Phd Definition and 1000 Threads

Hello, I will be getting a bachelor's degree in Radiation Health Physics in near future, and my ultimate goal is to study PhD in medical physics. However, I think it would be unlikely that I will get admitted right after undergraduate graduation, due to my mediocre GPA and limited experiences...

Hello, I have applied for a PhD in the United Kingdom ( I am not familiar with their system) and they said that they can offer me a place but they pay only my fees. So I understand I have to pay my food and housing without salary, which seems impossible to me... Do you know if there exists...

I was in Bs physics engineering but I decided to switch away from and now I am taking my bachelor degree in Computer Science (I couldn't stand laboratories) but I still want to be a theoretical physicist! I have taken some courses in physics like quantum mechanics and fortunately I was able to...

I'm currently a master student in the field of physics, so indeed it's not in US instead in Europe. Now I'm approaching the end of my master studies and planning to go to a PhD program. I have found more than one destinations (which exclude my own current university) which seem to suit my...

So I'm looking at a program which requires all PhD students to do a minor subject of 12 graduate hours. Would it be worth it to add a few more classes and just get a master's degree in the second field? Would that make you significantly more employable than if you just had the PhD minor?

What would you say is the main difference between Phd and Masters only programs in physics? Is the course work less rigorous? Or is it just less courses all together?

I will get my PhD in Nanotechnology on June 2016 and I want to know if I can teach physics in college or at least in high school with this degree.

Hello, I am applying to different PhD offers but I am very slow and sometimes become quite desperate about it. I would like to know from your experience what is the most efficient way to succeed in this research. Usually, I get lost when I read recent papers and it is hard to understand the...

Hi, I live in Middle East (lebanon) I am in grade 11, we finish school at grade 12 and we learn calculus 1,2&3 (if you are a general science student) in school.Till now i have a very high grades in math,physics and chemistry. But I want to know what it take to become a physicist and if i can...

Hi, I'm a high school senior and I was planning on studying Aerospace Engineering but my local university doesn't have it so I was opting to study ME and then move to a bigger uni where they have AE so I can get my masters degree there. Is that a good idea? Plus where would I work after I get my...

Hi there.. I have been away from PF for a long time now. But I need some guidance and I have come back here. I am describing all the fields that I believe I have some degree of interest in, and now I need to decide which one to take up for a Phd. I am currently doing a Masters in Theoretical...

Hey Everyone, So I was set. I studied and re-took the pgre. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do in graduate school. I thought about career goals. I talked to professors and graduate students. I even submitted two apps! Two schools that I would be extremely happy to attend...

Hi I was wondering how much will having a masters degree actually help with getting into a PhD program? Is it sort of a minor boost or will it actually make me substantially stand out vs other candidates. If more specifics are needed I will have a BE in Electrical engineering and a Masters in...

Hi all, I have recently finished a PhD in quantum physics. At the moment I am a postdoc in the same group. I really enjoy what I am currently doing. I am moderately successful in a sense that I will probably be able to find a second and maybe a third postdoc, but most likely not successful...

Hi, anybody knows any Physics PhD program concentrated in Bioinformatics or any Bioinformatics program which admits Physics students? Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a little advice. I'm coming to the end of a PhD in photonics in about 6 months, specifically I have been looking at plasmonic nanostructures. It's gone ok, I'm at a great university and have two 1st author papers in ok journals with hopefully a third before I...

Hello everyone, I have read a lot of the post here about being engineers and going on into astronomy or astrophysics. Thus, decided to join and ask for advice. I have a similar experience but I have a unique problem. I have an BSc in electrical engineering from a US university with focus on...

Hello all! So I need advice...any advice...on where to go in my life. You might say I'm going though an existential crisis. I'm graduating with a PhD in theoretical cosmology in August and I rather die than get a postdoc (and therefore any type of professorship/physics research position). So...

I am a senior physics BS student, applying to programs in condensed matter and high energy physics at the moment. However, I have always been interested in doing an MS in EE. Its sort of late this year though, and I can't apply for EE programs now. But that got me thinking: is it possible to...

Hello all, I'm an EE student who is curious about the possibilities of going to grad school in Physics. When I first started college I was a Math and Physics double major. However, I was pressured by peers and family to go into Engineering because of job prospects. Even though I've been content...

I am in my last year of high school and I want to get a PhD in theoretical physics. I'd like to focus on quantum mechanics. There is a lot of information I am missing and I am not really educated on this topic. I think it is best that I learn a bit now. One big thing on my mind is, how long will...

I'm kind considering doing a PhD in engineering mainly because I have no idea what else to do with my life. I don't plan on being a researcher but I am happy delaying real life by 3 to 4 years. My questions: 1. I am doing an integrated masters. Until just less than halfway through my final...

Hello, I'm Schoeredinger's cat. After escaping that box, I went looking for a job elsewhere (can you blame me?). I have a PhD in physics from Cambridge (impressive for a cat, no?), where I deposited and studied magnetic metals and semiconductors thin films. I got a couple of postdocs that led...

Hi I am originally from India and finished my BEng (Hons) Electronic Systems Engineering at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. My degree average was 60% , 2:1 (Upper second). My final year project was on mm-wave waveguides. Currently, I am on way to finish my MSc Engineering (by research)...

What would the career prospects be for someone who does a Ph. D. in Mathematics with a research focus in partial differential equations? Assuming you got some computer skills along the way like parallel computing, programming, etc? Sure, you could become a professor but most people don't make...

So it looks like Alcator C-Mod is going to lose its funding this year again, in addition I have heard that they are going to have to decide whether to shut down either DIII-D or NSTX (can anyone confirm?). There aren't very many schools in the US that do MCF research (The only one I can think...

