Particle physicist Master's thesis question

[PartPhys_1898]

Hi all,
I'm a european about to have to start his Master's thesis in particle physics. I might have the opportunity to choose between SLAC, Brookhaven lab and Purdue university. Purdue would offer me a more standard academic outlook, with the prof even mentioning a probable phd opportunity after the thesis there, while I don't really know what I might do after an eventual thesis at SLAC/BNL. Does someone know what the best choice might be and the potential career prospects that they might offer?

 

[gwnorth]

It seems to me you first need to decide whether or not you want to do a PhD, and if so, do you want to do it in the US.

I'm no expert, but a stand alone master's degree in Particle Physics doesn't seem particularly useful to me without the intent of continuing on to a PhD. What would a master's degree allow you to do that can't be done with a bachelor's but doesn't require a PhD?

If a PhD is your ultimate goal, and you want to pursue it in the US, then there's little point in doing a master's first. In the US, unlike Europe (and many other places), most students are admitted to a PhD straight from undergrad as their programs are predominantly integrated MS/PhDs. If you do decide to do a master's first, there is no guarantee that any subsequent US PhD program you attended would give you any significant transfer credit for the work completed as part of your master's, extending your ultimate time to completion. One exception might be if you pursued the Purdue offer and if once admitted subsequently to their PhD program, you would be guaranteed to be given credit for the master's.

If you want to do a PhD outside of the US, then that's a different calculus and I will defer advice as to which program would be your best option to those more knowledgeable than I.

 

[PartPhys_1898]

It seems to me you first need to decide whether or not you want to do a PhD, and if so, do you want to do it in the US.

I'm no expert, but a stand alone master's degree in Particle Physics doesn't seem particularly useful to me without the intent of continuing on to a PhD. What would a master's degree allow you to do that can't be done with a bachelor's but doesn't require a PhD?

If a PhD is your ultimate goal, and you want to pursue it in the US, then there's little point in doing a master's first. In the US, unlike Europe (and many other places), most students are admitted to a PhD straight from undergrad as their programs are predominantly integrated MS/PhDs. If you do decide to do a master's first, there is no guarantee that any subsequent US PhD program you attended would give you any significant transfer credit for the work completed as part of your master's, extending your ultimate time to completion. One exception might be if you pursued the Purdue offer and if once admitted subsequently to their PhD program, you would be guaranteed to be given credit for the master's.

If you want to do a PhD outside of the US, then that's a different calculus and I will defer advice as to which program would be your best option to those more knowledgeable than I.

Thanks for the reply! The thing is, being from Europe, I already enrolled and completed most of my Master's, with almost only the thesis being left. So, since I want to come to the US, I emailed various places and the ones that I think I have a concrete shot at are SLAC, BNL and this Purdue University (which I already know would provide me with a very probable phd with them). What idk is, US career wise, is it better to go to a national lab (i.e. SLAC) or to go to a more "usual" academic place like Purdue and get a phd there? Also, I've seen on Purdue's website that they have a page dedicated to average salaries for phds ad for physics it says average something like 90k a year which seems a bit off and crazy high to me. Do you by any chance know how much phd students get as salary on average in a US university?

 

[DrSteve]

Neither SLAC nor Brookhaven lab are degree granting institutions

 

[gwnorth]

I've seen on Purdue's website that they have a page dedicated to average salaries for phds ad for physics it says average something like 90k a year which seems a bit off and crazy high to me. Do you by any chance know how much phd students get as salary on average in a US university?

I think they're speaking about salaries after you graduate with your PhD. That's certainly not the amount of the stipend you will receive. For US universities the typical would be a TA or RAship with an accompanying fee waiver. Amounts vary significantly by university but the average seems to be in and around $30k-$40k. To know how much you could expect at specific programs try searching https://www.phdstipends.com/results.

 

[jtbell]

Neither SLAC nor Brookhaven lab are degree granting institutions

Just to elaborate on this a bit... most of the PhDs who work on experiments at these labs are professors from universities all over the US and the world, with help from their graduate students. So if you want to work on one of those experiments as a grad student, you need to find an advisor who is in a particle-physics group at one of those universities.