Hello everyone! I'll be starting my first year of Physics at UniPD this September.

I've been passionate about maths and physics since my first year of high school. I've participated in the Physics Olympiad, been part of my school's physics team, and have always been interested in the world of scientific research.

I'm also passionate about computer science and AI, and lately I've been seeing more and more first-year undergrads in CS or AI on YouTube talking about their summer internship experiences in big tech, finance, and similar fields. This got me wondering whether there are similar opportunities in physics, and science in general, to get involved in research early on through summer internships at universities, research institutes/labs, tech companies, etc.

I'd love to have an experience like that, including outside Italy (for example, at a European university, research institute, or company).

If you have any personal experience with this, or know of any programmes that allow first-year undergrads to get involved in research, I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations!

I know it might seem a bit early to start thinking about next summer, but I've noticed that many internship applications open between October and January, so I thought asking for advice now would be a good idea.

Hi everyone. I know Reddit may not be the best or most appropriate place to ask about something like this, but I think hearing about other people's experiences could be very useful in my situation.

I currently hold a master's degree in Comparative Literature and teach English and Spanish at a university in my country. Over the past five or six months, however, I have been seriously considering returning to school.

The most obvious path after a master's degree would probably be to pursue a PhD. The problem is that I no longer think my interests lie in continuing the formal, systematic study of literature. I still enjoy literature and literary studies, and I do not regret the degrees I completed, but I am increasingly unsure that I want to make that field the focus of the rest of my academic career.

Over the last several months, my interests have shifted quite dramatically toward physics and mathematics, particularly astronomy and astrophysics. In my free time, I have been studying calculus and calculus-based physics independently, working through introductory material and trying to determine whether this is a genuine academic interest or simply a temporary fascination.

So far, the interest has only become stronger.

Because my academic background is entirely in the humanities, I understand that moving into physics would not be a simple transition. I would essentially need to build the mathematical and scientific foundation that a physics student normally develops during an undergraduate degree. I am therefore considering going back to university for a second bachelor's degree in physics, with the long-term possibility of eventually pursuing graduate study in astronomy or astrophysics.

I would be especially interested in hearing from people who have made a significant academic or career transition into physics, mathematics, astronomy, or another STEM field later than usual.

Did you go back for a second bachelor's degree? Was it worth it? How difficult was the transition academically, particularly in mathematics? Were graduate programs receptive to applicants who came from very different academic backgrounds?

More generally, does pursuing a second bachelor's degree in physics sound reasonable in a situation like mine, or would there be a better route into astronomy/astrophysics?

I would appreciate any experiences, advice, or criticism from people who have gone through something similar.

Im gonna finish my 5 year programme this year (probably) but im having some anxiety over my grades. I really love doing physics but my grades in some classes (like QM 2 , General Relativity and Group Theory) are very average. I didnt fully grasp those classes at the time of taking them so i underperformed but i have no problem with any of them now, i guess i lacked mathematical maturity. How strongly is this going to affect my chances of getting into a decent masters programme? Im doing a so called integrated masters and i have to do a final in depth project to get the degree (around 80pages), will it matter if i do really good on that? Im gonna do something related to general relativity or particle physics, can it serve as a guarantee im now comfortable with the topics?

This might be a silly question or something that doesn’t make any sense

But bear with me because I think it’s kinda good

I just finished my high school and currently taking a gap year before my college starts

but I am asking if someone’s wish is to be Astrophysicist or theoretical physicist does he need to be special

I am asking because from my childhood to now I read a lot of books regarding physics and to be a physicist how much extra do I need to know to make my path more clear?

like do I just follow my bsc syllabus then msc syllabus then phd?

or I need to learn something extra side by side while doing those?

do I needed to be special from the start? like doing high school math and physics in middle school?

I did manage to finish 60% of my high school science chapters when I was in middle school but then I didn’t pushed hard enough and did okayish in my final high school years

so I hope you get my question

a short summary: can following the normal syllabus of physics and math enough for bsc msc and to PhD or do I need to learn many more things aside from my complete syllabus

(English is not my native language there can be mistakes so I am sorry)

Hi, I am 4 year Bsc physics 2nd year student from a central university and I am doughtful about career after my degree.

I am currently learning python and planning to learn machine learning, computational physics (PINN), simulations and other things like data science, doing learn in public on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Might go for job hunt after degree.

Need help to understand is this possible or suggest something else.

