Accelerator Physics - A field where jobs go begging

[ersa17]

I've worked on accelerators in industry for the past 8 years as an electronics technician. I've been working on a BS in physics for most of those years, taking classes in my spare time - partly for enjoyment, partly for career advancement. After a long road, its time to decide on an MS, and was considering USPAS. This thread popped up in my Google search, and was pleased to hear my field of interest is in demand.

Since I'm only a part-timer, the thought of taking classes at USPAS in two week chunks or online with a 5 year time limit is very tempting. I don't believe I'll complete a PhD, so I'm wondering if you see value in a MS from USPAS/UI or is this something best left to those with a PhD?

I am also planning to pursue my MS in Physics (specializing in accelerator physics).
Could you share your experience or your current status?? Would love to hear about it.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Just so you know, he hasn't been here in almost 9 years.

 

[ersa17]

Just so you know, he hasn't been here in almost 9 years.

Thanks for letting me know. Didn't realize it.

 

[StatGuy2000]

@ZapperZ , I know you had first started this thread back in 2010, where you had argued that there was plentiful employment opportunities in the area of accelerator physics.

I was wondering if you have any information to update the rest of PF community regarding the demand for those in accelerator physics as of 2021.

 

[JJminusI]

I am also planning to pursue my MS in Physics (specializing in accelerator physics).
Could you share your experience or your current status?? Would love to hear about it.

I know someone who did it and I went to a fair few USPAS courses myself during my graduate studies. The courses vary in quality from decent to very good depending on how many times the instructor has taught at USPAS. Some lessons I learned the hard way, that you might find useful:

1) Networking is just as important as the content of the classes. Talk to the teachers, talk the fellow students, talk to everyone.

2) The compressed schedule means you should treat the problem sets like a test. Don't start on problem 1, read them all, figure out which ones you can do quickly and do them. Then come back and do the harder problems. Don't spin your wheels for too long on a problem either, talk to the teacher, TA, or other students.

3) Do not stay up late doing the homework. My personal rule was at 11 PM I'd start cleaning up the work that I had, so that I could relax for 30-45 minutes before being in bed at midnight. You are going to have to do all of this again tomorrow, get some sleep.

4) Exercise and get out of the hotel once a day. It was very good for my sanity. It doesn't have to be a big thing, but 30 minutes of concentrating on something that isn't course content was great for my morale, mental health, and sleep cycle.

5) The food varies by hotel from terrible to pretty decent. It tends to be pretty heavy, so eat less than you think you want and have snacks on hand to cover.

If you decide to do the project, that is probably the hardest part. The best case for this is if you already work in some accelerator-relevant field and you can convert some task/project that you are already working on into a thesis. Pick something you genuinely want to do. This document is going to summarize your expertise in a narrow area of accelerator physics and, when you go out looking for work, employers are going to expect you to use it to their benefit. Don't just pluck low hanging fruit in the hopes you'll get to do something "better" later, that is a hard row to hoe.

Everyone prioritizes PhDs over masters holders. Because, generally, the PhDs have spent more time learning more things and know more people in the field. At a lab, you will probably end up as a system expert for either an entire system (small, singular systems, say a kicker magnet) or part of a system (larger systems, say the RF chain). My experience at the labs is mostly outside the US, but the group leaders and people with upward mobility all have PhDs. In industry, we preferred PhDs for the above reasons. That doesn't mean we won't call you for an interview, but unless your particular skill is exactly what we need when we need it and we expect to have enough work to keep you busy for a few years doing that, we'll go with the PhD first because we just don't have the head count to have a narrow specialist on staff.

I hope you found that useful.

 

[berkeman]

I know someone who did it and I went to a fair few USPAS courses myself during my graduate studies. The courses vary in quality from decent to very good depending on how many times the instructor has taught at USPAS. Some lessons I learned the hard way, that you might find useful:

It looks like for now the instruction is online distance learning. That's unfortunate to lose some of the hands-on experience...

https://uspas.fnal.gov/

*** COVID-19 Update ***

Our winter session with Texas A&M University will be offered online and will be expanded to 4 weeks from January 25 - February 19, 2021 with classes held via Zoom. Details can be found here.

Our summer 2021 session with Stony Brook University will most likely be moved online as well. Please watch this space for updates.

 

[Jody]

To the OP:

You should link to some job posts.

Otherwise, it's only talk.

The post was 11 years ago.

 

[StatGuy2000]

The post was 11 years ago.

Given how old this thread is, perhaps the moderators should consider closing it?

Because the title is suggesting that demand for accelerator physics is still strong, which might have been true 11 years ago, but may not be so today.

 

[berkeman]

Given how old this thread is, perhaps the moderators should consider closing it?

Because the title is suggesting that demand for accelerator physics is still strong, which might have been true 11 years ago, but may not be so today.

Good point. I'll tie off the thread for now. If @ZapperZ wants to re-open it, we can.