Career, Job, REU, and Internship Information
UWW Physics Tips on Applying
QUICK LINKS:
PHYSICS CAREER RESOURCES
See our Physics Alumni page for some of the carreers that our UWW Physics majors have!
Why Study Physics?
As the career poster shows, the discipline of physics teaches skills and ways of thinking that are valuable in many professions, including, but not limited to, traditional physics. In a technologically complex and rapidly changing world, it is especially important to have the kind of broad, flexible education that a physics major or minor provides. In addition, physics is an interesting field! Physics deals with questions ranging from the formation of galaxies to the mechanical properties of DNA. As part of their education, physics students learn to:
- Develop analytical and quantitative reasoning skills, and apply mathematical techniques to a wide range of problems
- Use computers for calculation, graphing, modeling, designing, and problem solving
- Design experiments and use many different types of instruments, including electronic and computer-controlled instruments, to gather data
- Interpret and analyze complex experimental data
- Work with, and help to develop, new technologies
- Evaluate answers before trusting them
- Develop and strengthen communication skills
Career Paths
Physics graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater have achieved success in many fields. Many of our graduates work in industry in both technical and management positions. Teaching continues to be a good career choice, with a stable demand for physics teachers. Military service, including the Navy's nuclear program, is another possible career option. A physics degree is also excellent preparation for further study in many areas. Recent UW-Whitewater graduates are pursuing graduate study in physics as well as in related areas such as astronomy, engineering, computer science, and medicine. Other UW-W graduates are conducting research in diverse fields, including oceanography at the Naval Oceanographic Office, aerostructural test engineering at NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston, and the Human Genome Project at UW-Madison.
Recent UW-Whitewater physics graduates' employers range from large corporations
such as Johnson Controls, Wisconsin Energy, and Motorola, to smaller high-technology
companies such as Bell Industries and Fedco Electronics. Many recent
graduates are also teaching in middle and high schools. Essentially
all of our graduates who seek employment in a technical field are able
to find it. Starting salaries for physics graduates are good; according
to a recent survey by the American Institute
of Physics, the median salary of 2006 physics degree recipients
was about $35,000 to $45,000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
The department has a set of SLOAN Career Cornerstone Series CDs on career information for engineering and sciences. These are available to view and access in the department office.
In addition check out Cornell's Physics Career Resources page. It has a comprehensive list of Physics career options.
Other sites to look at are:
- Aerotek Job Placement Service with a specialization in Science Jobs
- American Institute of Physics career services
- APS Career and Professional Development Liaison Program
- National Research Council career planning center
- AIP Statistical Research Center
- Physics jobs online
- Job Hunt
- Society of Physics Students
- American Physical Society
- American Association of Physics Teachers
- American Astronomical Society
- NASA JOBS: Student Opportunities
- Optical Society of America
- Physics Today Career Network job board There are over 200 jobs posted monthly.
SUMMER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Stipend: sti•pend |sti pend| (noun) a fixed regular sum paid as a salary or allowance.
i.e. Most REU programs PAY YOU to go. Many also provide free housing, and some even provide free food and travel. All this and you get to do research at some of the leading universities. Pretty sweet deal.
- National Science Foundation REU Search
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory: Summer Student Research Assistantships
- NIST: Summer Undergrauduate Research Fellowship
- Brigham Young University $4500 stipend, travel, room, and board.
- Case Wester Reserve Universtiy Seyfert Prize Fellowship $4800; 10 week program.
- Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP)
- Center for Nanomaterials Research at Dartmouth College $4050 stipend, housing, travel
- CTIO Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory La Serena, Chile January - March
- Kitt Peak National Observatory REU $6200 stipend.
- Lehigh University Physics REU $4600 stipend; 10 week program.
- Medical College of Wisconsin Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research $3500 stipend and housing.
- Montana State University REU - Condensed Matter and LASER Physics $4400 stipend, travel, food, lodging; 10 week program.
- National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network REU $4000 stipend, travel and housing; 10 week program.
- New York University Study Abroad Probram
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale Interdisciplinary Materials Research, $4000 stipend.
- University of Chicago Physics REU $4500 stipend and housing; 10 week program.
- University of Florida Physics REU $4700 stipend, travel, housing. Materials Physics in Condensed Matter and Related Fields and Computer Modeling and Simulation
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign REU
- University of Idaho $4500 stipend and housing; 9 week program.
- University of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering February 13
- UNLV REU AMO, Condensed matter, High pressure, and Astrophysics.
- University of Notre Dame REU $3800 stipend, housing, travel; 10 weeks.
- University of Oklahoma $4000 stipend and subsidized housing.
- Washington State University REU - Extreme Matter $6000 stipend and housing.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) | Numerous programs all around the country and world to study physics and engineering. Prof. Benjamin started one of these programs at UW-Madison in Astrophysics. Typical stipends are $3600-$5000 for ten weeks, travel and lodging paid separately. http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm |
| NASA Centers | Numerous summer programs at NASA centers around the country. http://www.uwgb.edu/wsgc/programs/nasaopportunities.asp |
| Department of Energy (DOE) Summer programs (DUE starting FEB 1) | Various locations: includes programs for teachers! http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/sci_ed.htm |
| Argonne National Lab Summer programs (DUE starting FEB 1) | Argonne is located outside of Chicago; if you've taken Prof. Sahyun's Intermediate Lab, and liked the SRC part, you should really think about applying! http://www.dep.anl.gov/p_undergrad/ |
| Synchrotron Radiation Center (Stoughton, WI) (DUE FEB 15) |
http://www.src.wisc.edu/outreach/src-reu.htm Additional Information Flyer |
| UW-Madison REU in Nanotechnology (DUE FEB 1) | http://mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/NSECREU/2007-NSEC-REU.htm |
More REU PROGRAMS
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES close to Whitewater
- SchenckAccuRate Process Whitewater
- Kreischer Optics
- Abbott Labs
- Harley Davidson
- Johnson Controls
- Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Internships
- Internships in Wisconsin
- Epic
- ADECCO Engineering & Technical
More Internship Opportunities
| Society of Physics Students Interships | Work on physics research in organizations and agencies in the Washington, DC area: $3700 stipend. http://www.spsnational.org/programs/internships/ |
| American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Summer Internships | For students interested in Medical Physics, can be taken at various sites around the country. http://www.aapm.org/education/sufp/ |
PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN AND MINORITIES
APS/IBM Research Internship for Undergraduate Women
http://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/ibm/index.cfmAPS Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics Majors
http://www.aps.org/programs/minorities/honors/scholarship/index.cfmUniversity of Chicago Physics REU
UW-Madison Engineering
http://studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/diversity/sure/- 2nd Annual Midwest Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics January 16 - January 18, 2009
- Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, Lincoln Nebraska Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009
- WiscAMP Academic Enrichment Program (WiscAMP-AEP) 8 Week course and $3500 stipend.
