Physics education PhD then MSc Physics

[dwd40physics]

Hi,

I am currently a physics teacher at secondary school level (high school). I have been offered to do a PhD in physics education in an area of research that interests me and relates to physics teaching. I am aware that physics education PhDs might not open up as many career opportunities outside of teaching however I wasn't sure if this PhD would enable me to lecture at university level later on ?

While teaching physics has been and still is of great interest to me I would like to at some point to pursue own intellectual interests in physics research - if I wanted to be able to research in a different area of physics e.g. condensed matter would this be possible with a PhD in physics education ? I was thinking of doing an MSc in theoretical physics or condensed matter after the physics education PhD for my own interests and I wasn't sure if the MSc in a related research area with a PhD in non-related area would enable me to research in a different field than physics education.

Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks

 

[berkeman]

however I wasn't sure if this PhD would enable me to lecture at university level later on ?

Lecture in what classes? Education classes?

 

[gleem]

I am currently a physics teacher at secondary school level (high school). I have been offered to do a PhD in physics education in an area of research that interests me and relates to physics teaching.

By this, I suppose that you have an offer from a specific university. Could you disclose it ? Is it a Ph.D. in physics or a Ph.D. in education?

if I wanted to be able to research in a different area of physics e.g. condensed matter would this be possible with a PhD in physics education ?

Not without specific training in those fields. I doubt that an MS in a pure physics discipline and a Ph.D. in physics education would get you as far as a Ph.D. in that discipline.

I would guess that there are fewer universities doing research in physics education than in condensed matter research thus limiting career choices.

 

[CrysPhys]

OP:

* I never heard of a PhD in physics education before, so I looked up a number of programs. There are sufficient variations that we need more details from you. For example, some programs are setup as interdisciplinary programs between the dept of physics and the dept of education. You are admitted through one of the depts, and the details of the programs depend on the dept you enroll in. For example, in a couple of programs I looked at, if you enroll through the physics dept, you must take the same required grad physics courses and pass the same required qual exam as the regular physics PhD students. If your program is structured this way, then obviously there would be no point in getting a follow-on MS Physics. So how is your program structured?

* Regardless of the formal course and exam requirements, your thesis research and dissertation will be focussed on a topic in physics education, not on a technical topic in physics per se. Therefore, if you later want to do research in a technical topic (e.g., condensed matter), you will not have the proper research training and experience. Even if you later were to pursue a mainstream MS Physics with a thesis requirement (many don't have one), any research training and experience you gain there will be considerably abbreviated relative to that which you would gain in a full mainstream PhD Physics thesis program.