PhD Theoretical Physics (study, application & all sorts of guidance)

[The Moon Gauge]

After graduating with 2-years Masters in TP, I wish to return to academia by undertaking a PhD in theoretical physics and I have A LOT of questions since I am aware that it is a, extremely competitive area especially when you were out of the game for a while, about 5 years for me…

• What are the best countries in Europe to be working for a PhD in TP? I am thinking to apply in UK.
• If I apply in the USA will I have to take an exam and perform the programme in 5 years given that I already hold a Master so could directly skip to the 3 year?
• What are the most decisive parts of my future application I should absolutely focus on?
• Are profiles like mine common? Do academic staff checking application value less those who were out of academia for a while?
• Any tips to find a (graduate) research position in TP while before applying to a PhD? I am even ready to do it part-time for free if it will strengthen my application.
• If for whatever reason my Master dissertation was not really a success, is there a way to compensate this in my future application or is it the end?
• Regarding the recommendation letters, the latest for me would be from 2015. Do you think that would be prejudicial if I apply in 202X’something?
• I am also planning to revise my main modules of advanced master classes in order to be “ready” to start and maybe take some time before applying so that I can craft my programming skills and other technical skills needed for a PhD, do you think it is a good idea or should I start straight a PhD?
• Do you think that hiring an expert in academic applications is worth it? If yes do you have any suggestion of firms (made of physics PhD) to advise?
• What are the best areas where I could network to meet potential mentors/supervisor for my future PhD?
• Anyone undertaking a PhD while working at the same time? I really would like to get in touch.
• Sorry I am bombarding you with questions for my first post but I am so excited and nervous at the same time

Thank you

 

[jedishrfu]

From my past experience, I was working and out of school with a BS in Physics for about 5 yrs (circa 1980) and decided to go back for a Ph.D. while still working. I got accepted to the local university and started taking courses one at a time. I had to take the GRE as part of my application to apply and did so so. My references were somewhat old too as the profs I had retired.

The first thing I got was pressure to take the qualifying exam within a year or so vs my plan of 3 or 4 years of one course at a time. However, for me, that was impossible as I was pretty rusty in math. The profs seemed annoyed that I was trying to do this part-time and that I had independent funding (aka a job that paid the course fees).

My courses in TP and in QM were really tough and I struggled to maintain my grade. In the QM class, I needed to recall from memory the Legendre, Laguerre, and Bessel functions solutions for spherical-based QM systems but just couldn't memorize them. Others had difficulty too so we asked for a take-home exam. The prof said well in that case he'd need to make it a lot tougher.

In TP, I had a similar issue with math rustiness. In one case, the prof was writing down stress/strain tensors on the board which I recorded only to discover later that I had confused $\zeta$ with $\xi$ after reading Landau's book on Mechanics.

After those two courses and later an Astrophysics course, I decided it was best to shift away from a Ph.D. in Physics to an MS in Comp Sci.

The key points here are that there is a big gap between MS and Ph.D. that will require you to retake nearly all your courses and likely several math courses. No university will just accept the grades and coursework you got earlier except under extraordinary conditions like faculty connections and personal recommendations... that shows you know your stuff.

Now several decades later, I work at a university and thought to try again since we had an education benefit. This time I discovered that I had to take the GRE again and compete with all the incoming undergrads for acceptance into the physics grad program. Life experience was no help in that matter. My references were from my bosses and a coworker with a Ph.D. in Physics. I decided the GRE was a no-go in a competitive environment.

One prof at work suggested another very old scheme of getting a Ph.D. which is finding a dissertation worthy project, getting some sponsors, and requesting the university physics dept to set up a Ph.D. committee to guide and review my work.

This looked promising until I had trouble finding such a project and so gave up from all the roadblocks realizing you have to be truly outstanding or have discovered something of some import to even attempt this route. I found I couldn't even take courses one at a time to toward a degree without first getting accepted in the competitive program meaning I had to take the GRE and beat all the youngsters fresh out of undergrad years.

DON'T let any of this discourage you, you need to find a way and succeed otherwise you'll feel you missed the boat while a canoe was tied up at the dock.

 

[Choppy]

What are the best countries in Europe to be working for a PhD in TP? I am thinking to apply in UK.

Not sure, but it might help if you narrow your scope to a more specific area of interest and look more specifically at programs/schools that have expertise in that area, rather than simply aiming to identify first a country and then a school within.

If I apply in the USA will I have to take an exam and perform the programme in 5 years given that I already hold a Master so could directly skip to the 3 year?

American PhD programs don't generally work like that. You may or may not get credit for the course work you've done in your MSc... that's something that's school-specific, so you may be able to avoid taking some courses. But beyond course-work, graduation is a matter of completing passing your qualification and/or candidacy exam and completing your research project(s). Some people and projects are faster than others. Often people are limited by the fact that financial support runs out after five years or so.

