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Why do physicists gravitate towards jobs in finance?

O f those who will be graduating with degrees in physics this year, around a half will go on to further study (doing a PhD is the most popular option). Perhaps surprisingly, of the other half, around one-fifth will soon be starting work in the financial sector. According to a report published last year by the Institute of Physics , of those in employment one year after graduation, a job in "finance" was second only in popularity to a job in "education". Trailing behind those two are jobs in "scientific and technical industries", in "government" and in "energy and the environment". Furthermore, many of those who stay on to PhD level and beyond eventually leave academia to work in the financial sector, often at senior levels in investment banks.

Then again, perhaps it is not surprising that so many physicists wind up working in finance. After all, they are good at using mathematics to solve real-world problems and the money is good. There is more to it than that though. There are mathematical links between physics and finance that go back at least to 1900, when Frenchman Louis Bachelier wrote his Theory of Speculation , in which he used the mathematics of a random walk to analyse fluctuations on the Paris stock exchange. Five years later, the same ideas were used by a young Albert Einstein to explain why pollen grains zigzag when they are suspended in water. His explanation invoked the idea that very large numbers of tiny molecules, much smaller than the pollen grains, are responsible for kicking the grains around. This was a crucial insight and provided one of the earliest convincing confirmations of the existence of atoms. To make the parallel with the financial markets, we might say that stock prices are kicked around by myriad unknown factors in the marketplace. Today, these ideas have been developed into a means of computing the value of sophisticated financial instruments and the management of risk.

As a particle physicist, I work with systems containing just a few particles and because the number of particles is not too great I can keep track of the ways they can interact with one another. Things rapidly spiral out of control whenever we try to study systems with a large number of components because it is then impossible to keep track of everything. Notice the generality of the language – we speak of "systems" and their "components". A simple system might be a gas, in which case the components would be the constituent molecules. Although we do not know what the individual molecules are doing, we can make statistical statements; we can speak of the average speed of a molecule or the average distance between a pair of molecules. Thinking about large collections of particles like this led the physicists of the 19th century to the field of statistical mechanics and to a precise understanding of what is meant by concepts such as "temperature" and "pressure". In the 1950s, understanding the statistical properties of electrons in semiconductors was exploited by physicists at Bell Telephone laboratories to invent the transistor, the tiny switch that is used to build the logic circuitry that underpins the operation of the microchip.

By backing away from the near-impossible challenge of understanding a complicated system in every detail, the strategy is instead to focus on the more modest goal of computing the odds that the system will behave in a particular way. Precisely the same ideas are used to model the financial markets, in which case the "system" could be the price of an asset and the "components" would then be the range of things that can influence its price. The most famous equation in finance was published in 1972 and is named after American economists Fischer Black and Myron Scholes. The Black-Scholes equation provided a means to value "European options", which is the right to buy or sell an asset at a specified time in the future. Remarkably, it is identical to the equation in physics that determines how pollen grains diffuse through water.

Intellectual connections such as these are why so many physicists are interested in problems in finance and, in part, why so many have been recruited into the financial sector. It also helps that physicists tend to be good at computer modelling and working with large data sets.

The March 2013 edition of Nature Physics was devoted to the latest academic research into the links between physics and finance. Much of this is in the emerging area of "complex networks", which aims to describe the behaviour of systems containing a number of interconnected discrete elements. Complex networks are known to have a very wide range of applicability: a biological cell can be viewed as a network of chemicals linked through chemical reactions; the world wide web is a network of webpages connected by hyperlinks; and food webs are used by ecologists to model the relationships between different species. Financial institutions collectively form a network and, by understanding the global properties of the network, it is possible to gain key insights into its function.

One such insight is that the greater diversification of risk might actually increase systemic risk, not decrease it, as one might naively think. The idea dates back to a short paper published in Nature way back in 1972 by former chief scientific adviser to the government Robert May, entitled "Will a large complex system be stable?". The paper was set in the context of population stability in ecological networks and, in simple terms, it is the idea that by complicating matters we increase the numbers of ways something can go wrong. Using networks, it also becomes possible to understand how the use of leverage by competing institutions can push a market network towards financial collapse and to assess which institutions are systemically important. It isn't just a case of being "too big to fail" – an institute's position within the network matters too.

The network idea brings together the analysis of many superficially very different systems. In the words of Andy Haldane, the executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England, speaking in 2009: "Seizures in the electricity grid, degradation of ecosystems, the spread of epidemics and the disintegration of the financial system – each is essentially a different branch of the same network family tree."

The recent financial crisis has highlighted the need to better understand how the global markets work. Theoretical developments in statistical physics and complex systems may be able to help.

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• Environment and energy

Green jobs for physics graduates: finance and economics

With their mix of technical knowledge and problem-solving skills, physics graduates are ideally placed to tackle the world’s environmental challenges. In the fourth of a series of articles, Laura Hiscott speaks to three physicists who are doing their bit to build a greener, more sustainable future in the field of finance and economics

Rustam Majainah , senior pricing analyst, OVO

Green energy might appear to be all about feats of engineering, but integrating those breakthroughs into society involves many other challenges too, not least from a financial and economic point of view. This is another area where physicists can play a key role. Just ask Rustam Majainah, a physics graduate who now works as a pricing analyst at OVO , the UK’s largest independent energy supplier.

After studying physics at Royal Holloway , Majainah did a Master’s in renewable energy and sustainability at the University of Reading , UK. In the summer between his BSc and Master’s programme, he did a placement at the Chippenham-based renewable-energy company Good Energy , which he found through the South East Physics Network (SEPnet).

