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How a Ph.D. in Physics Can Prepare Students for an Industrial Career

Learn how a PhD in physics can equip students with valuable skills for a successful industrial career, the benefits of working in industry, and the challenges they may encounter. Discussion points include changing graduate education and the usefulness of experiences such as industrial internships and business courses.

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How a Ph.D. in Physics Can Prepare Students for an Industrial Career

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  1. How a Ph.D. in Physics Can Prepare Students for an Industrial Career Shirley Chiang Professor and Chair Department of Physics University of California, Davis

  2. My Industrial Experience • Summer Research Associate, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ Summers 1975-77 • Research Staff Member IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA 1983 - 1994.

  3. Skills of a Physics Ph.D. Which are Valued by Industry • Problem-solving ability • Ability to adapt and learn new topics, new skills • Designing, building, and repairing equipment • Mechanical, vacuum, plumbing, cryogenics, electronics • Learning how to operate new, state-of-the art equipment • Mathematical and computer modeling • Experience with computer programming, computer interfacing, computerized data acquisition • Experience with data analysis – statistics, making models, fitting experimental data, image processing • Interdisciplinary experience • Ability to work with a team • Ability to communicate results, both oral and written • Internal reports, talks, presentations for management, conferences, papers

  4. Why I took an industrial job; Why your students may want one • Summer jobs at Bell Labs convinced me industrial research was interesting • I wanted to do the research myself, not just supervise other people doing research • Relatively easy to get research funding—e.g., 2 page proposal and talk for managers • I obtained a permanent staff position at IBM San Jose, without postdoctoral experience • Didn’t have to worry about moving after postdoc or obtaining tenure • “Two-body problem” only needed to be solved once • Places like Silicon Valley have lots of companies • When I went to IBM, people went there for a whole career; • Nowadays, industry doesn’t have job security; people often move to a different company every few years, especially if they work at startups • Higher salary than academics

  5. Problems with Industrial Jobs • Industry is now more focused on applied research • Industrial research may have very short time line • Needs to affect the company’s bottom line soon (e.g., few months instead of years) • Difficult to go back to academics • May not have suitable publication record • Process engineers may need to be on call • Your direct manager controls what you can do • “Old boys club” may operate when resources became constrained. • Difficulty in getting a hiring manager to look seriously at a Physics Ph.D. instead of an engineer • Some managers do seek Physics Ph.D’s (if they have hired them before or have a Physics Ph.D. themselves)

  6. Questions for Discussion • Should we change graduate education for those who don’t want an academic career? (No) • Are the following experiences useful for industrial jobs? • Industrial internship • Business and entrepreneurial courses, jobs, experience • M.S. in Engineering, MBA

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