Professional Physicists - Research

Physicists who conduct scientific research full-time in the following areas:

Astronomy/Astrophysics
Atmospheric Science
Condensed Matter
Electronics
Geophysics
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Particle Physics
Planetary Science

Astronomy/Astrophysics

Job title:
Astrophysicist / Research Scientist

Educational background:
B.S. Physics / Astrophysics Option
M.S. Astronomy
Ph.D. Physics

What do you do?
There are three main areas of research that I am currently focusing on, all involving high-energy experimental astrophysics. The first is a balloon-borne hard x-ray telescope for which I assist with calibrations, maintain observing schedule for, and perform any miscellaneous related tasks for operation. The second project is detector development with a concentration in solid state detector systems (mainly CdZnTe and Si). The third project is the development of planetary instrumentation (specifically a miniaturized environmental scanning electron microscope for in situ imaging and chemical analysis of planetary materials).

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I have always wanted to understand and explore the world we live in. Physics provides the means to accomplish this.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
My career requires having both hands-on skills and an understanding of how and why something works. A physics background aids you with this understanding so that you can build and improve on a particular concept. A background in physics also teaches you to approach a problem in a methodical way, such that you increase your understanding as you go.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
Fortunately, my husband is also very career-minded and so we understand each other's work commitments. When we have a child, compromises will have to be made. It will be a difficult balance, but we will make our choices and work through them.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
With a degree in physics, you will obtain a basic understanding of how the Universe works and you will establish a unique perspective when approaching a problem. This perspective will help you with all aspects of your life - not just your career. Because I do a lot of experimental work (and there is a demand for good experimental physicists), one thing I might have done differently would have been to take engineering courses to supplement my physics degree. It would have taken longer to graduate, but I believe that the experience would have been worthwhile. I also believe that it is essential to supplement any physics degree with a programming language. Not every university requires this, but it is definitely worthwhile.

Job title:
Astronomer

Educational background:
PhD, Astronomy

What do you do?
I research observational cosmology.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I loved it! I found it extremely exciting, challenging, and interesting.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
It has been essential. It taught me to think.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I can't imagine having to choose. Family and career are both essential to me. They are a wonderful complement to each other. The key is finding a husband who also enjoys child-raising.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Physics-related careers can be exceptionally rewarding. Be wary of advice from people who may mean well, but who don't understand why you might wish to do this. Seek out people ahead of you at each stage who have forged a path, and learn what needs to be done to get to the next stage. Expect that there will be minor setbacks, and don't get sidetracked by them or discouraged.

Read widely in your field. Become an expert in it. Once you have started to do research, make sure that you travel to meetings and meet people working in your field of research. Overcome any reluctance you have to speak about your work, or to ask questions of people working in your area. Give talks at meetings. Have people whose opinions you trust give you feedback on your papers before you submit them for publication. Accept (or rather, seek) constructive criticism.

Job title:
Research Associate

Educational background:
Ph.D. in Astrophysics
M.Sc. in Radio astronomy
B.S. in Astronomy

What do you do?
I am full-time researcher. I work on projects related to extragalactic astronomy, mostly on galaxy evolution. I use many different types of telescopes and satellites, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, to obtain data to study how galaxies form and evolve. I supervise graduate students and collaborate with several astronomers around the world.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I was always curious to know how the universe works and decided that if I studied physics/astrophysics, one day I could actually teach others everything that I learned.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I could not be an astrophysicist without knowing physics. I love my job and enjoy discovering new things every day. Physics is about discovering how things work and figuring out how to achieve goals.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I have no problem balancing my life with my career. A researcher has a lot of freedom and can accommodate family life very well. Of course, it is not easy to be a scientist, and I had to give up many things when I was a student. But after a few years as a professional, one learns how to balance the daily life and take advantage of the freedom one has. I can work any time of the day or any time of the week. I am my own boss and have the freedom to choose my area of work. I end up working more than 8 hours a day, but I do that because I have fun when I am working.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Physics or science in general requires a certain passion to it. Only the ones who find it fun should do it, otherwise it loses its purpose. I believe everyone can achieve their dreams with a certain amount of dedication.

Job title:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Educational background:
B.A. in Physics & Astronomy
M.A. in Astronomy
Ph.D. in Astronomy

What do you do?
I do full-time research in observational astronomy, which involves traveling to telescopes to conduct observations, analyzing the data, writing up the results in scientific journals and presenting them at conferences. As a postdoctoral fellow, I have the freedom to determine which projects to pursue depending on which topics are interesting to me.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I was always fascinated by the stars and the vastness of the Universe and wanted to understand how they work. In college, I had a great physics professor who made the subject very interesting. I also did a research project with an astronomy professor who was very enthusiastic about her field and showed me that research is fun.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
It has been an important foundation for understanding the physical processes that I study in my research.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
Being single, I have not faced this yet. I do know women astronomers that have managed to balance both and their advice is "marry the right man."

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Pursue it only if it is your passion, because a Ph.D. in physics or astronomy is challenging and requires a lot of self-discipline and self-motivation. Get involved in research while in college to see if you like it. Graduate school is a very different experience than college and a lot more fun in my opinion.

