Should I Take Extra Courses During My PhD in Cosmology for Future Careers?

[Raeed777]

Hello everyone, I finished my BSc im Electrical engineering in israel and currently doing my masters in cosmology in the same Uni. I'm a planning on doing PhD in the same subject as well. My masters thesis is about using machine learning for dark matter and structure formation, PhD would be in the samw field most likely.

Even though I love the subject and 100% want to commit to it, I did a little job scouting for physics related job. A lot of jobs, and I really mean a lot, are looking for PhD in photonics/electro-optics/non-linear optics and that sort thing. So I was wondering if taking a few coursed on optics/lasers/QIP during my PhD would be useful for future job opportunities or is it not going to be enough to attract future employers? Or do you think I should focuse on machine learning and coding instead?

Side note: I enjoy all branches of physics so I have no problem of taking courses about subjects other than cosmology. Im currently studying GR and QFT and already did advanced statistical mechanics.

 

[Vanadium 50]

It's hard to say - one cannot easily get into the mind of the person doing the hiring. In general, your thesis is more important than your coursework when looking for a job as it answers the question "what can you do?" while classwork answers the question "what did somebody tell you?" But obviously there is value in classes, otherwise nobody would take them.

Also, with a PhD and a BSEE you will probably find some job. It's really a question of how much you want that job. And that makes it even harder to guess.

 

[Raeed777]

It's hard to say - one cannot easily get into the mind of the person doing the hiring. In general, your thesis is more important than your coursework when looking for a job as it answers the question "what can you do?" while classwork answers the question "what did somebody tell you?" But obviously there is value in classes, otherwise nobody would take them.

Also, with a PhD and a BSEE you will probably find some job. It's really a question of how much you want that job. And that makes it even harder to guess.

Thanks for the response, I do have a 3 years of experience as a validation engineer under my belt so I'm sure with enough time I'll land a job. But as you know, landing a job as a physicist is a really attractive idea. Gues I'll ask photonics researchers at my Uni for more details

 

[CrysPhys]

Thanks for the response, I do have a 3 years of experience as a validation engineer under my belt so I'm sure with enough time I'll land a job. But as you know, landing a job as a physicist is a really attractive idea. Gues I'll ask photonics researchers at my Uni for more details

Yes, with your background, you'll probably land a job. But after completing a PhD in Physics, you want to leverage your training, skills, and experience as much as possible; preferably as a lead researcher/engineer, not as a research assistant/support engineer. If you go after a photonics job, you'll be competing against candidates who completed their theses in the field. So how will you stack up against them? Ask photonics researchers at your university for contacts in the photonics industry. They will tell you what your opportunities are.

On the other hand, if you'll have expertise and years of experience in machine learning, why not leverage that when looking for a job in industry or business? Consider taking extra courses to enhance your opportunities in that field.