Physics PHD's

pisslips

So, I've been through the process of applying and interview and everything looks good and I'm interested in the area and looking forward to the work a little.

So I'm doing this purely because I want to, as in I would get a lot of satisfaction doing this work for the next couple of years at least.

Anyway, the internet is scoured with threads and articles about the saturation of physics PHD's not only in the US but Europe too. And to add to that, apparently the need for people with PHD's in industry is much lower than some people would have you believe. Now, I'll reiterate that I'm going to do this anyway, future prospects or not but it would comfort me a lot if someone could tell me that there are some.

I guess it depends on the area. For example I always point out(to myself) that I would be doing mostly modelling, so I'd have a lot of experience with HPC and programming in general, which would surely be a skill required by industry. Despite this, on further inspection, realistically a small section of IBM looks like the only place in the Irish economy that would require such expertise.

Anyway, not that it's a deal breaker or anything but it would be nice to know that there is some kind of future, particularly when I would (if I get to the end) be in my late twenties.

Usually people point out lots of vague possibilities that include finance(quants etc.) but I've heard that it depends on the area and the prestige and grades etc. and it's really a small pool of jobs and also I don't think I'd like it, it's too specific, I'd prefer the idea that there might be research jobs or engineering jobs which employ a lot of the same knowledge and skills.

I'd like to know from any post-docs in industry from any quantative and/or computational backround in Ireland, what did you do after?

I'm unlikely to get that so also any opinions from anyone are appreciated.