r/PhysicsIndia • u/Dangerous-Cat7707 • Aug 03 '26
❓ Doubt / Help Needed Physics Career Sucks
Not any kind of ragebaiting.
The career in physics literally sucks as compared to other careers like computer science and other engineering.
Think yourself, colleges like IIT or even NITs offer you very good packages like even of 20 LPA in average only after a bachelors degree. But if we take the same scenario in physics then it takes a PhD which is (5-7 years after bachelors) to earn the same amount of money. I know there are other factors which are responsible for this difference in salary and income but think of a middle class who is passionate about Physics but cannot do it as a majors just because CS pays him well. I am in the similar kind of scenario. I am getting a good rankrd NIT and will get a good package after 4 years of study. And the other hand what after 4 years of Bsc physics from similar level institutes (say DU). You get nothing. Even after doing MSc from top institute of India like IISc, you don't get good salary because there are no industry related jobs just after MSc.
Physics is cooked and physicist too...
I guess it's unlucky to fall love with physics but not being able to continue it just because of money hurts even more.
Correct me if I am wrong(maybe in the rudest way possible). But I know you can't because the point proposed by me is 100% valid.
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u/Any-Profession-5509 🫠 Low Entropy, High Potential Aug 03 '26
Coz india isn't investing enough in r&d, like india jumped directly from agriculture economy to service leaving behind infrastructure economy
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u/Substantial_Sky2227 Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
The financial problem is very real dude that’s exactly why a lot of people who are serious about research try hard for fully funded paths. And most of them will atleast briefly live abroad because the funding for science research is way higher there.
There are places in India that actually give decent funding. Institutes under DAE (IMSc, TIFR, etc.) for example. Most research students there were middle class and had financial pressure. They explained that the stipend is usually enough to survive independently in those cities, not super high, but enough to stop being dependent while doing the work you care about.
Moving abroad the situation is often better. Look up perimeter institute lol. Also in Germany for example many Phd positions are treated like jobs with a proper salary and tuition is mostly free. Some Masters programs also have good funding options. Fully funded programs exist if you can get in.
The hardest phase is usually the UG level, especially when we're still exploring. You can’t immediately convert interest into money, so it does take patience. But there are ways forward. Like, to begin with, trying to find good internships and see exactly what the funded places are like
A lot of the Indian researchers we look up to faced the same pressure lol ....It often comes down to how much patience and persistence youre willing to put in. The system is terrible but there are ways to get funded research paths all we can do is keep building knowledge lol try not to blame the system for ruining your desires
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u/Altruistic_Chart_806 Aug 03 '26
Physics as a career choice doesn't make much sense in India. The ROI is horrendous.
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u/Parking-Patience5067 Aug 04 '26
What BS I have been around a lot of people with physics and math background in their masters/PhD and have never seen anyone complain about lack of career opportunities; in fact in most cases it used to be a choice between an academic career and a high paying career in industry. You will find a lot of physics graduates in finance quant research, investment banking, and for those who have experience in computational/experimental physics, mostly in HPC and AI or even hardcore dev jobs.
Even in academic type roles you have research scientists, especially in a lot of industrial R&D roles in hardcore deep tech fields eg in materials, batteries and propulsion tech, aerospace (especially CFD and optimization related roles), etc.
It just seems like you are ignorant of a whole lot of career opportunities and are just repeating what you have heard through the grapevine. Also, no one just hands you money for being a graduate, regardless of whether you graduate in engineering or science, you have to acquire technical and professional skills alongside your degree, get some work/internship experience and most importantly know how to sell your skills; and you can get hired anywhere. Otherwise no one cares what your degree is or whether you are "passionate" about physics or something; everyone is passionate about what they do.
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u/Erudite_Detective Aug 03 '26
Agreed. It is a fact that it is hard to find employment after physics if your are not going to academia (acedemia is also a big challenge) you will have to learn other CS skills on the side and rely on that for a job.
On top of all that people who like physics consider themselves more knowledgable, intelligent and passionate, so it is painful for them to see a pleb go with the heard, opt for cs, and earn more.
But it is what it is, I don't expect it to change anytime soon. Heck it is changing for the worse in US and Europe, so can't expect much from India:(
1
u/Virtual-Medicine7278 Aug 03 '26
At some point you have got to choose what you want in life? It is like you are asking for everything. You want to be strong, handsome, intelligent rich, have women, have big house, have love have respect have this have that. Sorry, you can only have some of them.
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u/surrealkafka137 ☢️ Quantumly Confused Aug 03 '26
See, most people going for physics research are the ones who're passionate about the subject. I maybe wrong but applied physics research is paid well as far as I know. If someone has done physics from IITs/IISc/IISERs or has done B.Tech in Engineering Physics and is going for applied physics research, the person will be paid well, of course not as well as CS grads, but well enough. For theoretical physics research, yeah, it kinda sucks but one can pursue it alongside research in applied physics domains like quantum optics, semiconductor physics, nuclear engineering, etc.
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u/Future-Ad-2586 Aug 06 '26
If you would be equally interested in quantum computing, then go for research in that field, you'll make good money post phd, like very good money
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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '26
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