In his job at OVO, Majainah uses numerical models to determine the cost of energy. This involves considering many factors, including the cost of generation, the use of cables that bring the energy to people’s homes, and social levies such as the warm home discount, which supports vulnerable customers. “I think energy supply is often a forgotten part of the green transition,” says Majainah. “You’ve got the energy generators and networks on one side, and everyday people on the other, and energy suppliers sit in the middle and try to match them up.”

Majainah points out that it’s a time of change in the industry. “With the innovation of smart meters, we’re moving from a system where you give your supplier one reading per quarter to one where we can get that data at a half-hourly level,” he says. In moving to more granular charges, OVO can use that data to pass on savings to their customers if, for example, the wind is blowing and turbines are generating energy, or if electricity is cheap at certain times. More granular charges can also be used to “flatten” energy usage peaks by charging customers less for energy at quieter times, and part of Majainah’s role is looking at the wider policy around that.

“It’s a prickly point,” he explains, “because if energy is cheaper at some times and more expensive at others, how do you encourage customers to change their consumption patterns without unfairly impacting people who don’t have the flexibility to do that?” OVO also looks at kitting people’s homes out with electric vehicle chargers, using vehicle-to-grid technology that allows cars to export energy back into the grid when local demand increases.

All of these challenges require people with numerical and analytical skills, which a physics degree gives you a strong grounding in. Additionally, Majainah says that skills in data-analysis programming languages such as Python , which many physics degrees teach, are highly sought-after in the energy sector. “We’re going through big systems transitions,” he says, “so there are plenty of opportunities at OVO and in the industry in general.”

Flora Biggins , PhD student, University of Sheffield, UK

Since wind and solar energy depend on the weather, and are not necessarily being generated most at the times when consumers are using the most electricity, energy storage is a key component of embedding them in our networks. But developing this capacity requires financial investment.

Flora Biggins, a PhD student at the University of Sheffield , is working on incentivizing companies to make these investments. After graduating with a physics degree from Imperial College London , she decided she wanted to do research relating to sustainability. “I wanted to use my problem-solving skills to work on solutions to climate change, which is the biggest challenge we face,” she says, “and energy storage is really important for decarbonizing electricity.”

Biggins’ research involves creating computational models that use machine learning to predict how prices of energy-storage technologies such as batteries and green hydrogen will evolve over time. She can then use these predictions to advise companies on how to invest in order to maximize their profits, for example by buying the right kind of batteries, or by using batteries to store energy and then sell it on when prices are higher.

I wanted to use my problem-solving skills to work on solutions to climate change, which is the biggest challenge we face Flora Biggins

In addition to advising companies, Biggins’ work also informs policy. “If I find that energy storage is not very profitable, then it’s important for government organizations to know that,” she explains. “They might respond by introducing subsidies to encourage investment until prices drop to an affordable level.” Predicting future prices is very difficult, as there are numerous factors to consider that are constantly fluctuating. Future prices of green hydrogen are especially tricky to forecast, as it is relatively new, so doesn’t have much historical data to use as a starting point.

To tackle these challenges, the mathematical and computational skills Biggins developed during her physics degree are essential. Besides these technical skills, she says resilience is also necessary to keep going when things don’t go as planned, and she finds that having a positive solutions-focused project helps to motivate her. “It feels good to be working on something that is going to benefit society.”

Lewis Ashworth , programme manager, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change

Many physics graduates go into careers in finance, which are another way of influencing how money is invested, and there are green options within this sector too. Lewis Ashworth, for example, is a programme manager at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) – a membership body that supports shareholders to drive forward sustainability in the companies they invest in.

As part of his physics degree at the University of Sheffield, Ashworth did a year abroad at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, during which he took courses in climate dynamics of the atmosphere and oceans alongside pure physics. “That opened my eyes to climate change,” he says, “so when I graduated I decided to do a sustainability-focused Master’s degree.”

Ashworth did an MSc course on environmental technology and energy policy at Imperial College London before starting his role at IIGCC. He now works on several projects, including an initiative called Climate Action 100+ , which seeks to ensure that the 167 largest greenhouse-gas-emitting companies in the world reduce their emissions to be in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement .

Other programmes that Ashworth works on include educating shareholders on how they can influence the companies they invest in, for example by filing shareholder resolutions or voting against directors. He is also helping to develop a benchmarking process to assess companies’ progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement. This uses various indicators, such as whether the companies have set net-zero targets.

Green jobs for physics graduates: opportunities to help build a sustainable future

Ashworth regularly does presentations to colleagues and investors as part of his job, so communication skills are essential, alongside an understanding of the statistics and data that he is presenting. He finds his physics background gives him confidence in understanding the various topics he speaks about, from electric vehicles to using hydrogen to decarbonize the steel industry. “As a physicist, these are not alien concepts,” he says, “so it’s nice to feel confident in your ability to decipher what’s going on.”

One common challenge facing people like Ashworth who work in sustainability is that they have high aspirations for making change, but often face barriers and find progress to be slower than they would like. “But when something big happens,” he says, “like a company announcing that they are going to commit to a target that you have been pushing for, and you know you were part of it, that’s when you know you are really making a difference.”

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PhD Program

**new** graduate student guide, expected progress of physics graduate student to ph.d..

This document describes the Physics Department's expectations for the progress of a typical graduate student from admission to award of a PhD.  Because students enter the program with different training and backgrounds and because thesis research by its very nature is unpredictable, the time-frame for individual students will vary. Nevertheless, failure to meet the goals set forth here without appropriate justification may indicate that the student is not making adequate progress towards the PhD, and will therefore prompt consideration by the Department and possibly by Graduate Division of the student’s progress, which might lead to probation and later dismissal.

