Careers

If you're thinking about your next career move, Physics World Careers is an annual guide that offers valuable careers advice, insightful case studies showcasing possible career options, plus a comprehensive employer directory. And jobseekers with a background in science, technology, engineering or mathematics can explore all the latest opportunities on Physics World Jobs, a recruitment website from the publishers of Physics World.

Latest articles

A photo of Mark Richards and Washington Ochieng, together with a large group of Black physicists, in a lecture theatre

The joy of connecting quantum black dots

A journey of joy and uncertainty in physics

Joyful Mdhluli describes the joy that a career in physics brings, even after hitting rock bottom during her PhD

Ask me anything: Janina Moereke – ‘I wish I’d known how beneficial a healthy amount of self-doubt is’

Janina Moereke is a development engineer who uses optical and electrical techniques to characterize and develop thin-film solar cells

Quantum careers

Ask me anything: Jenni Strabley – ‘The quantum sphere is currently moving like a bullet train, and every day it seems like there is something new’

Ask me anything: Martin Weides – ‘I love working in large, international teams; understanding problems and pushing boundaries to shape the future’

Ask me anything: Maksym Sich – ‘The quantum-technology sector is very new and there’s a lot to be discovered, in terms of science and business’

Physics World Jobs

Whether you’re still working out your career pathway or have a specific role in mind, we’re here to help. Bringing a diverse range of opportunities for jobseekers at all career stages, we’ll help you take the next step in your career and find your perfect job.

Training for your future

16 key skills and attributes for a successful career in physics

Annabelle Gill outside the CERN Control Centre

From ATLAS to the control room: a high-school student’s week at CERN

Sixth-form student Annabelle Gill discusses a week-long internship at CERN

Physics World Careers 2022 guide is now out

From quantum technology to green jobs, Physics World Careers 2022 showcases the range of career options open to physicists

CityU physics: undergraduate students prioritize connection and collaboration

City University of Hong Kong’s undergraduate physics programme wants to attract ambitious international students as they take their next step towards a scientific career in resea...

Summer internships: Claire Houghton – ‘I got to see real scientific experiments, where no-one knows exactly what’s going to happen’

Laura Hiscott speaks to Claire Houghton, an early-career physicist who did summer internships at Kurt J Lesker and Adaptix

Summer internships: Marion Cromb – ‘I learnt good coding practice, and the code was actually sold to customers at the end’

Laura Hiscott speaks to Marion Cromb, a physics PhD student who did an internship every summer of their undergraduate degree

Education

Are you a physics educator? Visit this education collection today

Careers in medical physics

Cutting-edge accelerator technologies are key to success for the MYRRHA research reactor

Studying physics to improve healthcare systems

Suman Shrestha, who is doing a PhD in medical physics in the US, on why he wants to return to Nepal with his new-found skills and expertise

Summer internships: Constantine Pelesis – ‘I built up my network and got an understanding of how a whole company works together’

Laura Hiscott speaks to Constantine Pelesis, an early-career physicist who did a summer internship at medical-physics company Adaptix

Video showcase: physics graduates share their stories

Faces of Physics: inspiring the next generation

HAWC near the peak of the extinct Sierra Negra volcano

Faces of Physics: a HAWC eye on the sky

Faces of Physics: working in green energy

Faces of Physics: a nuclear-powered PhD

Faces of Physics: human organs on a chip

Rising stars: Reggie Bain and Shannon Bayliss

Physics World Careers

The 2022 edition of Physics World Careers is packed full of advice for early-career scientists. Including a range of valuable advice, informative case studies and recruiter profiles, it demonstrates the variety of jobs that use a physics degree.