Job title:
Astrophysicist (Civil Servant)

Educational background:
B.S. in Physics & Mathematics
Ph.D. in Astrophysics

What do you do?
I work at NASA on the science case for future astronomical missions and on my own astrophysics research. I mentor some students and collaborate with postdocs here at the lab.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Initially (when I was very young, in middle school, etc.) it was because I was good at mathematics, but I knew I did not want to spend my life being a mathematician. So when I "discovered" physics and astronomy, I thought it sounded like a great area where I could use mathematics and also do computer programming (which I like) without it getting boring.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
You can't do astrophysics without understanding physics. For instance, you had better understand atomic physics to interpret astronomical spectra. But for me, it was most important to be well-versed in observational astronomy, the physics is somewhat secondary (the physics degree enabled me to get into graduate school).

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I have delayed having children a bit (as have many of my female colleagues). However, I just make my family a priority and take the time out to spend with them occasionally. One has to make it a priority and recognize that chaos may reign regardless of your choices. I believe life is always at least a little bit "out of balance" anyway.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Learn to write real computer programs, not just Java. You need to know C, Fortran, etc. Also, one should take liberal arts courses and become well-rounded. It is important to be an all-around intellectual and to be able to think very broadly as well as being specialized in some topic. I believe I neglected some of the liberal arts courses in college and have regretted it.

Job title:
Astrophysicist

Educational background:
Physics and Mathematics Undergraduate Degree
Physics Ph.D.

What do you do?
I am part of a user support group for a Japanese/U.S. X-ray satellite mission. Our role is to assist U.S.-based astronomers in their analysis of the data they can get from this satellite. This includes organizing proposals review, writing analysis guides, taking care of the status of the software and calibration files, coordinating observation scheduling with our Japanese colleagues, etc.

In addition, I do research on supernova remnants and work in quite a few outreach projects, not necessarily to push kids to scientific careers, but to encourage them to ask questions and look at science without fear. These projects include mixing theater and astronomy or astronomy and music.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Even at an early age, I was always asking questions. Physics seemed to be where most of the answers were.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Physics has given me a more general view of a lot of phenomena in astronomy. I would recommend majoring in physics rather than in astronomy even if you want to have a career in astronomy, because it opens more doors. It also gives you a better grasp at what you're doing.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Don't get intimidated by anybody. Find good people to work with and follow their lead and advice.

Mentor other students at lower levels (it will help you understand better what you have learned and will benefit someone).

There are more careers in physics than just the university path. Explore all possibilities without prejudices: a lot of physics professors do less "real physics" than people working in more non-conventional fields.

Job title:
Research Scientist

Educational background:
B.A. Physics
M.S. Physics
Ph.D. Physics

What do you do?
I do full-time research in astrophysics.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I liked science from the time I was little (what kid doesn't?). By the time I reached middle or high school, I had realized a career in science would be about learning something new all the time, and that sounded great. I wound up in physics because it addressed the most basic questions about the world, and then in astronomy because it asks about the biggest questions in the universe.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I could fairly be described as an astronomer, but I don't have any astronomy degrees! I use physics every day in my research.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
Like physical balance, career-family balance requires practice, constant readjustment and flexibility. It is a multi-variable problem with no analytic solution, but you can jump in and find your way to interesting and manageable minimum energy states.

My spouse's support has been invaluable; he knew early in our relationship how important my work was to me, and he knew that wouldn't change once we had children. I travel frequently to observe or to attend meetings, and he has no trouble keeping the home front running calmly and lovingly. Men can grow beyond the conveniently adopted "learned helplessness" of my father's generation with respect to household chores. It also helps that we make enough money between us to afford good childcare. Don't believe any of the calculus you might have heard questioning "spending your whole salary" on childcare versus "staying home." My child, my spouse, and I are all happier because I love my work and get to do it every day. Stable, albeit expensive, childcare has been essential.

I heard one of my more senior male colleagues say of a job applicant, "We can't expect her to be as productive in the future, because she has children." Well, perhaps I'm not quite as productive as I was before my child was born, but I've been productive enough to be promoted, be awarded lots of competitive telescope time, and be invited frequently to tell others about my exciting results. I feel pretty successful, and I'm having a blast with my child too. I make sure he knows how exciting science is and how much fun it is to learn new things about the Universe, so he can be enthusiastic about my work too. I also expect that my scientific creativity and productivity will outlast my childrearing years, just as it has for my male colleagues.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Try research as early and as often as you can - the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate programs are wonderful opportunities. You will not only find out if you like research but also what sorts of research work excite you. Stay curious and enthusiastic about the natural world. Enthusiasm cannot be overrated; it will carry you through evil problem sets and frustrating research setbacks. If you decide to go to graduate school, aim high. Good departments offer a wide range of faculty research, cutting-edge scientific instrumentation and invaluable career contacts.

Job title:
Astronomer (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Educational background:
Astronomy, Physics, Religious Studies (B.S.; B. A.)
Planetary Science (Ph. D)

What do you do (work responsibilities, research, etc.)?
My main job responsibility at the moment focuses on data analysis for ground- and space-based telescopic observations. This includes planning observations and writing proposals to acquire telescope time and funding. I also write computer code to organize and extract information from my data as well as create synthetic data to model what I might theoretically expect to obtain at the telescope. After the data is analyzed and conclusions have been drawn, my collaborators and I publish our results in peer-reviewed journals and present our results at conferences.

In addition to research activities, I am involved in educational outreach both in classrooms and at the local science center. In graduate school, I taught (at a variety of levels) and helped to further develop three observational astronomy classes. Each summer I counsel for a high school Astronomy Camp.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I have been interested in astronomy since I was a child. I grew up seeing God's fingerprints in the heavens and always wanted to understand more, from both a physical and spiritual perspective. In 6th grade, I met Clyde Tombaugh (the man who discovered Pluto) and was captivated by the outer solar system; it has been my pursuit ever since.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Astronomy is applied physics. The skills that I learned in my physics lab classes gave me the tools for developing experiments and analyzing any variety of datasets. I use a variety of the mathematical and theoretical physics I learned in college courses in an applied way when developing theories for why we observe objects in the solar system to have certain characteristics (i.e. Kepler's laws allow us to calculate the orbital motion of minor bodies in the solar system).