Course Work

Graduate students are required to take a minimum of 38 units of approved upper division or graduate elective courses (excluding any upper division courses required for the undergraduate major).  The department requires that students take the following courses which total 19 units: Physics 209 (Classical Electromagnetism), Physics 211 (Equilibrium Statistical Physics) and Physics 221A-221B (Quantum Mechanics). Thus, the normative program includes an additional 19 units (five semester courses) of approved upper division or graduate elective courses.  At least 11 units must be in the 200 series courses. Some of the 19 elective units could include courses in mathematics, biophysics, astrophysics, or from other science and engineering departments.  Physics 290, 295, 299, 301, and 602 are excluded from the 19 elective units. Physics 209, 211 and 221A-221B must be completed for a letter grade (with a minimum average grade of B).  No more than one-third of the 19 elective units may be fulfilled by courses graded Satisfactory, and then only with the approval of the Department.  Entering students are required to enroll in Physics 209 and 221A in the fall semester of their first year and Physics 211 and 221B in the spring semester of their first year. Exceptions to this requirement are made for 1) students who do not have sufficient background to enroll in these courses and have a written recommendation from their faculty mentor and approval from the head graduate adviser to delay enrollment to take preparatory classes, 2) students who have taken the equivalent of these courses elsewhere and receive written approval from the Department to be exempted. 

If a student has taken courses equivalent to Physics 209, 211 or 221A-221B, then subject credit may be granted for each of these course requirements.  A faculty committee will review your course syllabi and transcript.  A waiver form can be obtained in 378 Physics North from the Student Affairs Officer detailing all required documents.  If the committee agrees that the student has satisfied the course requirement at another institution, the student must secure the Head Graduate Adviser's approval.  The student must also take and pass the associated section of the preliminary exam.  Please note that official course waiver approval will not be granted until after the preliminary exam results have been announced.  If course waivers are approved, units for the waived required courses do not have to be replaced for PhD course requirements.  If a student has satisfied all first year required graduate courses elsewhere, they are only required to take an additional 19 units to satisfy remaining PhD course requirements.  (Note that units for required courses must be replaced for MA degree course requirements even if the courses themselves are waived; for more information please see MA degree requirements).

In exceptional cases, students transferring from other graduate programs may request a partial waiver of the 19 elective unit requirement. Such requests must be made at the time of application for admission to the Department.

The majority of first year graduate students are Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) with a 20 hour per week load (teaching, grading, and preparation).  A typical first year program for an entering graduate student who is teaching is:

First Semester

• Physics 209 Classical Electromagnetism (5)
• Physics 221A Quantum Mechanics (5)
• Physics 251 Introduction to Graduate Research (1)
• Physics 301 GSI Teaching Credit (2)
• Physics 375 GSI Training Seminar (for first time GSI's) (2)

Second Semester

• Physics 211 Equilibrium Statistical Physics (4)
• Physics 221B Quantum Mechanics (5)

Students who have fellowships and will not be teaching, or who have covered some of the material in the first year courses material as undergraduates may choose to take an additional course in one or both semesters of their first year.

Many students complete their course requirements by the end of the second year. In general, students are expected to complete their course requirements by the end of the third year. An exception to this expectation is that students who elect (with the approval of their mentor and the head graduate adviser) to fill gaps in their undergraduate background during their first year at Berkeley often need one or two additional semesters to complete their course work.

Faculty Mentors

Incoming graduate students are each assigned a faculty mentor. In general, mentors and students are matched according to the student's research interest.   If a student's research interests change, or if (s)he feels there is another faculty member who can better serve as a mentor, the student is free to request a change of assignment.

The role of the faculty mentor is to advise graduate students who have not yet identified research advisers on their academic program, on their progress in that program and on strategies for passing the preliminary exam and finding a research adviser.  Mentors also are a “friendly ear” and are ready to help students address other issues they may face coming to a new university and a new city.  Mentors are expected to meet with the students they advise individually a minimum of once per semester, but often meet with them more often.  Mentors should contact incoming students before the start of the semester, but students arriving in Berkeley should feel free to contact their mentors immediately.

Student-Mentor assignments continue until the student has identified a research adviser.  While many students continue to ask their mentors for advice later in their graduate career, the primary role of adviser is transferred to the research adviser once a student formally begins research towards his or her dissertation. The Department asks student and adviser to sign a “mentor-adviser” form to make this transfer official.  

Preliminary Exams

In order to most benefit from graduate work, incoming students need to have a solid foundation in undergraduate physics, including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, special relativity, thermal and statistical physics and quantum mechanics, and to be able to make order-of-magnitude estimates and analyze physical situations by application of general principles. These are the topics typically included, and at the level usually taught, within a Bachelor's degree program in Physics at most universities. As a part of this foundation, the students should also have formed a well-integrated overall picture of the fields studied. The preliminary exam is meant to assess the students' background, so that any missing pieces can be made up as soon as possible. The exam is made up of 4 sections, as described in the  Preliminary Exam Policy *, on the Department’s website.  Each section is administered twice a year, at the start of each semester. 

Entering students are encouraged to take this exam as soon as possible, and they are required to attempt all prelims sections in the second semester. Students who have not passed all sections in the third semester will undergo a Departmental review of their performance. Departmental expectations are that all students should successfully pass all sections no later than spring semester of the second year (4th semester); the document entitled  Physics Department Preliminary Exam Policy * describes Departmental policy in more detail. An exception to this expectation is afforded to students who elect (with the recommendation of the faculty mentor and written approval of the head graduate adviser) to fill gaps in their undergraduate background during their first year at Berkeley and delay corresponding section(s) of the exam, and who therefore may need an additional semester to complete the exam; this exception is also further discussed in the  Preliminary Exam Policy * document.

