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What job opportunities do I have after studying astrophysics at uni?

I am currently doing physics, maths and chemistry at a-level and I want to go onto do physics with astrophysics at uni. I was wondering is anyone had any insight into jobs I could get with this or if there is any work experience that could help me understand where I want to go after this degree?

Reply 1

Any of the many jobs that just ask for a 2:i in anything. Finance, software development, data science, IT, consultancy are fairly common routes. You can get a decent overview of what's out there on careers sites like gradcracker.com (although graduate jobs tend to be advertised near the end of the year). Astrophysics research is an option but it's very competitive to get into.

Reply 2

Original post
by Sinnoh
Any of the many jobs that just ask for a 2:i in anything. Finance, software development, data science, IT, consultancy are fairly common routes. You can get a decent overview of what's out there on careers sites like gradcracker.com (although graduate jobs tend to be advertised near the end of the year). Astrophysics research is an option but it's very competitive to get into.

As you graduated from MSc Physics Imperial, where your fellow students went for a career path? And do you know the range of graduate salaries in the first year? Would be extremely grateful for your answer. Need to make a big decision on accepting current Physics offers or reapply to ICL. Also, if I come to study masters in ICL, is it as good as UG?

Reply 3

Original post
by dariya75
As you graduated from MSc Physics Imperial, where your fellow students went for a career path? And do you know the range of graduate salaries in the first year? Would be extremely grateful for your answer. Need to make a big decision on accepting current Physics offers or reapply to ICL. Also, if I come to study masters in ICL, is it as good as UG?


Funnily enough I think nearly all my friends from my course ended up doing PhDs... myself included. A few others I know ended up in graduate jobs; nothing spectacular but they're probably doing fairly well by now.

Average graduate salaries are publicly available information, check https://discoveruni.gov.uk/

When you say "is it as good", what do you mean here? Certainly there's overlap with the modules and content and you'd have the opportunity to learn a lot of physics. If your interests are theoretical then QFFF is a very good one. Maybe the standalone MSc would be a good starting point for looking at PhDs. But if you're just interested in career prospects, I'd find it hard to justify the significantly higher cost of doing a separate master's compared to doing an integrated master's at whichever university you go to. Or just doing the three year degree.

Reply 4

Original post
by Sinnoh
Funnily enough I think nearly all my friends from my course ended up doing PhDs... myself included. A few others I know ended up in graduate jobs; nothing spectacular but they're probably doing fairly well by now.
Average graduate salaries are publicly available information, check https://discoveruni.gov.uk/
When you say "is it as good", what do you mean here? Certainly there's overlap with the modules and content and you'd have the opportunity to learn a lot of physics. If your interests are theoretical then QFFF is a very good one. Maybe the standalone MSc would be a good starting point for looking at PhDs. But if you're just interested in career prospects, I'd find it hard to justify the significantly higher cost of doing a separate master's compared to doing an integrated master's at whichever university you go to. Or just doing the three year degree.

What is your PhD on and what do you think you’ll do after receiving it? I’ve been considering doing a Masters and PhD after Uni so would you recommend it?

Reply 5

Original post
by je55rose
What is your PhD on and what do you think you’ll do after receiving it? I’ve been considering doing a Masters and PhD after Uni so would you recommend it?

My PhD is in atmospheric physics/climate science. Haven't thought too much about after that, will probably be applying for research associate positions - but those only last a couple years so then the question becomes what next after that.
I'm not going to do a blanket recommendation of doing postgraduate study on principle, because whether it's the right thing for you depends on a lot of things. A master's can be good for getting additional skills, working on a longer-term project and would be good to have when applying for PhDs. However, it can be difficult to acquire the funds for it in the UK. You do a PhD if you can tolerate not making much money for 3-4 years, are very very interested in something and are seriously considering a career in research.

Reply 6

Original post
by je55rose
I am currently doing physics, maths and chemistry at a-level and I want to go onto do physics with astrophysics at uni. I was wondering is anyone had any insight into jobs I could get with this or if there is any work experience that could help me understand where I want to go after this degree?

based subject and degree choices

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