How to become a Physicist 2024

Physicist Conduct research into physical phenomena, develop theories on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply physical laws and theories.

Physicist is Also Know as

In different settings, Physicist is titled as

Biophysics Scientist
Health Physicist
Medical Physicist
Physicist
Research Consultant
Research Physicist
Research Scientist
Scientist

Education and Training of Physicist

Physicist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Physicist

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Education Required for Physicist

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Degrees Related to Physicist

Training Required for Physicist

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Physicist in different industries are

What Do Physicist do?

Perform complex calculations as part of the analysis and evaluation of data, using computers.
Describe and express observations and conclusions in mathematical terms.
Analyze data from research conducted to detect and measure physical phenomena.
Report experimental results by writing papers for scientific journals or by presenting information at scientific conferences.
Design computer simulations to model physical data so that it can be better understood.
Collaborate with other scientists in the design, development, and testing of experimental, industrial, or medical equipment, instrumentation, and procedures.
Observe the structure and properties of matter, and the transformation and propagation of energy, using equipment such as masers, lasers, and telescopes, to explore and identify the basic principles governing these phenomena.
Develop theories and laws on the basis of observation and experiments, and apply these theories and laws to problems in areas such as nuclear energy, optics, and aerospace technology.
Teach physics to students.
Develop manufacturing, assembly, and fabrication processes of lasers, masers, infrared, and other light-emitting and light-sensitive devices.
Conduct application evaluations and analyze results to determine commercial, industrial, scientific, medical, military, or other uses for electro-optical devices.
Develop standards of permissible concentrations of radioisotopes in liquids and gases.
Conduct research pertaining to potential environmental impacts of atomic energy-related industrial development to determine licensing qualifications.
Advise authorities of procedures to be followed in radiation incidents or hazards, and assist in civil defense planning.
Write research proposals to receive funding.

Qualities of Good Physicist

Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.

Tools Used by Physicist

Accelerometers
Analog frequency analyzers
Analog sound level meters
Analytical balances
Annealing furnaces
Arbitrary function generators
Argon ion lasers
Atomic absorption AA spectrometers
Atomic emission detectors AED
Atomic force microscopes
Betatrons
Big G torsion balances
Capacitance bridges
Cavity dumpers or drivers
Charge-coupled device CCD cameras
Computed tomography CT scanners
Conditioning amplifiers
Cryostats
Cyclotrons
Desktop computers
Diffusion pumps
Diffusion-pumped vacuum systems
Digital multimeters
Digital oscilloscopes
Digital plotters
Digital sound level meters
Digital voltmeters DVM
Diode lasers
Double monochromators
Electron microscopes
Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectrometers
Friction-force microscopes
Function generators
Galvanostats
Gamma ray spectrometers
Gas chromatography equipment
Gas chromatography GC injectors
Gaussmeters
Geiger-Muller counters
Grating monochromators
Headspace autosamplers
Helium lasers
Helium refrigerators
High intensity UV sources
High vacuum equipment
High-energy accelerators
High-resolution semiconductor detectors
High-resolution spectrometers
High-speed video cameras
Interferometers
Ionization chambers
Isotope ratio mass spectrometers
Laboratory box furnaces
Laboratory centrifugal pumps
Laboratory electromagnets
Laboratory tube furnaces
Laptop computers
Laser power meters
Leak detection equipment
Light scattering devices
Linear accelerators
Liquid helium level sensors
Magnetic force microscopes
Magnetic resonance imaging MRI systems
Mass spectrometers
Measuring microscopes
Mickelson interferometers
Microwave interferometers
Monochromators
Multiple diode lasers
Nanovoltmeters
Neutron detectors
Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR spectroscopes
Optical beamsplitting devices
Optical choppers
Optical detectors
Optical tables
Optical tweezers
Particle counters
Personal computers
Photodetectors
Photometer
Photon counting systems
Pinhole filters
Pistonphones
Portable fast Fourier transform FFT analyzers
Positive ion accelerators
Power amplifiers
Prism spectrometers
Programmable phase modulators
Pulsed nitrogen lasers
Radiation detecting film badges
Radiofrequency RF generators
Safety goggles
Scanning electron microscopes SEM
Scanning monochromators
Scanning tunneling microscopes STM
Scintillation probes
Semiconductor parameter analyzers
Signal generators
Single frequency dye lasers
Sound intensity probes
Spectrophotometers
Spectrum analyzers
Spring scales
Surface profilometers
Telescopes
Thermoluminescent dosimeters
Transmission electron microscopes TEM
Turbo-pumped vacuum systems
Two-channel dynamic signal analyzers
Two-channel fast Fourier transform FFT analyzers
Two-channel network analyzers
Vacuum stations
Vernier force sensors
Vibrating sample magnetometers
Vibration exciters
Visible spectrometers
X ray crystallography equipment
X ray photoemission spectrometers
Zeeman split lasers

Technology Skills required for Physicist

Adobe Audition
Adobe Photoshop
Amazon Web Services AWS software
Ansible software
Aptech Systems GAUSS
Autodesk AutoCAD
C
C++
Canu
CERN Physics Analysis Workstation PAW
CERN ROOT
COMSOL Multiphysics
Criss Software XRF11
Dose modeling software
Eclipse IDE
Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System EPICS
Extensible markup language XML
Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
Git
GNU Image Manipulation Program GIMP
GNU Octave
Gnuplot
JavaScript
Lenox Softworks VideoPoint
Linux
Maplesoft Maple
Mathsoft Mathcad
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Azure software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Visual Basic
Microsoft Visual J++
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
MySQL
National Instruments LabVIEW
OpenStack
Oracle Database
Oracle Java
OriginLab Origin
Pascal
Perl
Ploticus
Puppet
Python
Radiation dose calculation software
REDUCE
RibbonSoft QCad
RSI interactive data language IDL software
SciGraphica
SciLab
Scribus
Software development tools
Spectral Dynamics STAR
Spectroscopy software
SQLite
Statistical software
Structured query language SQL
Sun Microsystems Java
Synergy Software KaleidaGraph
Systat Software SigmaPlot
The MathWorks MATLAB
UNIX
Vector Fields OPERA-3d
Video analysis software
VMware
Wolfram Research Mathematica
Xfig
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US Universities

How to become Physicist in 2024