Sometimes, if you do an MSc and PhD at the same institution, working in the same sub-field, on similar project the overall time on the PhD is less. That's my experience in the Canadian system. But a big part of that is that when doing the PhD as an extension of the MSc, you've already climbed many of the learning curves for the practical aspects of your project.

What are the most decisive parts of my future application I should absolutely focus on?

I'm not sure there are any secrets here. GPA is important. References are important. PGRE scores are important. Research experience is important. Your personal statement is important. Perhaps you're detecting a pattern? What I would say is to key in on those elements you have control over right now. Your historical grades are what they are. But you might be able to do something about updating your research experience, which in turn could lead to a publication and perhaps some better/updated letters of reference. To accomplish that, you somehow have to get involved with some research.

Are profiles like mine common? Do academic staff checking application value less those who were out of academia for a while?

I think it's not uncommon to see people who've been out of the game for a while. But the vast majority if applicants will be either those who are currently in school or within a year or so of having finished. The number diminishes as the gap increases. Of course it's likely to raise some flags if you haven't been doing anything academic in the last 6 years or so. It's difficult to say how much of a problem this is going to be, but there's a difference between a candidate who completed an MSc in 2015 with top marks, has since been working in a lab and has their name on a couple of papers, and candidate who barely scraped through the MSc in 2015, turned their back on academia, has been working at Walmart.

Any tips to find a (graduate) research position in TP while before applying to a PhD? I am even ready to do it part-time for free if it will strengthen my application.

Ask around. Start with your old professors. You could also try asking at local schools.

If for whatever reason my Master dissertation was not really a success, is there a way to compensate this in my future application or is it the end?

Not really sure what you mean by "not really a success." If you were awarded the MSc, it was successful. That said, sure, it would be nice if it led to a series of publications. It's not the end of the world if it didn't though. MSc projects are not always necessarily original enough to warrant publication.

Regarding the recommendation letters, the latest for me would be from 2015. Do you think that would be prejudicial if I apply in 202X’something?

See above.

I am also planning to revise my main modules of advanced master classes in order to be “ready” to start and maybe take some time before applying so that I can craft my programming skills and other technical skills needed for a PhD, do you think it is a good idea or should I start straight a PhD?

It won't hurt. But I wouldn't necessarily delay the PhD application in order to do this. I don't know how the European system works, but you've missed the deadline for Fall 2021 admissions in North America so you have a lot of time before that cycle comes around again. If you haven't been doing anything academic since 2015, absolutely you should get back to the books and clear the rust out.

Do you think that hiring an expert in academic applications is worth it? If yes do you have any suggestion of firms (made of physics PhD) to advise?

No. Sounds like a great way to waste money in my opinion. If you can't figure out how to navigate academia successfully on your own at the application stage, you're destined to have a lot of problems if you actually get in.

What are the best areas where I could network to meet potential mentors/supervisor for my future PhD?

Try your old school first. Aside from that conferences have always been good places for this. It's challenging to network effectively now though, since most conference venues are online these days. But they still have social activities, and the online conferences are a lot less expensive to attend.

Anyone undertaking a PhD while working at the same time? I really would like to get in touch.

It's pretty common for graduate students to be supported though a combination of stipends, scholarships and teaching assignments. But beyond TA work, side-hustles are not uncommon. The thing is, a PhD is a full-time commitment and there's not a lot of time at the end of the day once everything related to it is finished. So sure, you can work, but in my experience, anything more than a few hours per week is likely to draw out the overall time it takes to complete the project. Plus, there's the risk of burnout that grows the less free-time you allot yourself.

 

[The Moon Gauge]

Thank you jedishrfu for sharing your personal experience I really appreciate. I hope you were fullfilled in Computer Sciences.
Moral of the story would be to work super hard my master advanced module and get some research experience.
Cheers!

 

[The Moon Gauge]

Thank you Choppy I appreciate that you take the time to reply to all my points.

I understand the necessity to be working hard from now! Networking as well, I am attending soon an online summer school as well as a more advanced seminar so I will try my best to get in touch with the max number of physicist hopefully they will enjoy working with me. I realize how much the social aspect is important since the advisor have to like and feel us in a positive way nowadays regardless of my academic results -> Will check a post on how to catch your future advisor :) I am sure I will find one in this forum.

Honestly, I do not really wish to contact my former professors who are not working directly in my field of interest and with whom I didn't have a super contact.

My understanding in PhD applications in Europe is that most of them I have seen are on a continious basis.
The issue with having a full-time PhD is finance so I feel that I might be better working at the same time so that my PhD application will have a greater chance of being accepted since I will be self-fund and it can be a part-time PhD or online Covid-19 era PhD?

Cheers!