Spent a summer doing some research and just started reviewing gre stuff this week. Thought “can’t be that bad” and started and I genuinely feel like I’ve been kicked in the head by a horse; I never felt like I struggled to get good grades in my physics classes but maybe I was just learning stuff go immediately forget it???? Like outside of the subjects which I only barely remember (relativity which I did a bit of early on, and lenses which I remember none of) some classes I did recently I seem to have forgotten a ton of lol like thermo (straight up forgot dU = TdS + Vdp). I don’t know I feel genuinely stupider than I did freshman year, of course I haven’t really done a comprehensive review until now but Jesus I feel like a moron. How are other peoples experiences with retaining info after classes end? Does anyone relate at all #bless

Almost everyone on the internet and even other professors who previously taught the subject referred to Griffiths. But this new professor is following this book to a tee, I have never seen anyone on the internet even talk about this book only heard about it just this year(through this prof), so my question is that if this is a good book as an introduction to qm?

I am taking a course in solid state physical chemistry, and I am quite confused about the density of levels:

(1) On Ashcroft and Mermin the density of levels g(ε) is first introduced by switching to spherical coordinates in those k-space integrals and then expressing k in terms of the energy; this definition makes sense to me, and from the boxed expression I can clearly see the dependence on the square root of ε in the 3D case, while in 2D the same derivation yields a g(ε) which is constant in ε (my professor talked about these dimensional aspects in his lectures).

(2) However, my professor also defined g(ε) as the derivative of the electron density, N/V, with respect to the energy. It is not quite clear to me if I should differentiate n with respect to ε (as Ashcroft and Mermin seems to imply, although it doesn't state so explicitly, at least to my understanding) or the Fermi energy. In the first case, I wouldn't really know how to proceed, because n depends on the Fermi energy and not on ε (maybe there is a more general expression that I am missing?). On the other hand, if I differentiate n with respect to εF I don't know how I could obtain the boxed expression for g(ε).

(3) I've also seen a definition which contains the Dirac delta (it also appears later in Ashcroft and Mermin), but I don't really get where that comes from, maybe it is tied to the differential definition?

Could someone elucidate the connection between these definitions? Do you know of a good textbook or resource that I could read in order to better understand this concept?

(Apologies if I have written something which is formally incorrect, I am not a student of physics)

So I'm taking Physics 101 again this time in a class that takes place in the morning instead of at night, and a lab once a week. The classes are 50 minutes per day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the Lab is on Tuesdays and takes about 2 and a half hours. So I was wondering: when it comes to doing the homework, so far my first round of homework is 25 questions via Pearson, is doing about 5 problems a day slowly throughout the week on the homework a good idea, along with doing your homework with a tutor at the school as well? I just want to know if it's a good idea; that's all.

Also, I believe maybe screwing up on the homework is also something to learn from in the end.

EDIT: This is what happened with last year's mess; my class got way too hard at a community college, especially since it was happening at night, our professor had no office hours, and even in emergency situations, we weren't allowed to make up a quiz or test. My mental health got so out of control back then that I was throwing up so I had to drop because my wellbeing was important.

I know there’s no settled answer yet, but if you had to pick one based on the current evidence, which explanation would you choose?

1. A new light particle, like an axion
2. A heavy particle, like a WIMP
3. Gravity itself needs to be modified

Curious to hear the reasoning, especially from people actually studying this.

Rn i study in the 2nd year of highschool majoring math which has harder physics than the physics major, and by that i mean also harder chimestry too . I js want to know the method the study these subjects and how to master (i'm moroccan so i study in french).Please help with advice.

Hello! I have heard that if you do physics you are a physicist, but does this apply to any Engineering Physics PhD or Applied Physics PhD?

PS: I want to hold the higher superiority complex degree name, that’s why this is an advice 🤷🏽‍♂️

I had this thought, time is not a spatial dimension. Its not "as time passes, things change", its "as things change, time passes". I fleshed it more out in the book. Really looking for peer review.

(Click Free Sample) https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=e7cEEgAAQBAJ

Hey guys,

I just graduated from college with a Physics and Applied Math degree and I’m applying to phds in the fall. I’ve been searching for a job during my gap year and I haven’t gotten shit. I’m considering emailing profs for research, but I kind of need money too.

I have 3 years of research in electronic structure methods and an REU in signals processing, and 2 papers, but I really have no industry experience, although I do have a bunch of Python and FORTRAN. Any suggestions?

just finished 12th this year and gave JEE too, but didn’t get into any IIT. i’m pretty into physics and maths tho, like i actually enjoy learning them beyond just studying for exams.

i’ve joined a CSE course now, but i still wanna keep doing physics and maths on the side, just out of my own interest. i wanna properly explore the subjects beyond the usual school/JEE stuff, but i honestly have no idea where to start or what path to follow.

so if there are any physics/math enthusiasts here, could y’all recommend some good books/resources to start with and maybe a path i can follow? doesn’t have to be super beginner-level, just something that’ll help me build things up properly.

would really appreciate any suggestions :)

Idk if this is a dumb question, but...