* You must login with your Calnet ID to access Physics Department Preliminary Examination Policy.

Start of Research

Students are encouraged to begin research as soon as possible. Many students identify potential research advisers in their first year and most have identified their research adviser before the end of their second year.  When a research adviser is identified, the Department asks that both student and research adviser sign a form (available from the Student Affairs Office, 378 Physics North) indicating that the student has (provisionally) joined the adviser’s research group with the intent of working towards a PhD.  In many cases, the student will remain in that group for their thesis work, but sometimes the student or faculty adviser will decide that the match of individuals or research direction is not appropriate.  Starting research early gives students flexibility to change groups when appropriate without incurring significant delays in time to complete their degree.

Departmental expectations are that experimental research students begin work in a research group by the summer after the first year; this is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged.  Students doing theoretical research are similarly encouraged to identify a research direction, but often need to complete a year of classes in their chosen specialty before it is possible for them to begin research.  Students intending to become theory students and have to take the required first year classes may not be able to start research until the summer after their second year.  Such students are encouraged to attend theory seminars and maintain contact with faculty in their chosen area of research even before they can begin a formal research program. 

If a student chooses dissertation research with a supervisor who is not in the department, he or she must find an appropriate Physics faculty member who agrees to serve as the departmental research supervisor of record and as co-adviser. This faculty member is expected to monitor the student's progress towards the degree and serve on the student's qualifying and dissertation committees. The student will enroll in Physics 299 (research) in the co-adviser's section.  The student must file the Outside Research Proposal for approval; petitions are available in the Student Affairs Office, 378 Physics North.   

Students who have not found a research adviser by the end of the second year will be asked to meet with their faculty mentor to develop a plan for identifying an adviser and research group.  Students who have not found a research adviser by Spring of the third year are not making adequate progress towards the PhD.  These students will be asked to provide written documentation to the department explaining their situation and their plans to begin research.  Based on their academic record and the documentation they provide, such students may be warned by the department that they are not making adequate progress, and will be formally asked to find an adviser.  The record of any student who has not identified an adviser by the end of Spring of the fourth year will be evaluated by a faculty committee and the student may be asked to leave the program. 

Qualifying Exam

Rules and requirements associated with the Qualifying Exam are set by the Graduate Division on behalf of the Graduate Council.  Approval of the committee membership and the conduct of the exam are therefore subject to Graduate Division approval.  The exam is oral and lasts 2-3 hours.  The Graduate Division specifies that the purpose of the Qualifying Exam is “to ascertain the breadth of the student's comprehension of fundamental facts and principles that apply to at least three subject areas related to the major field of study and whether the student has the ability to think incisively and critically about the theoretical and the practical aspects of these areas.”  It also states that “this oral examination of candidates for the doctorate serves a significant additional function. Not only teaching, but the formal interaction with students and colleagues at colloquia, annual meetings of professional societies and the like, require the ability to synthesize rapidly, organize clearly, and argue cogently in an oral setting.  It is necessary for the University to ensure that a proper examination is given incorporating these skills.”

Please see the  Department website for a description of the Qualifying Exam and its Committee .   Note: You must login with your Calnet ID to access QE information . Passing the Qualifying Exam, along with a few other requirements described on the department website, will lead to Advancement to Candidacy.  Qualifying exam scheduling forms can be picked up in the Student Affairs Office, 378 Physics North.   

The Department expects students to take the Qualifying Exam two or three semesters after they identify a research adviser. This is therefore expected to occur for most students in their third year, and no later than fourth year. A student is considered to have begun research when they first register for Physics 299 or fill out the department mentor-adviser form showing that a research adviser has accepted the student for PhD work or hired as a GSR (Graduate Student Researcher), at which time the research adviser becomes responsible for guidance and mentoring of the student.  (Note that this decision is not irreversible – the student or research adviser can decide that the match of individuals or research direction is not appropriate or a good match.)  Delays in this schedule cause concern that the student is not making adequate progress towards the PhD.  The student and adviser will be asked to provide written documentation to the department explaining the delay and clarifying the timeline for taking the Qualifying Exam.

Annual Progress Reports

Graduate Division requires that each student’s performance be annually assessed to provide students with timely information about the faculty’s evaluation of their progress towards PhD.  Annual Progress Reports are completed during the Spring Semester.  In these reports, the student is asked to discuss what progress he or she has made toward the degree in the preceding year, and to discuss plans for the following year and for PhD requirements that remain to be completed.  The mentor or research adviser or members of the Dissertation Committee (depending on the student’s stage of progress through the PhD program) comment on the student’s progress and objectives. In turn, the student has an opportunity to make final comments. 

Before passing the Qualifying Exam, the annual progress report (obtained from the Physics Student Affairs Office in 378 Physics North) is completed by the student and either his/her faculty mentor or his/her research adviser, depending on whether or not the student has yet begun research (see above).  This form includes a statement of intended timelines to take the Qualifying Exam, which is expected to be within 2-3 semesters of starting research.  

After passing the Qualifying Exam, the student and research adviser complete a similar form, but in addition to the research adviser, the student must also meet with at least one other and preferably both other members of their Dissertation Committee (this must include their co-adviser if the research adviser is not a member of the Physics Department) to discuss progress made in the past year, plans for the upcoming year, and overall progress towards the PhD.  This can be done either individually as one-on-one meetings of the graduate student with members of the Dissertation Committee, or as a group meeting with presentation. (The Graduate Council requires that all doctoral students who have been advanced to candidacy meet annually with at least two members of the Dissertation Committee. The annual review is part of the Graduate Council’s efforts to improve the doctoral completion rate and to shorten the time it takes students to obtain a doctorate.)

