Summer research?

[earthling75]

I am currently finishing my first year as a Ph.D. Physics student in the U.S.. Research opportunities are limited at my university. Are there any outside opportunities to do paid summer research, maybe in Canada, in fields related to condensed matter physics, photonics, or biological physics? I would be willing to work at a university, government agency, or industry-sponsored research.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am currently finishing my first year as a Ph.D. Physics student in the U.S.. Research opportunities are limited at my university.

You are at the wrong place. Transfer. Now.

 

[CrysPhys]

I am currently finishing my first year as a Ph.D. Physics student in the U.S.. Research opportunities are limited at my university. Are there any outside opportunities to do paid summer research, maybe in Canada, in fields related to condensed matter physics, photonics, or biological physics? I would be willing to work at a university, government agency, or industry-sponsored research.

What were the terms of your acceptance to grad school? In my grad school, students weren't officially accepted into a research program until they had successfully passed their quals. Most students didn't take those until fall semester of the second year. But the department provided funds for all students to conduct research with professors on campus for the first summer.

 

[Choppy]

It strikes me as an odd statement that you've been accepted into a PhD program without research opportunities and that you would need to look to other schools for such opportunities.

Sometimes students don't end up with projects/supervisors right away. As CrysPhys suggests above, maybe you are expected to pass your qualifying examination first? If that's the case, shouldn't that be your focus for the summer? If not, are you sure that you're not supposed to be talking with faculty members in your department about projects right now? And if you're having a hard time finding something, schedule a meeting with the associate chair or whatever administrator is in charge of graduate students. Perhaps it's possible that with all the isolation associated with COVID, you've missed some critical information about the process somewhere along the line.

 

[member 428835]

You are at the wrong place. Transfer. Now.

This is tough advice to follow, but sadly OP, it's the right choice, unless as others have said, maybe you're missing massive info. Double check your acceptance offer. It's really difficult to believe the program is leaving you high and dry for the summer, though occasionally (rarely) I've heard of this happening.