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I don't think there is any easy answer to this question, and it is a decision that a husband and wife must make together. However, it appears to me, now more than ever before, that it is possible to continue at some level with a career in astronomy and being a mother. It is often possible to work from home on research and be very successful. In my opinion, teaching will always be best accomplished hands-on in a classroom. Like anything else, personal boundaries must be established when balancing family and career commitments, and there may be times when one will win out over another, it is an individual decision and what might be looked at as a wrong decision by some might be a right decision for you. I do believe that our community is more aware of and open to being sensitive to the needs of individuals now more than ever before - for both men and women.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
It's important to develop a solid background in both math and physics. If you plan on going to graduate school, it's not clear to me that your choice of undergraduate school is that critical, the classes you take are the most important (at any university). It's also very helpful if you can find some sort of internship during the semester or summer research program (e.g. REU program) to get some experience with what it's like to really work in the field you plan to go to graduate school for. If you don't want to go to graduate school, then simply get a solid degree in math and physics and learn how you might enjoy applying it. The analytical skills you acquire studying physics or math in college are applicable in many disciplines.

Job title:
Post-Doctoral Fellow

Educational background:
B.Sc. (Physics)
M.Sc. (Physics)
Ph.D. (Astronomy)

What do you do?
I do extragalactic astronomy. Currently, I work on data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. My job is to analyze, interpret and publish results based on this data.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I had been interested in mathematics and physics since my school days. Though I was never a member of any science club, the logical reasoning of physics fascinated me. After completing my master's in physics with an electronics specialization, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in astronomy. I was mainly attracted to astronomy by the beauty of the images and the mind-boggling time and length scales associated with astronomical objects.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
My background in physics has greatly helped me in my astronomy career. In fact, a strong physics background was a prerequisite for pursuing astronomy at my institute.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
When I was pursuing my Ph.D., I would spend most of my time at the institute. Later, I got married to a person who is also a Ph.D. in physics. That helped a lot because he could understand and share both my tensions and my joys that my career brought with it. I took an official break from my career to be a full-time mom for 2 years when my son was born and I moved to a new country. But I continued working voluntarily with my collaborators and even published a paper. This helped me to get back in the field and am now working full-time since the past few years. When I am at work, I give it my 100% and when I am at home, I give that my 100%. I found that I have become more productive and focused at work now than when I was spending more time at work during my graduate school days.

It is very important for me to have both a family and a career and I think I have managed to balanced them reasonably. A supportive spouse helps a lot and it is not too difficult in research as the hours are flexible.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Firstly, think long and hard about what you really want out of life, about how you want to spend the next 20 to 30 years of your life. A career in research is mentally stimulating but it is a long and arduous path. Talk to people in this field. Find out what it takes; what are the perks and what sacrifices you will have to make. Most important, pursue it if you are really passionate about it.

Job title:
Post Doctoral Research Associate

Educational background:
B.Sc. Astrophysics
M.Sc. Radio Astronomy
Ph.D. Astronomy

What do you do?
I do a mixture of research (my own and that of the group/person that has employed me), some teaching (one-on-one, usually Ph.D. students), and some technical work ("support astronomer" for a particular instrument on a telescope).

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Because, although I liked the arts/social sciences while in school, I wasn't sure what sort of career that would lead to. I enjoy science, all and any science. To be honest, I could have ended up in any science field except the "hardest" ones, for which I don't have the brain power or inclination.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Well, actually I don't think I am particularly good at physics (which, of course, I need to do astronomy), but I am good at research. It is a shame that in astronomy we don't have the same sort of division between the researchers and the technical staff that you find, I believe, in lab-based work, because to do these two things you really do need different skills and different inclinations (and these two types of work are equally important and should be equally rewarded, by the way). Technical work (in astronomy that would be being a support astronomer or instrument scientist) can be extremely satisfying, allowing you to do research but to have some sort of hands-on involvement, to have the feeling that what you are doing is helpful to other people. As an astronomer, although I love to explore the universe, I do sometimes wonder if what I am doing is at all important to anyone but me and my colleagues.

In Europe (from where I come) I think it is helpful to have a physics degree, even a Ph.D., even if you decide not to pursue a career in that area, as it is believed that you learn a lot of things about how to work at a project and about how to think on your own. In the USA, I understand, it is considered a negative thing to have a Ph.D. if you then want to get a job in a company not using your Ph.D., as it is considered that you wasted your time (or so I was told).

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I have lost count of the number of women (including me) who have to compromise between the two, and often end up choosing one over the other. That is why the number of women in the field drop off as you go up the work ladder. Our society - and the university and science environments particularly - is really badly organised when it comes to family life plus work balance. If you want both, you need to start organising your life from the very beginning of your career so you can have family and a job together (or you need to be very lucky); unfortunately when you are in your mid-twenties this is not usually something you can do, not being in a position to dictate your own terms.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Doing research (like astronomy) is great if you love researching science (as opposed to love learning or reading about science, which you can do in many other types of jobs), and can allow you to see the world (especially in astronomy, as we tend to travel a lot), interact with people of different cultures and languages, and gain respect for what you do, rather than who you are (although noting that scientists are human also, and prone to the same prejudices that all people are). However, you will suffer financially and so will your family life (no stability, always moving, always looking for the next job, hard to have a family in this sort of environment - particularly if you are a woman). One thing I should note is that I believe that what I say here is more true of astronomy than physics; in astronomy I think we suffer more than in physics, because there are far fewer astronomy jobs than physics ones, so we have less control over our work-life and work-environment.