Advancement to Candidacy

After passing the Qualifying Examination, the next step in the student's career is to advance to candidacy as soon as possible.  Advancement to candidacy is the academic stage when a student has completed all requirements except completion of the dissertation.  Students are still required to enroll in 12 units per semester; these in general are expected to be seminars and research units.  Besides passing the Qualifying Exam, there are a few other requirements described in the Graduate Program Booklet. Doctoral candidacy application forms can be picked up in the Student Affairs Office, 378 Physics North.

Completion of Dissertation Work

The expected time for completion of the PhD program is six years.  While the Department recognizes that research time scales can be unpredictable, it strongly encourages students and advisers to develop dissertation proposals consistent with these expectations.  The Berkeley Physics Department does not have dissertation defense exams, but encourages students and their advisers to ensure that students learn the important skill of effective research presentations, including a presentation of their dissertation work to their peers and interested faculty and researchers.

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Graduate studies, commencement 2019.

The Harvard Department of Physics offers students innovative educational and research opportunities with renowned faculty in state-of-the-art facilities, exploring fundamental problems involving physics at all scales. Our primary areas of experimental and theoretical research are atomic and molecular physics, astrophysics and cosmology, biophysics, chemical physics, computational physics, condensed-matter physics, materials science, mathematical physics, particle physics, quantum optics, quantum field theory, quantum information, string theory, and relativity.

Our talented and hardworking students participate in exciting discoveries and cutting-edge inventions such as the ATLAS experiment, which discovered the Higgs boson; building the first 51-cubit quantum computer; measuring entanglement entropy; discovering new phases of matter; and peering into the ‘soft hair’ of black holes.

Our students come from all over the world and from varied educational backgrounds. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment and attracting the widest possible range of talents.

We have a flexible and highly responsive advising structure for our PhD students that shepherds them through every stage of their education, providing assistance and counseling along the way, helping resolve problems and academic impasses, and making sure that everyone has the most enriching experience possible.The graduate advising team also sponsors alumni talks, panels, and advice sessions to help students along their academic and career paths in physics and beyond, such as “Getting Started in Research,” “Applying to Fellowships,” “Preparing for Qualifying Exams,” “Securing a Post-Doc Position,” and other career events (both academic and industry-related).

We offer many resources, services, and on-site facilities to the physics community, including our electronic instrument design lab and our fabrication machine shop. Our historic Jefferson Laboratory, the first physics laboratory of its kind in the nation and the heart of the physics department, has been redesigned and renovated to facilitate study and collaboration among our students.

Members of the Harvard Physics community participate in initiatives that bring together scientists from institutions across the world and from different fields of inquiry. For example, the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms unites a community of scientists from both institutions to pursue research in the new fields opened up by the creation of ultracold atoms and quantum gases. The Center for Integrated Quantum Materials , a collaboration between Harvard University, Howard University, MIT, and the Museum of Science, Boston, is dedicated to the study of extraordinary new quantum materials that hold promise for transforming signal processing and computation. The Harvard Materials Science and Engineering Center is home to an interdisciplinary group of physicists, chemists, and researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences working on fundamental questions in materials science and applications such as soft robotics and 3D printing.  The Black Hole Initiative , the first center worldwide to focus on the study of black holes, is an interdisciplinary collaboration between principal investigators from the fields of astronomy, physics, mathematics, and philosophy. The quantitative biology initiative https://quantbio.harvard.edu/  aims to bring together physicists, biologists, engineers, and applied mathematicians to understand life itself. And, most recently, the new program in  Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE) , which lies at the interface of physics, chemistry, and engineering, will admit its first cohort of PhD students in Fall 2022.

We support and encourage interdisciplinary research and simultaneous applications to two departments is permissible. Prospective students may thus wish to apply to the following departments and programs in addition to Physics:

• Department of Astronomy
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Mathematics
• John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
• Biophysics Program
• Molecules, Cells and Organisms Program (MCO)

If you are a prospective graduate student and have questions for us, or if you’re interested in visiting our department, please contact  [email protected] .

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Financial Support for Graduate Students

Types of financial support.

PhD students in Physics are fully funded in each year they are in the program and remain in good standing. Financial support provides for full tuition, a monthly living stipend, and 12 months of health insurance.

Note: For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please visit the Student Financial Services (SFS) website .

There are three sources of financial support:

• Fellowships (internal and external)
• Research Assistantships
• Teaching Assistantships

General Information:

Full-time registration for all PhD students, whether funded by fellowship or by a research or teaching assistantship, is 36 academic units. The normal course load for students with a full-time RA or TA who have not yet completed their qualifying exams is two academic subjects; students supported by a fellowship in the first year, before joining a research group, sometimes enroll in three subjects.

Students with an RA or TA are expected to spend full time on education and assigned duties, and may not engage in any other activity for compensation without the specific approval of the Department Head.

Annual and monthly stipend rates for RAs and TAs are determined each spring, and students are informed of the next year’s rates by the Academic Programs Office. While there are varying levels of stipend funding allowed by MIT, it is the policy of the Physics Department that all our students are provided the same stipend in any individual academic year.

If a student loses RA support because of termination of a research contract, the Department will provide support for one additional term (in the form of a TA) and will make every effort to help the student identify a new source of support.

The periods for graduate appointments are as follows:

• Fellows : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31; Summer: 6/1 to 8/31
• RAs : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31; Summer: 6/1 to 8/31
• TAs : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31

Fellowships

The Physics Department provides internal fellowship funding to a number of the students admitted each year. The majority of these internal, donor-funded fellowships are for the first year in the program, covering twelve months; a small number of three- and five-year fellowships are also awarded. There is no application process for departmental fellowships; all admitted candidates are considered for them.

