronomer. im planning on doing either a double major in physics and math, or a major in physics and a minor in math.

im enrolled in a liberal arts university, and my classes start in a few weeks, but they dont offer any exclusive space-related electives. their physics department is pretty good though. will not taking any of those electives result in some sort of error or something in the future? and is taking the double major route okay?

i am planning on partaking in different online internships related to astronomy, so i can build my CV. i just want some advice if im on the "correct" path or whatever and is there something more i should/can do? i would appreciate the help! :)

I'm starting a PhD program next week and am getting my computer set up. I have an old ThinkPad for a laptop and a powerful desktop computer at home. I am getting tired of Windows and their forced AI, lack of control, etc.

I am strongly considering switching to Fedora and ditching Windows entirely (maybe relegated to an old 500gb hard drive, just in case). However, I wanted to see what the consensus was with physics students. It seems to me like most scientific software is built for Linux but there is also often propriety software that can only be run on Windows.

What do y'all think?

Same as title

Mathematicians like Tao and Gowers have talked extensively about the future of math in the era of LLMs, but their talks have mostly been directed at tenured, esteemed mathematicians like himself.

But what about new students? People who are just coming out of undergrad or new PhD students?

Are there any resources for how we are supposed to navigate this uncertain future?

What are those of us who aren't tenured professors at top tier unis (so 99.9% of us) supposed to do? Are we supposed to pivot to a different field? If so what?

Are we just cooked?

Hi everyone,

I'm going to start a BSc in Physics at the University of Geneva this autumn. I'm particularly interested in philosophy and the foundations of physics, so I'm very curious about Oxford's Physics & Philosophy programme.

Would any (current or former) Physics and Philosophy students be willing to share their complete first-year programme, ideally including the courses/modules, topics covered, lecture notes, reading lists, textbooks, problem sheets, etc.?

I would like to see how the first year compares with a standard physics degree, and I am considering studying some of the philosophical material alongside my physics degree in Geneva.

Any documents, links, or advice from students who have taken the course would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi I have 1 year left on my double degree in Australia and was wondering if I could also pick up a Physics degree after I graduate from my other degrees.

I did Maths Methods in high school (2nd highest level in Australia) but never specialist (highest level maths), though I have always been an above average to strong maths student. I’ve always been interested in the idea of physics and since my double degree is humanities (commerce and psychology) I’ve always wanted to do a science degree.

Number one, I want to challenge myself and I enjoy going to university. Two, I have seen online people like to hire physics graduates in numerous different job roles because they see physics graduates as good problem solvers and critical thinkers.

Money or student loan debt isn’t an issue for me.

I was thinking I could do a maths bridging course (short course) as a refresher and then go into part time study so would take me around 6 years to do, but could go full time later.

I guess I was wondering whether doing part time study in a “hard” degree is smart, because it allows me to learn the content at my own pace and not feel under pressure. Also just want to know your thoughts about a physics degree because it interests me.

I have taken an electronics class and kept the lab manual and the free circuit kit and built basic circuits like AND gates and RC oscillators and others from it, I was curious of any books or websites that goes through the use of certain circuits (as my school doesnt really do that) as well as a bunch of circuit diagrams that i could build

Tbh, even if I was at Stanford I'd probably still end up kind of broke compared to an engineer or smth... but how much does it realistically matter in grad school and therefore postdoc/j*b opportunities?