Explore more

Ask me anything: Sara Fry – ‘There are always opportunities to develop simple solutions for complex problems’

Sara Fry is the head of sustainability and of safety, health and environment at a multinational engineering solutions company

Ask me anything: Nicholas Attree – ‘With the basic toolkit of physics techniques…you can approach any new research areas’

Nicholas Attree is a postdoctoral researcher studying comets through the European Space Agency’s Rosetta and Comet Interceptor missions

Oliver Grimston: from intern to chief of staff at bp

Petrophysicist Oliver Grimston talks about his career at British oil and gas company bp, from its graduate programme to his current role as the firm’s chief of staff in Iraq

Ask me anything: Taghi Amirani – a physicist turned documentary-film maker

From studying physics to making documentary films, with his latest being Coup 53, about the 1953 coup in Iran orchestrated by the British and American secret services

Freya Blekman in front of the CMS detector

Freya Blekman: on the particle pathway of big science

Experimental physicist Freya Blekman talks to Tushna Commissariat about the joy of working on big science collaborations

Christine Tremblay stood in front of telecoms equipment

Using physics to fuel fibre-optic innovation

Engineering physicist Christine Tremblay on making fibre-optic networks cheaper, smarter and more resilient, and opening the way to send voice, data and video streams at ever-increasing bit rates

Image of a high-power laser beam pointing at a remote target

Lasers
Careers
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High-power lasers promise new defence strategy

Physicists at QinetiQ are developing systems that combine and control high-energy laser beams to provide a powerful and cost-effective countermeasure against drones and other uncre...

Abstract illustration of collaboration and innovation

Opening up innovation and change

Roland Harwood on open innovation, how he's helped organizations from Lego to the UN to implement change, and why he believes physics is leading the way in collaboration

Using physics to patent inventions

Having originally done a PhD in quantum computing, patent attorney Katherine Brown explains why a scientific background is an asset in this area

Industry or academia? How to choose your path

Quantum scientist Joanna Zajac spent three years in industry before returning to fundamental research. She advises on how academia and industry differ and deciding which one...

Perdi Potgieter who left school at 16 to do an apprenticeship at the National Physical Laboratory NPL and is now a research scientist there

Off the beaten track: from school straight to working on the national physical standards

Laura Hiscott speaks to Perdi Potgieter, a research scientist at NPL who left school at 16 to do an apprenticeship

Ask me anything: Donna Strickland – ‘I wouldn’t have wanted to know that I would win a Nobel prize’

Donna Strickland shared the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics for her work developing the technique of “chirped pulse amplification”

Time for a change: what it’s like to win a prize for work you did before switching careers

Akihiro Kojima and Mike Lee, winners of the 2022 Rank Prize for Optoelectronics, on developing new materials for solar cells and switching into different career areas

Ask me anything: Giulia Grancini – ‘I’m very lucky as a scientist, because my job is also my passion’

Giulia Grancini is a professor of chemistry and an expert in next-generation materials for photovoltaic cells at the University of Pavia

Research fellowships target clean-energy innovation

Toyota has joined forces with The Electrochemical Society to support young scientists and engineers

How to prepare for a career in the emerging quantum-technology industry

Laura Hiscott talks to experts who have studied the quantum-tech jobs market about what’s on offer and what skills you’ll need to forge a successful career in this area

Ask me anything: Farai Mazhandu – ‘I find it fulfilling to support and inspire others, and to make seemingly complicated subjects exciting’

Farai Mazhandu is chief executive and co-founder of Bayete Quantum Technologies, which seeks to use quantum tech to solve problems for people in Africa

Working working at home video conferencing colleagues

How to prepare for the post-pandemic jobs market

Andrew Hirst and Veronica Benson look at how physics students can prepare for careers in the post-pandemic world, and how universities and employers can help them

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Medical physics | Workshop Scientific Workshop: Emerging Techniques in Radiotherapy 24—30 November 2022 | Online / Santiago de Chile, Chile
Mathematics and computation | Virtual event 2022 3rd International Symposium on Automation, Information and Computing (ISAIC 2022) 9—11 December 2022
Medical physics | Workshop ISMRM Workshop on Data Sampling & Image Reconstruction 8—11 January 2023 | Sedona, US

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