Careers & Internships in Physics & Astronomy
- How to Look for a Physics Job
- Alumni—Where Are They Now?
- About Graduate School
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Graduate Research Opportunities
- AIP Career Resources
- Internships
Individualized Career Coaching for Arts & Sciences Students
College of Arts & Sciences students can take advantage of individualized career coaching, with many resources to help them prepare for successful lives. Students with liberal arts degrees are highly sought after because they are educated to think critically and become problem solvers for 21st century issues.
- Make an appointment with OHIO's Career Network, by logging into Handshake!
Successful Careers and Graduate School Placements
Physics & Astronomy students pursue advanced degrees and professions in research, education, industry and more. Like our faculty, alumni are working on theoretical questions and applied solutions for 21st century issues.
Opportunities to conduct research with renowned faculty prepare Physics & Astronomy students for successful careers and graduate school placements.
With a B.S. in Physics, Applied Physics or Astrophysics, students can get jobs in industry, finance, government or teaching. In addition, the degree prepares students for advanced training in physics, astrophysics or related fields at the graduate level. With a B.S. degree in Physics-Meteorology, a student can get a job as a meteorologist. In addition, this degree prepares students for advanced graduate training in the fields of meteorology, climatology, and atmospheric physics.
About 60 percent of Ohio University Physics & Astronomy graduates go to graduate school, either in Physics or in another discipline. Graduate students work as Research Assistants or Teaching Assistants and are almost always compensated with a stipend that is sufficient to live on, and tuition is usually waived. Graduate work in Physics or Astronomy prepares students for teaching at the university and college level as well as for careers in industry or government.
Career Links
A great resource for understanding where Physics Graduates go and what can be done with a Bachelor's degree is the American Institute of Physics Careers website. They have the results from surveys of the kinds of jobs that Physics students can get on graduation with a bachelor's or a Ph.D. and the salaries to be expected, which are highly competitive with other science majors in Arts & Sciences and overlap with Bachelor's salaries for Engineers; see http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/fall09a.pdf [PDF]. Also helpful is the National Society of Physics Students "Careers Using Physics" webpage.