I am an undergraduate Physics major in my third year, and I'd like to concentrate in Astronomy or Astrophysics when I obtain my Masters and PhD. What kinds of physics classes should I take in preparation for this? I've already taken all explicitly-astronomy courses at my school. I was thinking...

Hello, I hope my title is clear enough but I will detail my problems below. I am interested in almost everything aspects of physics (theoretical, fundamental, applied, experimental, not against some numerical simulations too...) and almost every field too. I have more background in quantum...

I am currently in a BSc into MSc program (continental Europe) that combines chemistry, molecular biology and a bit of physical chemistry. It is very much interdisciplinary. About 90% of the people continue into a PhD program and students with this career are preferred as PhD students because of...

Hey PF! If any of you have experience as a graduate student or a professor please help me out here. I'm a Master's student in mechanical engineering doing research for a professor now and I really don't like what I'm working on. I've told the professor this and he said this is temporary and...

I'm currently in my final year of BSc(Hons) in mathematics and computer science & A.I (applied math stream). Indeed, I'm starting to think about what masters I want to pursue and the kind of subject I would like to specialize in. I am really interested in quantum computation and the prospects of...

I completed my Masters degree in physics from an Indian University. I would like to know more about research opportunities (PhD) in Qatar in the field of astrophysics. Please guide me

It seems to me, correct me if I'm wrong, the vast majority of physics PhD's do not work in physics, science, or even related disciplines (applied science, engineering, etc). From what I understand, the majority seem to be working in finance, software development, and data mining. At one point...

Im presuming top programs are going to be loaded with applications from 3.9+ GPA, high GRE scoring students. outside of these two factors and other generic things like letters of recommendation and personal statements, how else can one separate themselves and stand out? thanks :)

Hello friends. I am considering mathematics as a potential major. However I have a question about PhDs in mathematics. I understand science and engineering majors are usually funded through research / teaching assistanceships as well as a small stipend. However, is the same true for mathematics...

Hi, I'm in the early stage of my ph.d program in electrical engineering and I have realized I need to know more math (I'm in circuits). Problem is that I have no idea where to even begin. In my undergraduate, I took the basic math courses (calculus , DEQ, linear algebra) but these aren't...

First of all I read a lot info from post by twofish-quant but I am not sure if its outdated already. So I am currently in the second year of my grad school (PhD program) in physics, specialized in observation cosmology (galaxy survey aiming at Dark Energy/inflation/BAO/...). As much as I like...

First of all I read a lot info from post by twofish-quant but I am not sure if its outdated already. So I am currently in the second year of my grad school (PhD program) in physics, specialized in observation cosmology (galaxy survey aiming at Dark Energy/inflation/BAO/...). As much as I like...

I am getting an opportunity to do PhD in semiconductor devices. The professor is quite active in the field and publishing good research. I have no background in solid state physics. How difficult it could be with a computer science background? Also where should I start once enrolled in a...

I am currently reading this paper. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1401.2670v1.pdf Because I am interested in knot theory and here are my impressions. Why are these papers so difficult to read? It almost seems as if it really is a completely foreign language as if its not already a foreign language to...

Dear all, I just finished my GRE general test yesterday, and my score in verbal reasoning is low (147). I am worried about the effects of this score on my graduate school application, but I have heard from some of my friends that the verbal section does not matter much for a Physics...

Background: I completed my undergraduate degree in physics, from a reputed liberal arts college, a couple of years ago, and wrote a capstone senior thesis on experimental condensed matter project. Along the way, I took plenty of match classes, falling only one class short of a math major. My...

I have 2 projects I'm considering. One is a very high risk project that I would be taking nearly full ownership over, where I would be building a new measurement instrument for characterization of a very hard to measure property in semiconductors. Cons: will probably be heavily managed by...

So first I will lay out my background, I am about to start QFFF (Masters) at Imperial College in the UK, I graduated from my undergraduate degree with a strong first class honours which I believe is a 4.0 GPA in the US (top 10% of my class) and first class project (from which I will be getting...

I’m graduating with a Physics degree next year but for various reasons I cannot go straight to grad school and get a PhD. I probably won’t be back to school for some time (I’m projecting 10-15 years). Will it be hard to start a Physics PhD after so long? Is there ageism in academia? Thanks

Hello all, so I'm just finishing up my basics in undergrad school and am starting to take math and introductory physics classes, and just wanted to clear something up to make sure that I'm not wasting my time. My goal is a PhD in astrophysics. Now I know that in order to get into a good grad...

Hey all. It has been a while since I've posted a question in the academic guidance section so here we go. I am a physics major who just took the general GRE and am a bit disappointed in my scores. V 157 (74%) Q 161 (80%) I scored much higher on the quantitative during practice tests (>90%)...

History question: I searched all over the web and cannot find the answer. I knew that Albert Einstein earned his phd from university of zurich. from wiki: In 1900, Einstein was awarded the Zürich Polytechnic teaching diploma. (Between 1900 to 4/30/1905, I deduced that Einstein was unemployed and...

Hello, I am new to this forum, but I will quickly introduce myself. I am a 19 year old student currently studying the second year for a bachelors degree in nanotechnology. My dream is to become a successful scientist in material science. I do read chemistry and physics more or less everyday, a...

This year I'll be sending out PhD applications (to the USA) for 2015 onwards. I'm also applying to an external scholarship (from my home country) and it seems I have a good chance. Note, this funding is for one year. More specifically it pays tuition fees and a lower end stipend for one year...