You need to have a good long look at what it is you like to do in your physics and life, what are your skills and inclinations, what makes you satisfied. Look inside yourself and in this way you can decide if you want to work in a university research environment, research in a company, or do something else entirely that allows you to use the brain power you have developed by doing physics.

If you are the type of person you likes to feel what you do is important to more than just yourself and your boss, and likes to have a `hands-on' type job, go for the technical/lab type of work, or get a job doing science or research (not all research is science, you know) in the real world (i.e. a company). If you like research (theoretical or experimental) more than anything else, then go for it! But always be aware of what areas in your field are the ones where people are getting employed, so you have a chance of getting that elusive permanent job.

Job title
Senior Fellow (I'm not really "retired," just relieved my organization of paying me a salary. I come to work every day, even though I am about to enter my 80th year.)

Educational background:
B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in astronomy

What do you do?
I research, answer lots of email about my career, offer advice, and still observe and write papers, but now with colleagues, etc. I talk to many high schools and astronomy clubs.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I could not imagine living on the earth and not trying to understand all of the strange phenomenon taking place in the "sky." I thought that some people understood it all, and wanted to learn what they knew. It took me a long time to understand that many things are not known. This made it even more attractive.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I would like to know more physics than I do, but I was determined to be an astronomer, and not a physicist. I was afraid that if I leaned too much physics I would end up a physicist, and not an astronomer. I did not want this to happen.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I knew what I wanted, and I started very young. I had a husband and a B.A. degree when I was almost 20. An almost 2-year-old and almost 4-year-old came to my Ph.D. commencement, along with their father. My husband was my best supporter, and an equal participant in raising the children. He received his Ph.D. about the time I got my M.A. Our first child was born about 1 month after I took my M.A. oral exam. I cared for the children during the day, and worked on my thesis at night - not easy, but it can be done. I started observing when the children were about 3- to 13-years-old, and by then we could afford help in the house. Their father took over their care when I was away. We wanted to make it work, and it did. All 4 kids are happy Ph.D. scientists. Their childhood included trips throughout the U.S. and Europe during times when their parents attended meetings. By the time there was only one child left at home, we would send him off to his older brother in college when both parents were traveling at the same time.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Don't give up. If you really want to do it, you can make it work. Don't listen to advice if you think it is not helpful. There are people who will try to discourage you at every step. But if you really want to be a physicist, find someone who will encourage you. You can make it work.

Job title:
Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy

Educational background:
B.S. Astrogeophysics
M.S. Astrophysics
Ph.D. Astrophysics

What do you do?
I am an observational astronomer. I spend about 2 weeks a year at various large telescopes (mostly in Arizona) gathering data. The rest of the year is spent analyzing that data. I spend a lot of time writing computer code. Right now I'm trying to understand how much statistical effects can hamper our understanding of star formation in low mass galaxies, so I'm running a lot of Monte-Carlo simulations. I'm also gathering data on huge gas outflows from galaxies that might be caused by black holes. I write computer programs to fit features in my data and return accurate outflow velocities.

My work is completely self-directed. (I'm lucky enough to have a fellowship so I don't have a direct boss.) The thrill of uncovering something new is a powerful motiving force, so I spend a lot of time working. While I sometimes wish astronomy took up less of my time, I'm always excited about going to work in the morning. I don't think I could work at a job I found boring. I also travel internationally quite a lot. Astronomy is a fairly small field, so I end up going to a lot of conferences in Europe - definitely a nice job perk!

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
In undergrad I tried English, Education, Art, Geology, and Physics before deciding to major in Astrogeophyics. (The major mostly involved physics classes with a sprinkling of geology and astronomy.) I was drawn to physics because I really enjoyed the act of problem solving.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Most of the math and physics I use in my job is actually stuff I learned in undergrad (basic calculus, laws of motion, etc.). Much of what I learned in grad school (quantum mechanics) isn't applicable to what I actually do. However, my grad courses strengthened my problem-solving skills and I put those to good use every day.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
It's important to set boundaries between family time and work time. I work pretty intensely during the week and try not to do any work on the weekend. I try to plan family trips in advance and let them take priority over any work things that come up. I don't have children yet, but many of my female astronomy friends do. With the aid of a supportive spouse, all of them seem to be juggling family and career just fine.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Computer science and physics are becoming ever more entwined as observational data sets become larger and theoretical simulations become more and more sophisticated. I highly recommend that you take a basic programing course or two. The language you chose is not very important. Once you know the basic principles it's pretty easy to learn another.

Don't get discouraged! I took a physics class the first semester of my freshman year. I had a great teacher, and I loved the class. However, I was discouraged by getting only 50% of the questions right on tests and exams. I didn't enroll in the 2nd semester of the course because I thought I just wasn't smart enough. I was very surprised when grades came out and I got an A. A few months later I ran into my physics teacher and he told me that I was the best student in the class. He told me a story about a Physics Olympics that he had coached. The U.S. team was a bunch of guys and 1 girl. After narrowly losing the final match, the guys complained that the other team had cheated, the questions weren't fair, etc, while the girl reacted by saying "I'm sorry I let the team down." His point was that women are more likely to internalize failure than men. The story prompted me to keep going with physics and I'm glad I did.

