Become a Scientist: Engineer or Physicist?

[Vanadium 50]

After Masters, what kind of job will I be able to get? I heard that you can get a job as a professor in a university.

This is very unlikely. You need a PhD, usually several years experience post-PhD, and even then there are for more applicants than positions.

 

[KeshavTheBest]

This is very unlikely. You need a PhD, usually several years experience post-PhD, and even then there are for more applicants than positions.

Then is there a way I can do my phd but also earn something? Because I do need to survive and pay the rent.
EDIT: I was talking to my friend about this and he said you get paid while you do phd?! seriously? he said it is called a stipend and I don't know what it is. I google'd it and found that it is around 1650 euro per month in Germany which is actually great. But can anyone tell me more about it? Like is it for a limited period or there are restrictions on it or maybe not everyone get it? Because if I indeed get paid that much, then my future is already set! My parents have enough for me to study till masters. PhD was the main problem here. I have been very anxious about it since quite a few days so I do not want to get my hopes up just yet. Someone please confirm it. Thanks in advance

 

[Crass_Oscillator]

Jobs are horrible in fancy physics (e.g. pencil and paper professional pontification about black holes), but in Europe, jobs for computational physics might be better than in the US.

In that case, you'll be spending your time coding and managing computers like I do. Which, I greatly enjoy, but which might not conform to your expectations.

 

[Anon1000]

Hello, I would like to become a 'scientist' that can research new things and give theories but also is capable of inventing stuff. For example (just am example, don't say not possible please :( ) I research about how a kerr black hole can be made and used to travel time. I reach to a conclusion. But instead of publishing it, I decide to go on and using this, make a time machine myself.
I have always watched scientists like these in movies, anime, etc. and I want to become one myself. So which course for this? Some people, when I posted here a year ago, said do mechatronics. I can do mechatronics and become an engineer to invent things but if I study physics in depth side by side will it make me as capable as a scientist? Of course, this way I will only have a degree in engineering and that is fine. I just want to be able to become a self proclaimed scientist.
Thanks in advance.

Physicist, Engineering is more commercial, Physicist is more theoretical, proof of concept stuff.

Having said that I like Engineering more and I think they do a more valuable job. Physicists don't really have that much to do at this point, it's all either Astrophysics at ten million million million lightyears away, or its Quantum Mechanics theorization (and even then, it's still one experiment every 20 years out of CERN, you can't really do any Physics experiments anymore).

Whatever you do, WHATEVER you do, always pay attention to how many jobs there are for your field and how much they pay. You can get information about this from your country's reports on jobs and the labour market, or just by looking up a job board and looking at the numbers. Because you're not really given a choice in this matter, either you're working in a field where there are jobs, or you're unemployed. And if you want to do things without being paid that's your business, but if you want to be paid, you're not just going to be paid for every degree out there. And by all means have a look how many sociology or economics jobs exist in the world, because there aren't very many.

PS I just read you saying that "you watched scientists in movies". That sounds to me like you're being told by your parents or society that you need to go to college and you're trying to convince yourself that you really like it by tying it to a form of entertainment that you actually do like (in other words, what you really like is watching the Anime, not the scientist). I would not do that. All of your decisions should be your own.

 

[KeshavTheBest]

Physicist, Engineering is more commercial, Physicist is more theoretical, proof of concept stuff.

Having said that I like Engineering more and I think they do a more valuable job. Physicists don't really have that much to do at this point, it's all either Astrophysics at ten million million million lightyears away, or its Quantum Mechanics theorization (and even then, it's still one experiment every 20 years out of CERN, you can't really do any Physics experiments anymore).

Whatever you do, WHATEVER you do, always pay attention to how many jobs there are for your field and how much they pay. You can get information about this from your country's reports on jobs and the labour market, or just by looking up a job board and looking at the numbers. Because you're not really given a choice in this matter, either you're working in a field where there are jobs, or you're unemployed. And if you want to do things without being paid that's your business, but if you want to be paid, you're not just going to be paid for every degree out there. And by all means have a look how many sociology or economics jobs exist in the world, because there aren't very many.

PS I just read you saying that "you watched scientists in movies". That sounds to me like you're being told by your parents or society that you need to go to college and you're trying to convince yourself that you really like it by tying it to a form of entertainment that you actually do like (in other words, what you really like is watching the Anime, not the scientist). I would not do that. All of your decisions should be your own.

