CALL it the Higgs boson effect, the Big Bang Theory effect or even the Brian Cox effect, if you must. There鈥檚 no getting away from it 鈥� after years in the doldrums, physics is cool.
Just a few years ago it was almost an extinct subject at A-level, but this year university applications to read physics saw a 7 per cent leap despite the fee increase. And if you鈥檝e come out the other side, you can be forgiven for being more than a little smug: not only can you impress at parties by explaining the latest news on the Higgs, but you can take your pick of an enviable range of career options, and are likely to command a higher starting salary than graduates in the other sciences.
鈥淧hysicists are always in demand, across all sectors,鈥� says Stephanie Richardson, head of membership development at the (IOP) in London. 鈥淭heir problem-solving skills, their mathematical skills, their ability to think critically 鈥� these transferable skills are useful in a huge range of areas, irrespective of the topic.鈥�
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To the ends of the Earth
From mountaintops to desert plains, abandoned mines to the depths of the ocean, physics research is a ticket to some unique destinations. Luca Rizzi works at one of the most advanced telescopes in the world 鈥� and even the daily commute is a source of satisfaction. 鈥淲hen I drive home, it鈥檚 about sunset time, and for 25 minutes all I see is ocean and sunset. It鈥檚 so rewarding, every day.鈥� Rizzi is a support astronomer, assisting academics visiting the on top of the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii.
聯When I drive home, it鈥檚 about sunset time and for 25 minutes all I see is ocean and sunset. It鈥檚 so rewarding, every single day聰
Far from Hawaii, Carlos Pobes of the University of Wisconsin-Madison doesn鈥檛 see the sunset for months on end 鈥� he works on the in Antarctica. The detector, the biggest of its kind in the world, uses sensors buried more than a mile beneath the ice of the South Pole to record data on high-energy neutrinos as they pass silently through the Earth.
The driest place on Earth, the Atacama desert in Chile, also draws physicists 鈥� it鈥檚 a superb site for making observations of the sky in the radio spectrum. Postdoc Jeff Wagg is based at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), where he studies galaxies from the first hundred million years after the big bang. Wagg, who is employed by ALMA鈥檚 operator, the , says that for him, travelling the world was a big part of the attraction of a career in astrophysics. He has made the most of his assignments, taking the opportunity to surf in Chile and dive in the Pacific during his time off. 鈥淵ou definitely take it into account when you鈥檙e putting in proposals. I have a collaborator who鈥檚 always coming up with ideas to allow us to return to Hawaii.鈥�
A background in astrophysics is the natural precursor to observatory work, and you can gain experience by travelling to observatories alongside professors as part of a relevant PhD project, or by building instrumentation in the lab, says Bob Goodrich, head of the observing support group at the Keck Observatory. IceCube鈥檚 research group recruits physicists directly for their 鈥渨inter-over鈥� positions: you need no prior sub-zero experience, but have to be prepared to stick it out for the whole of the Antarctic鈥檚 seemingly endless winter.
Into space
We might be a little behind the US and Russia, but if the politicians are to be believed, the UK鈥檚 heyday in space is at hand 鈥� and physicists are poised to reap the rewards.
In 2010, the was established, bringing together all the country鈥檚 space interests under one body. But the space sector was in rude health even before that, says Keith Mason, a director of the even more recently launched (ISIC) in Harwell, Oxfordshire. The boom has largely come off the back of new applications spun out from space technology, such as satnav, and the promise of a bigger market as the global space industry increasingly becomes privatised. ISIC has been set up to take advantage of these.
Financial rewards aside, the country鈥檚 involvement in high-profile projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope has given the UK鈥檚 space endeavours extra lustre in recent years. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a real buzz about the space industry,鈥� concurs Geoff Buswell, a project director at ISIC. 鈥淪ome of my senior colleagues say they鈥檝e never seen it like this before.鈥�
But the industry is 鈥渄esperately short of people with the right skill set鈥�, says Mason, and this is the case across government, industry and academia. Buswell, who has been seconded to ISIC from the IT company , went into industry after his PhD because he 鈥渨anted the buzz and urgency of a commercial environment鈥�. Aerospace firms such as Astrium run apprenticeships and graduate entry schemes, as does Logica, which develops software for space applications such as satellites. The UK Space Agency and the also provide opportunities; ESA runs a trainee scheme for master鈥檚 level students and offers postdoc opportunities. Finally, if your dream is to become an astronaut, that鈥檚 possible at ESA as well, although much more difficult 鈥� the last time it accepted recruits to the European Astronaut Corps was in 2009.
To the City
By far the biggest employer of new physics graduates is the financial sector, which took in nearly a fifth of 2011 graduates. Employers love physicists鈥� numeracy and analytical skills, while successful applicants enjoy higher starting salaries than most other professions can offer, and a fast-paced environment.
鈥淎 major misconception is that you have to be an economist to work here,鈥� says Cat Hines, a graduate recruiter at the Bank of England. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not expecting graduates to demonstrate any technical knowledge about economics or finance during the recruitment process; it鈥檚 purely about how they take the information that鈥檚 given to them, pull out what鈥檚 important and present it back to us.鈥� Graduate schemes at banking and investment firms are highly competitive, and it can boost your chances of selection if you can secure an internship during the summer of your penultimate year at university.
鈥淲hen I arrived I had to learn a new language 鈥� the language of economics and finance,鈥� says Jack Garrett-Jones, a regulatory policy analyst at the Bank of England, which he joined right after he graduated. 鈥淏ut once I got that in my head, it was actually the same underlying structures and thought processes I used in my degree鈥�.