Job title:
Staff Scientist

Educational background:
B.S. Physics
M.S. Astronomy
Ph.D. Astronomy

What do you do?
I build astronomical databases and research using data from space observatories.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I wanted to learn new things about the universe.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
My physics background has helped me understand basic physical processes occurring in the universe, for example, the life evolution of stars.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I have balanced by being very organized and focused on what I am doing.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Do not get discouraged by other people's comments; one must follow her own path and achieve her own goals. You set your own limits, so set them high. Never give up.

Job title:
Research Scientist (note: not faculty, not a postdoc, but still in research!)

Educational background:
B.S. physics
M.S. astronomy & astrophysics
Ph.D. astronomy & astrophysics

What do you do?
I study star formation. Specifically, I am an observational stellar astronomer; I study low-mass stars - stars like our Sun - in order to understand how these kinds of stars form. I also support a space-based mission. I help run the proposal calls and other community affairs things.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I have always been interested in astronomy, so that's where I've been trying to go since I was very little. Sometime in mid-elementary school, I learned astronomers needed math, and somehow I decided that of course girls can't do math! It took me until college (!) to get over that.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
In college, math was a tool to be gotten through as soon as possible so you could get to the physics, and in graduate school, physics was a tool to be gotten through as soon as possible so you could get to the astrophysics.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
It's an ongoing struggle. I watch and learn from colleagues to see how they do it.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Take lots of math, computer science, and physics. Get involved in research as early as possible - real research is very different than problem sets, and just because you like or do well in one does not necessarily mean you will like or do well in the other.

For people wanting to be astronomers, in college, major in physics rather than astronomy, as it gives you more career options afterwards, and if you decide to go to grad school, it gives you a more solid background. If you decide not to go to grad school, you can still be involved in professional astronomy even without a Ph.D.; there are several career options for folks with bachelor's or master's degrees. Just as a few examples: we need people who can write and translate astronomy into terms appropriate for the public, people who understand the background physics enough to make nice images and artist's conceptions, people who write code to interact with big databases or process data, and people to run and/or schedule telescopes.

Advice specifically for women in any kind of male-dominated environment: Try very hard not to take things too personally. Men, if they don't understand something (like a physics problem), tend to assume that the fault is with the problem, or the textbook, or the professor. Women tend to look inwards, and assume that the fault is with themselves. (You can even find evidence of this in soccer teams. Some time ago, I read an article about the man who coached the first gold-medal-winning women's soccer team, and he was describing the difference between coaching men and women's teams. He said that when the men he'd coached were slacking off, he'd have to yell and yell, telling them that they weren't working hard enough. Each man on the team would think, "Yeah, those other guys aren't working hard enough, but I'm doing fine." So, of course, the coach had to keep yelling. But the first time he yelled at the women, each of the women took the criticism really personally, and assumed he was talking to each of them, and immediately doubled or tripled their efforts. He immediately had to dial back his yelling several notches.) So, any woman anywhere should work hard to not always look inward for faults.

Job title:
NASA Research Astrophysicist

Educational background:
Doctoral degree in Astronomy
Bachelor's degree in Physics

What do you do?
I am a research astrophysicist at NASA Ames. I actually wear "many hats" in my day-to-day job. With a background in physics, I contribute to many areas - designing instrumentation (cameras, spectrometers, systems) for measurement, testing devices (detectors, optics, electronics), analyzing data from instruments attachedto telescopes both ground and space (images, spectra), and conceptualizing new mission and instrument designs for future telescopes and space probes (deep-space telescopes, airborne telescopes, small satellites). I often have the title of "Payload Scientist" or "Instrument Scientist" on a mission, where I work with both the scientists and the engineers to communicate clearly how the science drivers flow down into the design and implementation of the hardware and software to make a science mission successful. My work involves office and lab activities and travel for scientific conferences and sites for instrument testing (e.g., radiation testing of detectors, telescope site for new instrument commissioning).

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Choosing physics was unplanned. Physics was not even my first choice for a major. I started out in mathematics since I loved math in high school. I took a physics class as a freshman in college and loved how the subject taught me to look at the world around me and ask the question, "Why does that work?" My classes in physics taught me how to solve problems, the most important skill my job today requires. They were different from my engineering classes that taught me "how" to solve things, as in a "cookbook checklist" rather than to approach a problem from a more top-down approach. My ultimate job position is a NASA astronaut (applying in 2008), and I consider my physics background to be one of my many strengths.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
See previous question: The "problem-solving" can-do approach is essential to me when embracing a new field, question, or research topic. To stay active in a chancing atmosphere right now in NASA, I have had to be flexible in my approach to research topics and fall heavily back on my physics-background to maintain my flexibility.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I only married at age 34 and my husband and I have not decided whether we wish to have a family. We are both astronomers. I have a permanent staff position and he is "soft money." Soft money means that his income is dependent on how many grants he wins each year, an ever-challenging quest in the cash-starved research world.

Other female colleagues who are my age are balancing well a family and their career. At age 34, you are in your senior post-doc/junior faculty member level, when it is extremely important to stay competitive. It was also naturally assumed you could not juggle both a family and a career (then or at any age). When I view my friends and their decision to have families at similar ages, I disagree with the latter statement.