A student beginning PhD study with a fellowship has a great deal of flexibility in planning his or her graduate program and in seeking out a research group. Each fellowship recipient is responsible for finding a research group that will provide funding once the fellowship support has been used; students with multi-year fellowships are expected to have joined a research group by the beginning of the second year. Additional information on fellowships for graduate students in physics is available through the Office for Graduate Education .

Research Assistantships (RAs)

Research assistants receive full tuition, living stipend, and health insurance in exchange for conducting research on behalf of a faculty member. This faculty member also serves as the supervisor of the student’s individual research project that will become the PhD thesis.

RA work generally covers the full academic year, including summer. The amount of time spent on RA duties depends on the time needed for required course work as well as the requirements of the research group. For new graduate students taking classes and preparing for the general examination, research duties normally require 20 hours per week or less. After two to three years, research usually becomes full-time.

In addition to courses, students conducting research register each term for a research subject, providing academic credit for research work. The number of units varies from 12 to 36 according to the approximate time spent weekly on research. Research subjects include:

• Pre-Thesis Research (8.391, fall; 8.392, spring and summer): students who have not yet completed the General Examinations
• Thesis Research (8.THG); all students after passing the Oral Exam

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

Teaching assistants receive full tuition, living stipend, and health insurance in exchange for supporting the Department’s teaching program. TA responsibilities can include grading homework and exams, tutoring, conducting office hours, or, less often, teaching sections of a course. TA work requires up to 20 hours per week in addition to research or class work the student is engaged in. TAs register for 12 units of Physics Teaching (8.399), which provides academic credit for their work.

Having a TA appointment can serve a variety of purposes:

• support departmental teaching needs
• encourage students who wish to hone their teaching skills
• help alleviate funding pressures on the faculty
• facilitate a student’s transition to a different research group

TA assignment process:

Students may request nomination as a TA, or they may be assigned a term as a TA by their research supervisor.

Each of the four divisions in the department has a standard guaranteed number of TA positions per term. Research supervisors submit names of students to be considered for TAs to the Division Head, who compiles the division’s list and provides it to the Academic Programs Office.

Students on the department’s TA list are asked to select their top choices among the subjects offered in the upcoming term, and every effort is made by the TA Faculty Coordinator to match student requests when possible. Teaching faculty may also request a specific student to be assigned to their course.

While TA appointments are typically made only after the first year, very occasionally a first-year graduate student will be supported by a nine-month (fall and spring) TA appointment. Students with a first-year TA normally join a research group and are supported by an RA beginning in their first summer.

Switching Research Groups

While many students continue from their first RA to a thesis in the same group, others elect to change research groups, for a variety of reasons. An RA who wishes to change groups or research direction should feel comfortable reaching out to talk to other professors about different opportunities.

However, students are responsible for notifying their current supervisor of their intention to leave a group, and they are expected to continue working in the research group as long as it is providing funding.

To facilitate a transition between research groups, each student is guaranteed one semester of transitional funding in the form of a TA.

Students who wish to discuss their interest in changing their research group are welcome to talk with Academic Administrator Shannon Larkin or with Graduate Student Advocate Claude Canizares at any time.

Financial Support

All of our incoming Physics Ph.D. students are supported financially by Research and Teaching Assistantships, which provide a salary during the academic year and a tuition allowance for 10 units per quarter. Each year the department is allowed to nominate top students for  Stanford Graduate Fellowships . It is highly recommended for students to apply for fellowships from outside sources such as the  National Science Foundation , the  Department of Defense  and the  Hertz Foundation .

Students usually settle with a research group towards the end of their first year or the start of their second. Before that, they "rotate" between different groups. A rotation means that the student spends a quarter working in a given group. Rotations allow students to have contact with research as soon as they arrive at Stanford and gives them the opportunity to try out different research topics, while interacting with different faculty and groups. During the first three quarters rotations are funded by the Physics department (two quarters as a Research Assistant and one quarter as a Teaching Assistant) and therefore the rotation advisor does not need to provide funds, unless the student continues with the group for more than one quarter. Students should contact potential rotation advisors before the quarter starts to express interest and check the availability of positions. All students need to be formally rotating each quarter until they permanently join a group.

Teaching Assistantships are available as part of the student support. All graduate students are expected to teach at least three quarters as a requirement to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Physics.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Join dozens of Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your PhD studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about KHS admission .

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Wharton’s PhD program in Finance provides students with a solid foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance, drawing heavily on the discipline of economics.

The department prepares students for careers in research and teaching at the world’s leading academic institutions, focusing on Asset Pricing and Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, International Finance, Financial Institutions and Macroeconomics.

Wharton’s Finance faculty, widely recognized as the finest in the world, has been at the forefront of several areas of research. For example, members of the faculty have led modern innovations in theories of portfolio choice and savings behavior, which have significantly impacted the asset pricing techniques used by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Another example is the contribution by faculty members to the analysis of financial institutions and markets, which is fundamental to our understanding of the trade-offs between economic systems and their implications for financial fragility and crises.

Faculty research, both empirical and theoretical, includes such areas as:

• Structure of financial markets
• Formation and behavior of financial asset prices
• Banking and monetary systems
• Corporate control and capital structure
• Saving and capital formation
• International financial markets

Candidates with undergraduate training in economics, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and other quantitative disciplines have an ideal background for doctoral studies in this field.

Effective 2023, The Wharton Finance PhD Program is now STEM certified.