This is my very own decision, my family wants me to go the engineering route but it is me that wants to go the physics route. I will do pay attention to the jobs. can you tell me if a transition is possible from physics to another field (of science ofcourse) or if physics guys can get jobs in other fields that pay well? Because I just want to study this thing because I want to know more about the universe. I will try my best to remain in the field only but if certain things happen and I am forced to make a transition, I need advice for then.

 

[Anon1000]

This is my very own decision, my family wants me to go the engineering route but it is me that wants to go the physics route. I will do pay attention to the jobs. can you tell me if a transition is possible from physics to another field (of science ofcourse) or if physics guys can get jobs in other fields that pay well? Because I just want to study this thing because I want to know more about the universe. I will try my best to remain in the field only but if certain things happen and I am forced to make a transition, I need advice for then.

I would tell your family to mind their place, you need to make this decision, because you'll be sitting all the exams and living this career, or dropping out in 10 years because you don't like it. And the reason why I would also say it is because Engineering doesn't necessarily pay any better than any other job, but is much more involved than most jobs, and will require a big committment from you.

(Also I've seen you say something about PhDs - a PhD is basically a person who is preparing to become a professor, and I would be very cautious about that, because they only offer you a stipend if you're the best of the best, and then you ONLY become a professor if you're the best of the best there. In other words, you might as well be playing the lottery, because at that point its 20 people for one professor seat, and the other 19 go unemployed or have to switch careers - that's not a kind of environment you want to be in, you want to go into a field where there are a comfortable amount of jobs for everybody, and nobody is freaking out because everybody has a 90% grade average, and they are selecting candidates by whom they like on a personal level or who looks prettier or who'll look better for diversity quotas or whatever)

You can transition, but not to another science. You'd need to start over. You can't get a degree in Physics and apply for Chemistry jobs. You can probably transfer to Engineering. You can also transfer to a wide variety of other professions, but not in science, science has very specific fields. And transitioning is always possible (at least if you're not trying to move from an Undergraduate Physics to a Post Graduate Chemistry), but is always undesirable. If possible, I would be doing what you want to be doing in your career in college.

Although, and you have to realize this, colleges actually want you to go there, and not the other way around. You make their courses and livelihoods possible, so you might actually be able to transfer from Physics undergrad to Chemistry postgrad. But that might not be the case in a company, they will want to see at least some qualifications.

Also, you do realize that most of the jobs in any economy aren't science-related? IT itself is probably bigger than all of science and Engineering combined, and THEN some. Then there's accounting, sales (talking), purchasing, HR (the bane of society), so on and so forth.

 

[KeshavTheBest]

This thread can be locked, I have made my decision, I will be doing theoretical physics. If necessary, I am pretty sure I can transition to software development. Thanks for the replies everyone and just to clarify, it is my very own decision lol.

 

[Timo]

Then is there a way I can do my phd but also earn something? Because I do need to survive and pay the rent.
EDIT: I was talking to my friend about this and he said you get paid while you do phd?! seriously? he said it is called a stipend and I don't know what it is. I google'd it and found that it is around 1650 euro per month in Germany which is actually great. But can anyone tell me more about it? Like is it for a limited period or there are restrictions on it or maybe not everyone get it? Because if I indeed get paid that much, then my future is already set! My parents have enough for me to study till masters. PhD was the main problem here. I have been very anxious about it since quite a few days so I do not want to get my hopes up just yet. Someone please confirm it. Thanks in advance

I wrote quite a few lines about details of PhD funding. But then I realized that most of those details don't really matter for you at the moment. So I'll break it down to the essentials: Yes, in Germany you get paid to do your PhD in Physics. Usually, you are employed by the university as a researcher. Sometimes you have a stipend. In both cases, you get enough money to make a decent living, especially when you are used to students' standards. So financing your PhD is not an issue.

 

[KeshavTheBest]

I wrote quite a few lines about details of PhD funding. But then I realized that most of those details don't really matter for you at the moment. So I'll break it down to the essentials: Yes, in Germany you get paid to do your PhD in Physics. Usually, you are employed by the university as a researcher. Sometimes you have a stipend. In both cases, you get enough money to make a decent living, especially when you are used to students' standards. So financing your PhD is not an issue.

Alright, thanks for the confirmation!

 

[Sun Wukong]

I am a graduating student with a BTech in Mechatronics and will take BS Physics next. I think taking Physics will deepen my knowledge in my technical field while my technology degree will allow me to apply for engineering jobs in the future.