What seems more important than the dual family/career business is to have at least one stable income in the family since many of my colleagues put off having a family when both did not have a stable jobs (i.e., jobs that would not last more than a year), since job transitions take as much (or even more) energy as maintaining a healthy career. Some cases are like mine when the wife has the permanent position, while the husband is moving from hi-tech "start-up" to "start-up" company, and they decide to have a family and the woman maintains a full-time or near full-time position without any career set-backs. In other cases, the roles are reversed (i.e., "historical case" with man with full-time stable job, and woman on "part-time") and each couple's way of handling the dual commitment is unique to their situation. I have met many professional women in my field who are balancing well the challenges of the dual family/career life.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Do something you love. No job will ever be perfect. No job will last forever. Knowing you love what you do can help ease out the "bumps along the road." Study hard (and do your own homework - don't rely on group-study homework). Plan well (have a plan and backup too). Have hope. Never give up your dream. Balance work and play. Take five weeks off every year.

Atmospheric Science

Job title:
Arctic Climate Scientist

Educational background:
B.A. in Physics
M.S. in Atmospheric Science

I completed most of the coursework but not the degree for a Ph.D. as I had children which immediately became my focus rather then school.

What do you do?
I do research on the role of the atmosphere in the Arctic climate system. I am working to establish a set of intensive atmospheric laboratories around the Arctic (U.S., Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway) that will answer questions of how and not just why the Arctic climate is changing and how much can be attributed to human impacts. My research specialty is clouds, but as a program manager, I am trying to integrate the efforts of radiation, chemical, aerosol, water vapor, pollution atmospheric studies with hydrology, biology, crospheric and terrestrial sciences. It is all one big system.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related education?
I am an obstinate person and it was the area I had the least aptitude for. It seemed that if I was paying for an education, I should pay to be taught the things I could not do well rather than the things I could already do well.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Physical based understanding of how forces work in nature and mathematical foundation are endlessly useful.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I feel like I have both a full, rich career and a lovely warm family (1 husband, 2 kids). I have, of course, had times of being tired, exasperated and stressed, but on balance it seems like there was time for everything.

I am not working with starving, abused children, so at work, nothing is a real crisis. All the deadlines and pressures are manufactured by the system and you can usually plan around them. They are usually incidental to actually doing science in a substantive way over your career, and you have to accept that there will be periods when you are less effective (like when you are pregnant).

Most importantly I have always enjoyed my children and not felt they were an obligation. I love to be with them. I have not guilt nor worries when I am away from them because they are safe and happy with each other and their dad when I am gone.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Do it because you really love it not because it is prestigious, it makes your parents proud, or you think it will make you lots of money (which it almost certainly will not). If you mind is drawn to the act of analytical studies then it is its own reward to complete a nice study and find something out about the natural world. It is fun to be around people who are all trying to figure things out when they are not preoccupied with their egos and their funding.

Condensed Matter

Job title:
Research Scientist

Educational background:
B.A. in Physics
M.S. in Physics
Ph.D. in Physics

What do you do?
I specialize in low temperature and high pressure research, measuring electronic and magnetic properties of matter. I supervise graduate students in the laboratory as they pursue their Ph.D.'s.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I always knew I wanted to be a scientist. I loved physics since I was in high school.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
It is not easy but it's possible. I have raised 3 daughters and have a good, strong marriage. My husband is very supportive and helps a lot in the house. I am not sure I could have done it without his help.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
I think that we all need to find the kind of career and job that will fulfill us and that we would love it so much we would do it for free. Physics can be that for those who truly love it. Otherwise, it is too hard and too demanding and not always as rewarding (as far as good jobs or remuneration) as one would like it to be. But if this is what one loves, it is wonderful.

Electronics

Job title:
Master scientist

Educational background:
Ph.D. and B.A. in physics

What do you do?
I work on a flexible electronics project wherein we are attempting to make large, inexpensive arrays of thin-film transistors on a plastic substrate. The envisioned application is for backplanes ( i.e. control circuitry) for lightweight, low-power displays. My particular technical work in our group involves process diagnostics and machine vision at the moment, although I also design and build equipment and do materials characterization.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Naivete and youth. I liked the faculty in the physics department at my college and wanted a math/science career.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
The skepticism and analytical approach instilled by my physics training is invaluable, not only in my career, but in my whole life.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I have no children, but have had no problems having satisfying relationships with both members of the opposite sex and female friends. Having a demanding career, a social life and hobbies makes you tremendously busy, but it can be done if you don't watch TV. My choice not to have children is not driven by my career, particularly.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Physics is great training for a wide variety of occupations: patent lawyer, management consultant, physician, architect, etc. The only reason to major in physics is because you enjoy studying physics. If career options in physics don't work out, students will still never regret studying physics for a moment, as the curriculum is its own reward.

Geophysics

Job title:
Postdoctoral Researcher

Educational background:
B.S. Geology, physics minor
Ph.D. Geophysics

What do you do?
I'm a postdoctoral researcher in solid earth geophysics. My specialty is observational seismology, so my research focuses on using recordings of earthquake waves to understand the structure and dynamics of the Earth's interior. I'm particularly interested in understanding subduction zones, where crust and lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle. On a day-to-day basis, I do a lot of computer modeling and data processing, but I also do field work, which involves putting seismometers out in the field in areas we'd like to study. I also do a lot of writing and giving talks; a big part of being a scientist is communicating your research results to others.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I've always been interested in science and decided that I wanted to be a scientist in high school. I got interested in earth science after I took it in eighth grade, but it was my high school physics course that really got me interested in geophysics. I love doing science because I love going to work each day knowing that I might discover something new, something that nobody knew before I figured it out.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Having a strong background in geophysics is vital to doing geophysical research. I took six semesters of physics classes in college to fulfill the requirements for a minor, and this really gave me a strong background in physics in preparation for my Ph.D. work.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I think the key to this is having a supportive partner; my boyfriend is not a scientist, but he's wonderfully supportive of my work. I don't have children yet, but I know that a lot of women scientists struggle with work-life balance once there are children in the picture! Again, having a supportive partner makes all the difference in the world.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
The most important advice I have is this: if physics is what you are passionate about, then go for it! I love what I do and I wouldn't trade my career path for anything. Careers in physics can be tough, but they are immensely rewarding. Stick with it, and be tenacious and creative when you are planning your career path. Find good mentors; they are worth their weight in gold. Good luck!