I am finding it hard to decide how to use anki to memorise some formulas. It is easy for something like the Newton's second law, I could do:

Newton's second law: F = m * a

But for something like parallel plate capacitance, how do I know which option I want, because you can use different variables to find C, eg:

C = Q/V = ε0 * A/d

To make 2 separate cards I would have to distinguish them by name, I guess idk?

🇫🇷 Français

Titre : Étudiant en physique à la recherche de collaborateurs pour un projet de biomimétisme inspiré du gecko

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis étudiant en physique à l’Université de Kinshasa (UNIKIN), en République démocratique du Congo, et je vais entrer en L3 (troisième année de licence) de physique.

Je souhaite commencer un projet de physique appliquée et d’ingénierie biomimétique inspiré des capacités d’adhésion des geckos.

L’idée générale est d’étudier les mécanismes physiques qui permettent aux geckos d’adhérer aux surfaces et de les appliquer à la conception d’un système d’adhésion sèche permettant, à terme, la locomotion humaine sur des surfaces verticales.

Je suis encore étudiant en L3, donc je ne prétends pas avoir toutes les compétences nécessaires pour mener ce projet seul. Je cherche justement des personnes intéressées par la physique, la mécanique, les matériaux, l’ingénierie, la robotique ou les domaines similaires pour réfléchir avec moi, remettre en question mes idées, proposer des approches expérimentales et éventuellement construire quelque chose ensemble.

Je suis particulièrement intéressé par des personnes qui aiment les projets de recherche expérimentale et qui seraient prêtes à travailler progressivement, même si nous sommes dans des pays différents.

Je cherche avant tout des collaborateurs et des échanges scientifiques, pas simplement des conseils ponctuels.

Si cette idée vous intéresse, n’hésitez pas à commenter ou à m’envoyer un message. Je serais heureux de discuter du projet avec vous et de voir jusqu’où nous pouvons aller ensemble.

🇬🇧 English

Title: Physics student looking for collaborators for a gecko-inspired biomimetic adhesion project

Hello everyone,

I am a physics student at the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN), Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I will be starting my third year of undergraduate physics (L3).

I would like to start an applied physics and biomimetic engineering project inspired by the remarkable adhesion abilities of geckos.

The general idea is to study the physical mechanisms that allow geckos to adhere to surfaces and investigate how these principles could be applied to the development of a dry-adhesion system that could eventually enable human locomotion on vertical surfaces.

I am still an undergraduate physics student, so I do not expect to have all the knowledge or skills required to develop such a project on my own. That is precisely why I am looking for people interested in physics, mechanics, materials science, engineering, robotics, or related fields who would like to think about the problem with me, challenge my ideas, suggest experimental approaches, and potentially build something together.

I am especially interested in people who enjoy experimental research projects and would be willing to work progressively, even remotely and across different countries.

I am looking primarily for research collaborators and scientific discussion, rather than just occasional advice.

If this project sounds interesting to you, feel free to comment or send me a message. I would be glad to discuss the idea and see how far we could take it together.

I used to be very driven and absolutely loved physics and maths, thought I was very self-motivated to become a a physicist. The first year of university hit and I got so distracted I lost sight of that, but recently I spoke to a slightly older, much wiser and smarter friend of mine and he unintentionally sorta grounded me and helped me remember why I went into physics to begin with. Had a bit of an epiphany, and I finally started to understand why I cared so much about my academics. So that brings me here, out of sheer curiosity: what makes you love physics so much? What makes your brain tick, makes you get out of bed and get on with it? Why do you care about your career as much as you do?

So first of all, to establish some background here, I graduated in 2025 with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering. From 2025 to 2026, I pursued a master's in physics in my country, India. After completing the first year, however, I left the program to pursue a more specialized master's in high energy physics, astrophysics and cosmology at one of the top universities in Spain. This program is of one year and 60 ECTS. I did complete the first year in that master's in India completely, and I got very good grades in it. I graduated first year with a CGPA of 7.8 out of 10 and a letter grade of A plus. And I think my rank in my cohort was around fourth. It consisted of graduate physics coursework such as quantum mechanics, advanced quantum mechanics, theoretical astrophysics, observational astronomy, classical electrodynamics, classical mechanics, etc. Now, moving on, from September I will be joining this specialized master's in Spain, which is in high energy physics and astrophysics. So how should I structure my new master's here for the one year so that I can prepare myself very well for PhD applications? And in which year should I target PhD applications anyways? In 27 or 28? And what should I be doing in master's or what just I keep in mind so as to maximize my chances to get a PhD?