From software development to physics PhD

[figm]

Hi there,

Last June 2019 I graduated with a First class honors in Theoretical physics from one of the Top Unis in the UK. Then I started working for a company (of good prestige) as a software engineer full time. However, a few months in, I decided to apply for Masters and start a side project with one of my previous professors. I don't have much experience in research besides this (just a small internship in a research lab in the summer after my 1st year undergrad) as I was completing other internships outside of academia. I have now been accepted to do the Master in Physics at Imperial College. For anybody with a similar experience or simply who could give me some guidance :

Ultimately, I want to apply for a PhD in theoretical physics. I know I have to build my research portfolio for this. So I have been considering doing the Masters part time and:

- During the first year of my masters: working in my current company for another year, but part time (to save money)
- During the second year: try to get into a research job I could be working in while I finish the master.

I have two questions:
1) Would studying my masters part time affect my PhD application?Would you do full time instead in my position?
2) How well considered are the coding skills?
3) How hard is it to obtain a research job as a lab assistant or something similar (may be I could use some of my software skills) prior to my Master's end?
4) I am studying for the GRE - given I get a decent score, how far off am I to get into a PhD in physics in the US in a good school?Thanks !

 

[f95toli]

1) Would studying my masters part time affect my PhD application?Would you do full time instead in my position?

It suspect it will depend on how applied your PhD is. Unless your work is in some way related to your PhD project it will be better to do a full time MSc.

2) How well considered are the coding skills?

That very much depends on the project. Everyone needs some "basic" coding skills, but projects vary a lot in how much coding is required.

3) How hard is it to obtain a research job as a lab assistant or something similar (may be I could use some of my software skills) prior to my Master's end?

Very, very hard in the UK for many different reasons (including H&S issues).
Normally. your best bet is to try to find a summer placement (which can be 2-3 months sans COVID19) of some sort but even that is hard (we typically get ~10 applicants for every position we advertise).

The system in the UK is very different from the USA. When I look for PhD students I do not expect the applicants to have any real experience of research (because opportunities are so rare in the UK). Good grades and a good MSc project and a recommendation from whoever supervised that project goes a long way.
Note that the process will be different if you apply to a CDT. Some CDTs are actively looking for people with a more mixed background since they want people who are more relevant for industry.

 

[figm]

Thank you very much for your answer. I am a C++ developer and have a large background in Java as well. Does this sound like something you would consider of great value for applications to PhD positions? For the moment, I am very interested in Quantum Information and HEP.