Job title:
Postdoc

Educational background:
Ph.D. and B.S. in Geophysics

What do you do?
Right now, my job is to develop an active, independent and innovative research program. Isn't that the goal of all postdoc positions? I was fortunate enough to land a "no-strings attached" fellowship which means I get to explore the science that interests me. This is quite nice because it allows for an incredible amount of freedom. However, this does come at the cost of not having a direct mentor. These types of fellowships would be ideal for a second postdoc or someone who did a master's first. There's a reason why you do a postdoc - it's still a developmental step in your academic career. Make sure you have a mentor in some role! I'm about to start a year-long service position (i.e., working as a program director for a funding agency), so I imagine that my work responsibilities will quickly change.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
As a kid, I always loved exploring the world around me. I love the big picture questions of "why does our planet look like this?" and "what about other planets?" It's amazing to me to look around the beauty that is our landscape and just think about what's controlling their shape and existence. So, I guess you can say that I got the geology bug really early - as in 6th grade. In high school, I was fortunate to have a geology teacher point me towards geophysics. He knew that I excelled in math and, again, liked those big picture questions. Geophysics was the right fit for my interests and abilities. I've never regretted taking that science direction.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Geophysics is essentially applied physics. I use a combination of solid and fluid mechanics on a daily basis. In addition, having a physics background (my curriculum in undergrad was designed almost as a dual geology & physics major) laid a nice foundation for those big picture questions. Physics also allows for creative problem solving skills. I think that we look at problems quite differently than engineers. Physicists are good at the "what if" ponderings.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
Ah, I'm a single gal. And while I know this question is more after getting information on that delicate balance between raising a family and having a career, I think that it's also to share some singles experiences. After all, you do have to start somewhere to get a family, no?

Being single during the grad school and postdoc experience has its pluses and minuses (just as I'm sure does being married and having a family). Some pluses: being single gives you the freedom of not having a two-body problem, your time is your time, people like smart women (I promise, you would not believe how many guys' eyes have lit up at bars when I tell them I'm a scientist - they eat it up!), etc. But the minuses are still definitely there: the transitory state of your life makes establishing long-term relationships hard and often you have to enter the realm of long-distance dating, a lot of the potential dates that you will meet are in your field (thus, creating for yourself a two-body problem), some older colleagues don't take you as seriously (i.e., you are still a young thing who hasn't settled down yet), you're often subject to that oh, so illegal question - are you married? And that is such an awkward question to answer.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Stick it out. Keep your chin up. And ask for help when you need it.

Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

Job title:
Research Staff

Educational background:
M.S. Physics
Ph.D. Physics

What do you do?
I do basic research in areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology, particularly in the area of quantum magnetism.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I loved mathematics and wanted to apply math to read world problems.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I use what I learned in school every day; I am a practicing theoretical physicist.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I did not feel limited in my career by getting married, it was having a child that changed my career trajectory. We only have one child, which I believe is all we could have handled with both my and my husband's career. (Also, my husband's health is not good.) I try to limit travel to the minimum possible, and only stay away one, and at most two, days.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
It is a wonderfully rewarding career in which you get to think about profound and very interesting problems. Most Ph.D. physicists have careers in which they are not strongly governed by management, but rather can set their own research path, with guidelines. If you work in industry, these guidelines are determined by company strategy. If you are a professor at a university,research is usually limited to those areas in which you can get grant money. But overall, there are many exciting problems still to be worked on, plenty of problems for incoming graduate students. I would recommend it for anyone who likes mathematics and thinking logically.

Job title:
Research Scientist

Educational background:
B.A. in Physics
M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics

What do you do?
I do research in the field of semiconductors for a large corporation, most specifically in nanostructure fabrication. It involves cross-departmental collaboration and teamwork. Technical accomplishments are paramount and measured in published papers and patents issued. Social skills are very important for getting things done with other people. Sometimes I do lab work myself, hands-on, sometimes others do it for me but I do design the experiments myself. I write papers and present at working meetings (daily) and conferences occasionally (so my communication skills are important too!). Sometimes the work is directly related to a technical problem encountered in the product development part of the company, sometimes it is open-ended. Sometimes there are theories behind what I do, sometimes it is just a hunch to try something out. All in all, it can be a lot of fun. And sometimes not, just like in any other job. But the good part is there is enough to do within the company, and the general problem-solving prowess of a physicist would give me confidence if I was to change careers too.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Originally, perhaps, physics was the hardest subject ever! But, ultimately, because I really grew to like discovery.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
It is directly related to my career.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
In fact, it felt relatively easily. I have twin babies and both my husband and I work (he has the same degrees and works as an engineer). I took half a year off after the kids were born (can do so for up to 3 years with my company) and jumped right back to work. The kids are in daycare at my work location and we both have very reasonable work hours. My job is relatively flexible and people I work with are mindful of my time constraints. At the same time, I would have to turn down opportunities that call for extensive travel and long work hours, so one has to manage their career accordingly and make some choices. Luckily, mine are not too tough to make.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Do it if you like it and simply just because you like it. And if you do, it will likely equip you with the analytical and quantitative skills that are hard to come by in most other disciplines and which can be applied in a wide variety of jobs. I have college friends who are industrial physicists like me, college professors, doctors, programmers, high-school principals, or run a public-health program of a major city, etc., etc.

