Hello all! For a very long time I have been interested in physics. Primary 5 got me reading my sister's Physics Matters textbook -_-. I have done some research online and have found out that most JCs and Universities in S'pore here offer courses on physics. What I would like to know is: After graduating form university, what are some careers that incorporate physics? Aside from teaching or lecturing I mean. I have a huge amount of interest in particle physics ( quarks, mesons, fermions etc..) . So does anyone know what jobs on offer in S'pore?
P.S. I'm 14. Never too young to plan your future. Never too late not to.
Physics career in Singapore?
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Canopus Lim
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Hi,
Actually I hesitated to answer the question because I am scared of giving a very long answer and frightening off young people by the reality of life.
Firstly, your case was quite similar to mine. I am interested in physics and astronomy since primary school and have been determined to work my through all these. So I did Physics in jc and majored in Physics and worked my way to Physics honours and Physics masters and now a Physics PhD student.
My interests are on particle physics and Einstein relativity theories. I did my Masters on Einstein General Relativity.
Ok now for the truth of reality: there are many branches of Physics and those branches that are funded by the government agencies (such as AStar, RCE, NSF) are: Condensed matter physics, solid state physics, bio physics and quantum computation (pragmatic branches). There are less than 10 people in the local university doing particle physics and relativity theories (less pragmatic branches). And these people are typically ostracised. Compare this figure to about 300 people doing the pragmatic branches in the same university. This is not just a trend in Singapore. It is the trend in the world across all subjects of science. There are only a few specialised institutes in the world doing these less pragmatic science.
So the decision is clear.
- If you decide to do the less pragmatic branches of physics, you have to go to these institutes and you have to work very very hard to be at the top. Otherwise your career will be easily ended if the govt decided to close the institute for pragmatic reasons. Lastly, do note that the physics syllabus in jc and local universities are strongly geared towards the pragmatic branches, so you will never get to learn those topics that you like properly.
Meng Lee
Actually I hesitated to answer the question because I am scared of giving a very long answer and frightening off young people by the reality of life.
Firstly, your case was quite similar to mine. I am interested in physics and astronomy since primary school and have been determined to work my through all these. So I did Physics in jc and majored in Physics and worked my way to Physics honours and Physics masters and now a Physics PhD student.
My interests are on particle physics and Einstein relativity theories. I did my Masters on Einstein General Relativity.
Ok now for the truth of reality: there are many branches of Physics and those branches that are funded by the government agencies (such as AStar, RCE, NSF) are: Condensed matter physics, solid state physics, bio physics and quantum computation (pragmatic branches). There are less than 10 people in the local university doing particle physics and relativity theories (less pragmatic branches). And these people are typically ostracised. Compare this figure to about 300 people doing the pragmatic branches in the same university. This is not just a trend in Singapore. It is the trend in the world across all subjects of science. There are only a few specialised institutes in the world doing these less pragmatic science.
So the decision is clear.
- If you decide to do the less pragmatic branches of physics, you have to go to these institutes and you have to work very very hard to be at the top. Otherwise your career will be easily ended if the govt decided to close the institute for pragmatic reasons. Lastly, do note that the physics syllabus in jc and local universities are strongly geared towards the pragmatic branches, so you will never get to learn those topics that you like properly.
Meng Lee
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It really all boils down to this. And I am also speaking from personal experience and another "unconventional"
education. Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology (Archaeology)
You need to at some point decide what you want in life. If the answer is stupendous amounts of money.
You should consider Law, Business/Finance or Medicine (in that order roughly).
If one of the above is something you will find fulfilling as a lifelong career, then you're good to go.
The other route (the one less of us typically choose) is one that will provide you with little financial gains but a vast amount
of personal satisfaction and provide you with the challenge of lifelong learning and research.
For example, I went to college as a Computer Science major and decided after my first semester that it wasn't what I wanted,
and that digging up fossilized remains and studying ceramics and stone tools seemed much more interesting and not to mention fun.
So really its never too late to make the choice, and you shouldn't be overly concerned about it at this point, focus on what interests you, and if that changes later, then its ok.
In short, the gist of my message is, do what makes you happy and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Well...aside from your parents, better listen to them, as they're probably going to be footing the bill.
Them you have to convince first but it can be done ;)
One universal truth is educational life though is to spend as much time on Mathematics as you can or it will haunt you for the rest of your life.
And incidentally I'm back in the IT line again, what you study isn't necessarily what you'll end up doing, especially in a country like Singapore ;)
education. Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology (Archaeology)
You need to at some point decide what you want in life. If the answer is stupendous amounts of money.
You should consider Law, Business/Finance or Medicine (in that order roughly).
If one of the above is something you will find fulfilling as a lifelong career, then you're good to go.
The other route (the one less of us typically choose) is one that will provide you with little financial gains but a vast amount
of personal satisfaction and provide you with the challenge of lifelong learning and research.
For example, I went to college as a Computer Science major and decided after my first semester that it wasn't what I wanted,
and that digging up fossilized remains and studying ceramics and stone tools seemed much more interesting and not to mention fun.
So really its never too late to make the choice, and you shouldn't be overly concerned about it at this point, focus on what interests you, and if that changes later, then its ok.
In short, the gist of my message is, do what makes you happy and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Well...aside from your parents, better listen to them, as they're probably going to be footing the bill.
Them you have to convince first but it can be done ;)
One universal truth is educational life though is to spend as much time on Mathematics as you can or it will haunt you for the rest of your life.
And incidentally I'm back in the IT line again, what you study isn't necessarily what you'll end up doing, especially in a country like Singapore ;)
Hahaha, man it's great to hear all these from you guys. I myself have many interests and hobbies that can be used as a "back-up" plan for practicality purposes, I'll probably be picking up IT/Multimedia related stuff in Polytechnic, and I'll move on to Philosophy in the later part of my life. It's as what Fuzzy said, do what makes you happy and if you realise that your passion is on something else in future, switch. Don't give up on your goal. I'm bent on taking up Philosophy in future, and my long long long term goal is to become a pHD holder of Philosophy, and giving lectures in some foreign University. (: