Can I Do Research in CS for My Physics Major?

[Physicsguy18]

Alright, so I am a physics major but I am 99% sure that I am going to get a minor in Computer Science. My question is that, I know I have to do some type of research in college, and I was wondering if I would be able to in Computer Science instead of Physics? Or is that a bad idea

 

[heatengine516]

Sure. Doing research in general will certainly be a plus on your resume no matter what department it is in. Especially if for whatever reason you can't get something in your physics department, don't hesitate to look elsewhere. Just a word of caution however, don't get involved in research that you aren't interested in. Research isn't like your typical flunky undergrad work study job. It is generally much more time demanding and mentally demanding. If you don't care about the subject matter, it's torture. I learned that the hard way this year...

There is such a thing as computational physics. Look around your department and see is anybody is doing that kind of work and talk to them about it. It often involves a lot of coding and algorithm design. Or even better yet see if anyone is doing quantum computing :D

 

[Dishsoap]

I second the notion that you should try and look for someone doing computational or numerical physics research. For instance, I work with a group which does numerical simulations (of pair creation) and though the physics is above my head, I am still able to contribute by making programs more efficient, learning how to do parallel processing, etc. etc. In fact, a lot of the professors you will come across are probably in need of someone who understands the computational aspect of things better.