Particle Physics

Job title:
Senior Research Scientist

Educational background:
Ph.D. in particle physics

What do you do?
I do research at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics located near Geneva, Switzerland, on the ATLAS experiment. I am now designing an analysis to find Higgs bosons if they decay to invisible particles.

The Higgs boson is like the missing link in particle physics these days. We have a very precise theoretical model, the Standard model, which predicts every particle and phenomenon observed so far. One slight problem though is that all particles come out of these equations massless when we know that all but photons are truly massless. The Higgs boson would provide a mechanism to give mass to all other particles by creating a sort of “viscous” field everywhere. Within this field, the other particles would have more resistance to motion, i.e. more inertia, hence acquiring mass. Particle physicists have been after the Higgs boson for nearly two decades so we are now building two gigantic detectors at CERN, ATLAS and CMS, to find it. I am working on setting a trap for the Higgs, to make sure it won’t elude us if indeed it exists. The preferred way in the Standard Model is for the Higgs to decay into the heaviest particles, such as b quarks, but other models predict that the Higgs boson could decay into other particles, unobserved yet and invisible in our detectors.

The Higgs boson could be created in association with another boson, the Z boson so even if Higgs bosons decay into particles that are invisible in our detector (be they majorons, gravitons, neutralinos etc), we could still detect their presence by seeing the decay products of a Z recoiling against nothing. Using conservation of energy and momentum, I am looking at such decays, setting up an analysis that would extract such events from all other types of events that could produce the same signature. For example, the largest background comes from events having two Z bosons, one decaying into neutrinos, hence forging the signature of a Higgs boson decaying invisibly. Therefore, I must design my analysis using fancy statistical tools such as a multivariate analysis which looks at many discriminating variables at a time, trying to find small differences for each of them. By using the sum of all this information, on can finally tell signal and background apart. I am using Monte Carlo simulations techniques to produce signal and background events to design my selection criteria ahead of time. We are still building our detector and the accelerator which will produce those energetic protons on protons collisions. The idea is to predict the result before even looking at the data such as not to be biased. The experiment will start seeing data at the end of 2008 and it will be a very exciting time. Even if we do not find the Higgs boson, we are bound to find out something and its absence would already be very telling.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
I always wanted to know what matter was made of. This has always been on my mind, ever since I was very young. In high school, my passion was chemistry and my greatest hope was to discover new elements. Marie Curie, of course, was my idol. But later, at university, I saw that physics was what I really liked. Nobody ever encouraged me to go further and after my undergraduate studies, I went to teach physics in a college. But after a few years, I needed a change of life and moved to California. As soon as I visited the Standford Linear Accelerator Center, SLAC, a laboratory for particle physics, there was no turning back. I knew that this was where I belonged and went back to school to get a doctoral degree in particle physics.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
I work as a physicist, so it is rather helpful.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
As a particle physicist, I sort of have to be where the laboratories are. So my spouse had to make hard choices to follow me when I was appointed in Europe and had to move from Canada. I was lucky that my partner came with me but cannot move again as freely as I might wish, now that she has a job in this area. But I never really had time to have a child, although I really don't know how I would have managed. As a lesbian, it was more difficult (the insemination process or adoption while living abroad) so I never got a chance to get a child.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
My best advice would be for physicists-to-be to follow their heart. It has not always been easy for me, and still isn’t. I still feel that there is a lot of discrimination against women, but nevertheless, I think it is worth it to persevere. Don’t stay isolated: seek the company of other women to share experiences, network and support each other. I think, for me, the support I got from other women throughout my career has played a very important role. I would have quit a long time ago without it. With other fellow physicists, we recently started a women's network on our experiment, the ATLAS experiment at CERN. It has made a huge difference in my life and my work.

Planetary Science

Job title:
Research Scientist (Planetary Science)

Educational background:
B.A. Astrogeophysics
M.S. Space Studies
Ph.D. Planetary Science

What do you do?
A wide variety of tasks including (but not limited to): basic research, analysis of spacecraft data, numerical modeling, terrestrial fieldwork, space mission planning, mission concept development, spacecraft instrument testing and calibration.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related career?
Physics gives you the knowledge to understand how our world (and the universe) works. The subject matter is fascinating, and although the material can be difficult to master, having a solid foundation in physics opens up a lot of doors and opportunities career-wise.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Having a physics background was essential as I pursued (and continue to pursue) my career. If you can do physics, you have demonstrated that you can think critically and solve difficult problems. These are extremely important skills and make you uniquely qualified for a host of jobs and projects which otherwise you might be unable to complete. Having a background in physics makes you an attractive candidate for many jobs.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
It can be difficult to balance family and career but I refuse to sacrifice either one. Each person needs to make their own personal decision on such issues. I have chosen to include both in my life and as such I am very busy but also I like it that way. I get bored if I have nothing to do, so by remaining committed to my career, friends, and family, I make it work.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Work hard and try not to get discouraged. Physics is hard but the rewards will make it worth it in the end. I think it's important to have a job that you enjoy - physics can help put you on that path.