Physics vs Technical Physics (Bachelor's degree)

[Savipats]

Simply put - which one would you choose and why? I have a physics spot in the University of Tartu, i'll probably acquire a spot for technical physics in the near future in the Tallinn's University of Technology.

The way i see it, technical physics is all about application, but I'm worried that it will not give me the big picture. Physics will probably be more profound, but at the same time, it might become a bit too dry for me. Since i want to apply my knowledge and i'd rather build something useful (given that i have the capabilities) than do research. What i love about the technical physics programme is that it gives me the opportunity to get my Master's degree in biomedical technology (humans seem so complex, i love the challenge), which seems to be a new promising field, at least in my mind. I'm afraid that pure physics won't give me the skills nor the opportunities to engineer something myself or to come up with new applications. It seems that all the great discoveries have all been made already and we know quite a lot, it's time to put that into good use. But.. on the other hand.. i don't want to miss out on other awesome things in physics (astrophysics, high energy physics, quantum mechanics). Damn, it's like.. i want to be the jack of all trades, but that means being master of none.

tl;dr
Just answer the first question. Thank you!

 

[lisab]

If you really want to go into biomedical technology, set your course for that and go. It's a great field - very interesting and the future looks good. Along the way, you'll get lots of physics to satisfy your appetite. Don't worry too much about discovering new things - applying what is already known is critically important to advancing society. Plus, people pay you good money to do it.

In the US at least, it can be tough to get an engineering job with a BS in physics.

 

[chill_factor]

technical physics all the way.

 

[Martin_L]

Tere,

Kuna ma foorumi reegleid ei tea, siis igaks juhuks postitan inglise keeles
Translation:"Since I'm not familiar with forum rules, this post will be in English.

Simply put - which one would you choose and why? I have a physics spot in the University of Tartu, i'll probably acquire a spot for technical physics in the near future in the Tallinn's University of Technology.

Both are good. I believe that you can get as good physics education in TTÜ, as you would in UT.

The way i see it, technical physics is all about application, but I'm worried that it will not give me the big picture. Physics will probably be more profound, but at the same time, it might become a bit too dry for me.

The difference actually comes down more to the directions of research in TTÜ and UT. For TTÜ, the strong points are continuum mechanics, waves, geophysics, biomechanics and system biology, medical physics and solar panels. In UT the strong points are nanophysics, high energy physics and possibly more that I don't know (oh, and ESTCube is based in UT, but both unis are involved). Both universities have astrophysicists and I don't know about UT, but TTÜ has a very good professor teaching Quantum Mechanics.

TTÜ Engineering Physics is more about physics less about engineering than you probably think. If you look at the curriculum at ois.ttu.ee, you will see many optional courses, but bear in mind that you can take any course from other curriculums as well. Some of us have even swapped some not-so-important required courses with optional ones. And there are many engineering courses to choose from in TTÜ.

It seems you want to get BSc in physics and then MSc in some engineering field. This is a good choice. You might want to take some introductory classes to your chosen engineering field while studying for Bachelor, which should be possible in both uni-s.

Just answer the first question. Thank you!

Both are good, you can't go wrong, but it seems you want to come to TTÜ :)

Martin L
TTÜ BSc Eng. Phys.

 

[Savipats]

Thanks for the info, i always wanted to study engineering physics, but it isn't that popular and i had my last minute doubts, regarding my future and career. I've made my choice now - nowhere to run anymore. I'm going to be an engineering physicist in TTÜ (Tallinn's University of Technology).