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Economics of a Physics Degree

There is a lot to be said about doing what you love — especially in choosing a career, or at least a starting point.

So let’s assume that you are seriously interested in physics, like the subject matter, are maybe a little uncertain about a career path, but are rightfully concerned about paying for the education.

The purpose of this document is to lay out a way of thinking about the expense in general terms: a view from 30,000 feet, so to speak. We will not consider the various scholarship and loan alternatives here, simply because there so many options, and to consider all of them would obscure the basic objective.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but income is related to education level. Here’s an example, showing the average income levels for people in approximately the same age bracket (i.e. under 30) in 2006:

As shown in the figure to the right, " What's a Bachelor's Degree Worth? ," a more recent salary survey indicates an increase in average starting salary by over $10,000: two years! 

Note that gender, region, employment sector (academia, industry, government) and individual skills and experience are important, but are not considered here. 

Job security is another factor.  In an era where the national unemployment rate is about 10%, it’s 6.8% for Physicists. 3 So a degree can lead to both higher and uninterrupted income.

Undergraduate School

Earning your Bachelor degree Many factors affect the net cost of an undergraduate education, such as: the institution you select, scholarship and loan alternatives, and your family financial situation. For example, the average annual college costs 4 (tuition, fees, room & board) for the 2009 - 2010 academic year are:

• $35,636 for private four year schools
• $15,213 for a public school for in-state students (resident)
• $26,741 for a public school for out-of-state students.
• $2,544 for local community colleges – a low cost alternative with transition to a 4 year school to complete a bachelor degree. 

College Expenses You should also plan to have a miscellaneous expense budget of at least $5,000. The College Board estimates the average cost for books and supplies to be $1,122, average personal expenses of $1,974, and $1,079 for travel.  Entertainment, clothing, auto expenses are excluded from this discussion, as are income from summer and part time jobs.

Let’s take a cost effective approach — again as a model that you can adapt to your situation — attending a community college for two years and completing a B.S. as an in-state student at a public university.  If you can live with parents, there would be no room and board expense, so the cost for the first two years would be:

The final two years at a resident student at a State University would be more expensive:

Opportunity Cost We also need to consider the so-called “opportunity cost” — how much you would have earned if you were to enter the workforce right out of high school. 

Being a bright and eager person, you might command as much as $10 per hour — in a climate where the U.S. minimum wage is $7.25/hr, and the highest state minimum is $8.55 in Washington.  

Assuming a 40 hour work week, your gross income would be $20,800 in the first year.  With a 5% raise each year, your total gross income would be $89,650 for the four years you would — and should — have been studying physics.

Against this, there would be taxes (we’ll estimate 20% of income for federal, state & local) and living expenses.  To maintain equivalence with the student living at home at no cost for two years, we’ll assume you will live at home for two years at no cost, but then have to pay the equivalent of the room and board expense - $8,193 per year according to “Trends in College Pricing.” This reduces the earned income to $55,334.  The real total cost of your four year education would be $110,848. 

Neglecting for the moment the fact that you will be working in a field you find interesting and challenging, you have attained a threshold that offers upward mobility, with an average annual starting income of $51,000. This is at a time when your annual income would have been about $24,000 as a high school graduate. 

The question then becomes how long it would take you to “break even?”  Neglecting income taxes and raises the $27,000 per year differential means your “Return On Investment” (ROI) would be about four years — quite possibly less because

• Raises are likely to be larger and more frequent as a graduate physicist,
• We haven’t considered income from summer or part-time jobs, possibly at higher pay than a high school graduate, nor
• Financial assistance in the form of scholarships and assistantships.

It is appropriate to comment that this low cost approach to a physics education does not mean that it is inferior.  One can argue that a good student will succeed at any school and that any differences in resources between this and an Ivy League school could easily be offset by your learning to be self reliant, focused and dedicated. 

A survey of physicists five years after earning their B.S. shows that size or type of the physics department has no effect on obtaining a career path job; their working in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math job; the number of interviews, time spent looking for or number of offers for a first job; their perception that a physics degree helped them get a first career path job; the number of college or university resources used to find their first career path job; and the first salary offer when controlled for type of job, experience, degree, and gender.

Graduate School

Once you have a B.S. degree, the doors to many professions are open; your undergraduate training is good preparation to advanced training in many fields. Physicists often have productive careers in engineering, medicine, the law, business, finance, or related sciences such as math or chemistry for example. In fact, most Physics bachelors go on to graduate or professional school.  So there are many options, including continued graduate training in Physics. Let’s consider some of them briefly.

• Graduate school in Physics, leading to a M.S. or Ph.D. can qualify you for a career in academia, government or industry.  As your career and interests develop you can work in pure and applied research, policy development (government), management (government and industry), and education processes for example.  It is often surprising to learn that advanced degrees in Physics can be earned at almost no cost, thanks to a variety of teaching and/or research assistantships. They reimburse tuition and fees, provide a stipend to offset modest living expenses, and are a valuable part of a graduate learning experience.  Alternatively, if you work in government or industrial research, the costs of graduate school can be underwritten by your employer’s tuition reimbursement benefits program.  
• If you are interested in furthering your education — and value — for an industrial career, new Professional Master in Physics degree programs are being offered at many Universities 7 .  This, perhaps combined with a MBA would provide a powerful educational background for an industrial career. You should know that many companies have tuition reimbursement programs, so this portion of your graduate education can cost you nothing.  
• You can pursue a medical career by earning a M.D. and be involved in patient care and/or research. In addition, training in physics is valuable in medical radiology. More information can be obtained from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Return of Investment An investment in a physics education can be one of those rare instances where the financial return is fast — about four years for a bachelor’s degree — and will continue to pay off at an increasing rate throughout your professional career.  The only limitation to a financially secure and fulfilling career is the energy and time you are willing to devote to it — and that is a lot easier if you really enjoy what you are doing.

