Bulletin of the American Physical Society
80th Annual Meeting of the APS Southeastern Section
Volume 58, Number 17
Wednesday–Saturday, November 20–23, 2013; Bowling Green, Kentucky
Session EE: Early Career Physicists |
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Chair: Brad Conrad, Appalachian State University Room: Ballroom A |
Friday, November 22, 2013 9:00AM - 9:20AM |
EE.00001: From Undergraduate Student to Independent Researcher Invited Speaker: Christianne Beekman I received my PhD in Physics from Leiden University in the Netherlands, I did my first postdoc in Canada at the University of Toronto and I am currently doing a postdoc at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During this talk I will touch upon three different aspects of my career so far. First I will talk about the differences of conducting science and living in three different countries, and how this has impacted my career. In this part I will also cover issues concerning working somewhere as a foreign national and, as is often still the case, being one of the very few women. Since I have worked at Universities as well as a National lab, I will highlight the differences between the two. The third topic and perhaps the most important one is the importance of networking. At every stage of one's career it is important to connect to as many people as you can. Connections you make today will prove to be invaluable at a later stage in your career. For example, they will provide you with inside information on quality of schools and the research that is being performed there. This means connections allow you to make better informed decisions about where to do your PhD or where to do your (first) postdoc. If you are thinking of applying somewhere ask yourself who do I know there and if you don't know anyone make sure to connect to someone. These connections will sometimes even lead to job offers without ever officially applying. Making the right connections is absolutely the most important thing to ensure a successful (scientific) career. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 22, 2013 9:20AM - 9:40AM |
EE.00002: Life is not a straight line: Why physicists can follow its curves! Invited Speaker: John Rumble The changes in modern working careers --multiple jobs during one's working lifetime, high probability of changing one's profession once or twice, and almost certainty that new technology will change everyone's approach to work -- will affect working physicists just as those changes will affect virtually everyone in the 21$^{st}$ work environment. Unlike many professionals, however, newly-trained physicists start with some powerful tools to be well prepared for coping with this new reality. Specifically new physicists have been taught how to define problems, how to analyze complex situations, and how to identify and ask the right questions. What they have to do now is to understand the environment in which they will likely work: industrial, application-oriented, international in scope, and often only indirectly using ``physics'' as they have been taught. I will discuss how to start planning your career, including how to think about the future, how to investigate possible long-term careers and specific job opportunities, how to prepare yourself for non-academic work environments, and how to match your skills and interests to the needs of employers. In short, your working career will not be linear: Be prepared to have fun while you ride this roller coaster! [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 22, 2013 9:40AM - 10:00AM |
EE.00003: Maximizing the impact of graduate schools and postdoctoral fellowships on your careers Invited Speaker: Masahiro Ishigami You can pursue your research careers in academia, industry and government laboratories/agencies. All of these options require graduate degrees and/or postdoctoral experiences. I will show how to select the right research topics, pick the right research groups and find your first research jobs. In addition, I will also demystify academic careers and show how to succeed as professors (get funded and tenured). [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 22, 2013 10:00AM - 10:20AM |
EE.00004: Career opportunities for physicists in biomedical research Invited Speaker: Xujing Wang Life science is currently experiencing what physics experienced early last century, it is transforming from a qualitative descriptive science to a quantitative one. The rapid advancements in the past two to three decades were first enabled by numerous technology breakthroughs that enabled scientists to probe into living systems at an unprecedented depth and detail, most of which were developed based physical principles. This is followed by a broad scale incorporation of concepts and theories from physics to study the principles underlying the observations. In this presentation we will discuss the academic and non-academic opportunities in this field for physicists, the grand challenges, as well as the unique contributions that physicists can make. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 22, 2013 10:20AM - 10:40AM |
EE.00005: From academia to government and back to academia Invited Speaker: Joseph Reiner My professional experiences as a Ph.D. physicist have been influenced by both the two-body problem and two major decisions. The first was to change fields from quantum optics to analytical chemistry and the second was to leave government for an academic position after 8-years of employment. I will discuss the pros and cons of both decisions and offer my perspective for navigating a career in science with a Ph.D. [Preview Abstract] |
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