Theoretical Phyics Degree's

Nietzschean

Well i'm currently doing my leaving cert and planning on doing theoretical phyics in trinity, i'm really just wondering as this is probally best board to ask people is this the best phyics type degree to get into something like research? i've a terrible habbit of reading phyics papers and such from research sites off the net instead of lc relevent material

amen

Well I did the B.Sc in Applied Physics in DCU.
A lot of my friends went on to do research ( 2 of them are PHDs and now lecture).

I think the main things is to have a love/understanding of what your studying and do well in your final exams. Once you get a good grade it shouldn't be too hard to get some postgraudate study.

Different colleges have different interests though. You really should look at their post graduate options.

If I was doing it again I would still go with DCU good bit of theory (all the classical stuff) plus loads of interesting stuff like Optoelectronics, Sensors, Computing. Loads of labs 2 days in 2nd/3rd year. Plus work experience in 3rd year.

Nietzschean

thanks for the info/advice

DeVore

I did the math degree in TCD (which shares a large number of courses with TP, so much so that we all just hung around together as one big class).

TP is just that, theortical physics. If you want to get into mucking around with lasers, or atoms and stuff you want to be doing Experimental physics.

Just wander into the department and talk to the head of the dept politely and I'm sure they'll be happy to help you.

DeV.

Nietzschean

well i know in ucd that tp contains a few modules of expermental phyics that not the case in tcd?

thedrowner

i suppose i dont have suffienienct knowledge to back this up, but i would go (did go!!) with ucd rather than trinity for a science degree. i have no iterest in physics whatsoever but i did the subject in first year, coz ihad to take four (only 3 in triity i thik...which has its pro's and cons) subjects and doing experimental physics with my others gave me the most options for 2nd year. But the coursewas really good, the lab classes were loads of fun, and very easy to do, and if u ahve an interest in it , or an understanding (i had neither, and i had an average of 77% prac mark!!!) you can do SO well in it. My friend is gdoing phsyics in dcu, in his second year and he loves it! The only downside is, he has some classes on saturdays-yueck. and i ahve a friend who has just dropped out of his physics degree in trinity coz he said it was really boring and he hated it, they sucked his love for the subject away. But it really depends on the person, i suppose.

Like the others said, you have to find out what is is that u want to do (and bear in mind, you might not like it when you actually get to college..i thought i was gona do maths, and now im doing biochemistry!) and go to the colleges youre interested in, and talk to the postgrads, and the professors of the department. And you should take into a/c the fact that you may change your mind, and go to a college that will allow u to switch subjects! Coz if your doing to 4 subjcts in ucd, and you deicde at the end of the year you dont want to do physics, you have enough subjects to play around with.

Scruff

Originally posted by Serialkiller
Well i'm currently doing my leaving cert and planning on doing theoretical phyics in trinity, i'm really just wondering as this is probally best board to ask people is this the best phyics type degree to get into something like research? i've a terrible habbit of reading phyics papers and such from research sites off the net instead of lc relevent material

Back in '96 (my god soo long ago now ) when i was trying to make my mind up as to where to go and what to do i gave serious thouht to doing that course in Trinity. I was always, and am, reading science news, papers and books. Back then i was especially interested in Astrophysics. Anywho i'm begingin to ramble :rolleyes:

Basically i decided against going for the Theoretical Physics course altogether as i got my hands on a booklet from trinity itself on the course. It was quite encouraging until i got to the appendix at the back which had a survey off the graduates over the last 5 years. I was deeply disappointed as basically some overwhelming percentage of the class (that i can't exactly remember) who graduated where not working in scientific research but in statistical analysis for financial and insurance companies.

I was talking to a guy sometime after that who had done it and e basically said u had to be top of the class to get a research post.

I'm sorry if this puts you off but get your hands on the latest booklet about the course from trinity, u never know, things might have changed from all those years ago. Also i was\am somewhat or a lazy git

I actually ended up not doing any type of Pyhsics\Science degree but did Computer Engineering in U.L.

Nietzschean

ah comp eng in ul,,,himm i want outa limerick...have had enough time in the hole

and as for being top of the class...well sounds like a bit of a challange n dat...but i don't mind financial maths either so like what ever happen's...4 yrs is a long time

nesf

Having to stand up for my own course... I'd recommend UCC for physics, simply from the standpoint that you can do either a theoretical degree, an experimental degree or an astrophyics degree, but you get to choose in 2nd year, after seeing what it's really like. I went in looking to do a theoretical degree, but I discovered I was better suited to an experimental degree (which contains as much theory as the theoretical one, just the mark weighting is different).

Also you have the option of doing a joint degree of physics with either maths, or applied maths, both very challenging.

Then again if you've your heart set on dublin I'd recommend TCD, but a mate of mine did his degree in Theoretical Phyics there and tbh it's more of a maths degree than a phyics one, the degree in UCC is more phyics orientated. But they do push you very very hard, and they expect you to be good at it. Ffs I was doing quantum and relativity in 1st year. Even did some solid state!

And it wasn't easy stuff, we were doing solutions for harmonic ossicalators using schroedinger's eqn, for nice square wells, but for parabolic ones also


Hmm, I've rambled enough, good luck in your leaving btw.

Nietzschean

thanks for all they info and advice lads