1 US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006

2 American Institute of Physics, Salary Class of 2006

3 Students Review , 2009

4 " Trends in College Pricing "

5 American Institute of Physics

6 “ Does it Matter Where I Go To College ” by R.Ivie and K.Nies, AIP Pub. Number R-433.03 

7 " Mastering Physics for Non-Academic Careers ”, by S.P.Morton, P.W.Hammer and R.Czujko

8 AAPM Website

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The PhD in Physics is a full-time period of research which introduces or builds upon, research skills and specialist knowledge. Students are assigned a research supervisor, a specialist in part or all of the student's chosen research field, and join a research group which might vary in size between a handful to many tens of individuals.

Although the supervisor is responsible for the progress of a student's research programme, the extent to which a postgraduate student is assisted by the supervisor or by other members of the group depends almost entirely on the structure and character of the group concerned. The research field is normally determined at entry, after consideration of the student's interests and the facilities available. The student, however, may work within a given field for a period of time before their personal topic is determined.

There is no requirement made by the University for postgraduate students to attend formal courses or lectures for the PhD. Postgraduate work is largely a matter of independent research and successful postgraduates require a high degree of self-motivation. Nevertheless, lectures and classes may be arranged, and students are expected to attend both seminars (delivered regularly by members of the University and by visiting scholars and industrialists) and external conferences. Postgraduate students are also expected to participate in the undergraduate teaching programme at some time whilst they are based at the Cavendish, in order to develop their teaching, demonstrating, outreach, organisational and person-management skills.

It is expected that postgraduate students will also take advantage of the multiple opportunities available for transferable skills training within the University during their period of research.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the research programme, students will have demonstrated:

• the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication;
• a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of an academic discipline or area of professional practice;
• the general ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the generation of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline, and to adjust the project design in the light of unforeseen problems;
• a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry; and
• the development of a PhD thesis for examination that they can defend in an oral examination and, if successful, graduate with a PhD.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the  Postgraduate Open Day  page for more details.

See further the  Postgraduate Admissions Events  pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Key Information

3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, department of physics, course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, lent 2024 (closed).

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Easter 2024 (Closed)

Michaelmas 2024, easter 2025, funding deadlines.

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.

Similar Courses

• Physics MPhil
• Planetary Science and Life in the Universe MPhil
• Computational Methods for Materials Science CDT PhD
• Mathematics MPhil
• Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics PhD

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Apl photonics selects recipient for 2023 future luminary award.

Magdalena Furman receives recognition for her work that opens new pathways for the development of optical technologies.

MELVILLE, N.Y. , May 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Magdalena Furman , a PhD student in Physics at the University of Warsaw, Poland , has been selected as the recipient of the APL Photonics 2023 Future Luminary Award for her work in advancing the understanding of optical bistability and optical limiting in microcavities.

Her winning paper, " Inverted Optical Bistability and Optical Limiting in Coherently Driven Exciton–Polaritons ," appeared in the April 2023 issue of APL Photonics , published by AIP Publishing. The Award Committee that selected Furman as a promising early-career researcher included members of the journal's esteemed Editorial Advisory Board.

"We are thrilled to announce Magdalena Furman as the recipient of this year's APL Photonics Future Luminary Award . Her groundbreaking work represents a significant advancement in the understanding of optical bistability and optical limiting in microcavities. This study not only showcases the inverted hysteresis direction in optical bistability but also beautifully aligns comprehensive experimental findings with theoretical analyses," said APL Photonics Editor in Chief Benjamin Eggleton . He added, "We are proud to recognize Magdalena's contributions to the field of exciton-polariton physics with this award. Her exploration of exfoliated CdTe-based semiconductor microcavities, especially under conditions where the pumping laser frequency is slightly below the lower polariton mode, opens new pathways for the development of optical technologies."

Explaining her approach, Furman said, "I look for low-threshold nonlinear effects, like low-threshold lasing or low-threshold blueshift of resonant states in semiconductor optical microcavities. I use these nonlinearities in neuromorphic calculations based on optical networks of interacting Bose-Einstein exciton-polariton condensates. I believe that this research can contribute to the construction of more efficient and less energy-consuming computing platforms."

Furman's research focuses on the physics of exciton-polaritons. In this field, she is investigating the low-threshold nonlinear effects in semiconductor optical microcavities. She utilizes these nonlinearities in neuromorphic computing based on optical networks of interacting exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensates. She is currently working on creating photonic structures that would provide the Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton-polaritons at ultra-low excitation power threshold.

The APL Photonics Future Luminary Award , which recognizes early-career researchers with the potential to become luminaries in the field of photonics, includes a $3,000 honorarium, the opportunity to join the APL Photonics Early Career Editorial Advisory Board, and an invitation to write an Invited Article in APL Photonics.

"I am honored to receive the prestigious APL Photonics Future Luminary Award. The recognition of my research greatly motivates me to continue working on this topic. It also means that the hard work I put in this field makes sense and that becoming a scientist was a good career choice," Furman explained.

ABOUT APL PHOTONICS

APL Photonics  is the dedicated home for open access multidisciplinary research from and for the photonics community. The journal publishes fundamental and applied results that significantly advance the knowledge in photonics across physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science.

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AIP Publishing 's mission is to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity by breaking barriers to open, equitable research communication and empowering researchers to accelerate global progress. AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and supports the charitable, scientific, and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities on its behalf and on behalf of our publishing partners.

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SOURCE AIP Publishing