Career possibilities for physicists are surprisingly diverse, even if you don't go to grad school. Most physicists do research and/or engineering (in industry, at university and at government facilities), but there are lots of things you can do with a background in physics: teach, go into patent law, go into business, and so on. Check out Physics Today's Career Profiles page to see some of the possibilities.
The American Institute of Physics keeps statistics about physics careers:
Who's hiring Physics Bachelor's? https://www.aip.org/statistics/whos-hiring-physics-bachelors is a state-by-state listing of the many employers who recently hired physics bachelor’s into science and engineering positions.
Latest Employment Data for Physicists and Astronomers. https://www.aip.org/statistics/employment reports on the latest data on where physicists work and what they do throughout the economy and at different degree levels.
Statistical Research Center home page. http://www.aip.org/statistics posts current data on education and employment in physics, astronomy, and allied fields, including interactive resources, full reports, and individual graphs and tables.
Some of our students go on to graduate school- many don't. Below is a partial list of what some recent alumni have done. (The list now only includes recent grads that have explicitly asked us to post their info).
Are you a BSC Physics graduate? Please tell us about your successes and share your updated info (even if you don't want us to post it here!) E-mail David Abbott with the details.
Check out these websites for info about careers in physics:
AIP career site
American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Career Center
American Physical Society (APS) Employment Homepage
Physics Department Career Management Tool
Physics Today Jobs
Ziprecruiter
Allison Torsey (2019)-- After graduating with a BA in physics and a BS in mathematics, Allison is now working on a Ph.D. in Computational Science, Engineering and Mathematics (CSEM) at the Oden Institute at the University of Texas, Austin.
Caitlin Horvatits (2018) -- In May 2020, Caitlin earned a Master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Univeristy at Buffalo. In August 2020, Caitlin started working as a development engineer at Unifrax in Tonawanda.
Kelly Brzyski (2017) -- In Spring 2018, Kelly finished a B.S. degree in engineering at the University at Buffalo and is now working at Moog Inc. In 2018-19 she intends to start a Master's degree in mechanical engineering at UB.
Aaron Santiago (2017) -- In Summer 2018, Aaron is working as a manufacturer technician at Cobham Mission Systems in Buffalo.
Jesse Hoock (2017) -- In Spring 2017, Jesse is finishing a B.S. In electrical engineering at the University at Buffalo and has taken a positon at Moog Inc, an advanced engineering company in East Aurora, New York.
Hope Genco (2016) -- In Spring 2017, Hope is working on a M.S. Degree in the medical physics program at the University at Buffalo.
Joshua Hinz (2016) -- In Spring 2017, Joshua is a graduate student In the Ph.D. Program in Physics at the university of Rochester
Leigh Korbel (2015) In Spring 2017, Leigh is pursuing a M.S. in Physics at the University at Buffalo with aproject cosmological N-body simulations.
Daniel Geleckyj (2015) -- In Spring 2017, Dan is working on software development for business at Automated Computer Solutions in West Seneca, New York.
Brandon Franks (2014) -- Brandon received a M.S. from the Professional Applied Computational Mathematics program at Buffalo State College (2016). In Spring 2017, Brandon works as lead software engineer at Cytocybernetics Inc, a biotech company which specializes in modelling cardiac ion channels. Brandon also teaches technical physics at Erie County Community College.
Steve Tarasek (2014) -- In Spring 2017, Steve is working on a Ph.D. project at the University at Buffalo investigating time resolved photoluminescence of quantum dots usingan ultra fast laser.
Tony Galbier (2014) -- By Spring 2017, Tony earned an M.S. in Engineering at University at Buffalo.
Nolan Foster (2014) -- Nolan graduated from the University at Buffalo with a B.S. in computer engineering and, in Spring 2017, is working as a software engineer for General Motors in Michigan.
Timothy Schuler (2014) -- In Spring 2017, Tim is pursuing a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University at Buffalo with a concentration in Operations Research. He is also a full time software engineer at CUBRC Inc. in the Data Science & Information Group.
Jennifer Gazdovich (2013) -- After graduation, Jennifer completed a M.S. in secondary education at Buffalo State. In Spring 2017, she is teaching AP, IB and Regents physics at Kenmore West HS. In 2016 she participated in an international program at CERN in Switzerland on introducing particle physics into the HS courses.
Aaron Sprow (2012) -- In Spring 2017, Aaron is finishing his Ph.D. work at the University of Kentucky on a project which involved measurements at ultracold and spallation sources at Los Alamos and Oakridge National Labs.
Joe Steiner (2010) -- Joe graduated from Buffalo State in 2010 with a B.S. in physics. He completed his PhD in medical physics at Louisiana State University in 2018 and completed his nuclear medical physics residency at Henry Ford Hospital in 2020. In 2022, Joe holds the position of Assistant Professor (Nuclear Medical Physicist) in the radiology department at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
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