How To Become an Astrophysicist + Challenge Question!
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
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Do you want to major in Astrophysics? Are you thinking about becoming (or ever just wondered how one becomes) an Astrophysicists? Do you want to know Matt O’Dowd’s origin story? Then buckle up and enjoy the ride and try your astrophysics skill in calculating bubble universes to try to win some free Space Time Swag from the Merch Store.
Hosted by Matt O'Dowd
Written by Matt O'Dowd
Graphics by Murilo Lopes
Directed by: Eric Brown
Produced By: Kornhaber Brown
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• How To Become an Astro...
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سلطان الخليفي
"Don't do it because you like the idea of yourself as a scientist more than you like doing science." That one punched me right in the gut.
That punched me in the face
📉
Well duh.
me too
I'm a Astro-physicist in AT LEAST one of my alternate realities so I'm glad one of me was eventually able to figure it out.
Hahaha, likewise.
can't argue with that
Flat Earther interviews famous astrophysicist ruclips.net/video/Cy1xJSgGKXs/видео.html&feature=push-u-sub&attr_tag=cihSQXInNUFPsMEC%3A6
In an alternate reality a version of me has managed to unify relativity and the standard model. Quite proud of myself I am.....
In another, I have won the Nobel Prize in Physics for solving dark matter. Very proud of myself...
"If I'm always the smartest person in the room, I'm probably in the wrong room." Great quote!
Say you're one in a thousand people smart… that means there are 300000 smarter people than you in the US, hehe.
yeah... but then someone is always in the wrong room
@@Celine.G. No, because the quote doesn't say you cannot be the smartest person in the room. You should not always be.
Being the smartest person in a room is unproductive and makes you dull and sloppy.
Comforting in both the good and the bad way.
@@VaughanMcAlley That is... if you only enter that one room. But if you find your continuously the smartest person in the room odds are your in need to keep finding new rooms... Unless you just need to get out of your lonely room. Fun times
Not you perse.. Just the context.
In all honesty 95% of the time I am the smartest in the room, Other times mum makes me leave my room.
lmao omg
Good one 😂😂😂
Yo same!
Flat Earther interviews famous astrophysicist ruclips.net/video/Cy1xJSgGKXs/видео.html&feature=push-u-sub&attr_tag=cihSQXInNUFPsMEC%3A6
I’m with you there, if I’m alone in a room and my dog comes in, I’m then the second smartest in the room.
I’d love to see some “behind the scenes” day to day astrophysics stuff. What does your office look like? What programs do you use for computations? What do raw datasets directly from the telescopes look like? Who actually writes your checks and what are their expectations of you to stay employed?
Behind the scenes:
Offices will vary depending on where you are located. But in general, you have a desk and a computer and some draws / bookshelves. Picture any sort of mediocre office and you won't be too far off. Tenured professors have nice CEO like offices with good views (if you aren't in the middle of the city), students and first postdocs get shared offices sometimes, other times they might have personal offices. This varies by university and department of course.
There are many programs used for astrophysics. In particular, we are an ancient field, so we tend to us a lot of old programming languages. Fortran is amongst the most widely used heavy-lifting language. In particular, many cosmological simulations have their core in Fortran. IDL is also often used, but students these days are also familiar with Python and the likes. There is software and packages specifically designed for astronomy, astropy in python, CASA if you work with radio telescopes, and each telescope has their own data reduction pipeline. Astrophysical images tend to be kept in fits files, of which topcat is a good program that you can view them in. But most astronomers, like most scientists, tend to be able to program in one language or another, no matter what subfield of astronomy they work in.
Raw datasets are quite literally numbers saved in either binary or ASCII format. Raw datasets tend to not be very useful and varies depending on the telescope you are using. Telescopes either produce photometry (think picture) or spectra (think a lot of pictures but across different colours). Telescopes also tend to have some wavelength (colour) range they work over. Some telescopes see in the UV, some in IR, some in radio, and others in optical. Radio telescopes often measure the fourier transform of an image, which means the raw data looks something like a bunch of squiggles a 5 year old drew. You need to inverse fourier transform the data to get back the galaxy/gas (radio telescopes don't usually look at stars). Optical telescopes that do photometry tend to just produce an image, although the image does need its artifacts removed (for example, the Hubble telescope actually had an astigmatism originally! They had to give it glasses essentially). So you may see waves in the image, one side brighter than the other, etc, etc. Spectroscopy on the other hand produces the spectrum of the object. How much light it produces at each wavelength, so picture some overall shape (the Planck function usually) with a lot of thinner lines on top of it, and that's what a spectrum looks like. However, raw spectra will also have faults, sometimes they have waves in it due to telescope artifacts, other times you'll see forests of lines that aren't due to your source (in radio you can see peaks due to satellites, FM radio, microwaved lunches, telephone calls..., in optical you can see absorption due to the water in our atmosphere, etc). I haven't worked with UV, so I don't know what you'd see, although UV needs to be observed from space, so probably less lines from the atmosphere. This is just barely touching the surface of observational astronomy, telescopes are very complex and take millions of dollars to build with precise engineering. Simplifying it to just a bunch of mirrors is doing it a disservice.
Graduate students tend to be on a scholarship by either the institution or the government. Postdocs tend to be on a contract by the institution or someone funding them (rich people who want to invest in astronomy or government research grants), professors tend to be paid by the institution and apply for grants from the government to fund postdocs and students. There are admin staff attached to each institution that handle pay rolls and travel and insurance and the likes. Sometimes research centers fund postdocs and students and can provide a travel allowance to present at conferences or attend workshops. The institution also has travel allowances, but everything varies from place to place.
Source: I'm an astrophysics student.
I'm just a grad student (and I do atmospheric research, not Astro) but based on professors and other grad students I know:
1. Small shared office for grad students, sometimes 4-5 people to an office, reasonable sized messy office for professors.
2. Random obscure software written by people who know a lot more about astrophysicists than they do about programming (I don't know anyone who likes or really understands the software they regularly use.)
3. As far as I know you have to process the data to actually look at it. Otherwise it just looks like a big file that only your poorly written processing software can read. It's definitely not just jpegs or something.
4. If you're a professor the University writes your check. If you're a staff scientist or telescope technician there may be an observatory director you report to. Job expectations vary wildly. Some universities expect you to publish a certain number of papers every year, some see research more as a distraction from teaching.
Most of the programs that we use for computation were written by physicists specifically for particular problems. We’re not software engineers, so the net result is a bunch of unstandardized computer programs that may or may not work on your computer. Remember the part of the video where he talked about the boring and tedious stuff? Getting code others have written running properly is a prime example.
Ph.D student here, I study gravitational physics, specifically using pulsar timing and gravitational wave data to constrain alternate theories of gravity. My office is pretty standard for an office, but with tomes upon tomes of textbooks and journals I've picked up over the years. Lucky for me I have my own office attached to my advisors. I use many different numerical and computational programs mostly written in C+ and python, sometimes I have to write them myself, sometimes I'm able to find and collaborate with folk who have a better computer science background than I do. I am paid by my university with contingency that I produce papers and bring in grant money.
@@CrossKiesha it's rare to see someone fund themselves correct?
Non scholarship pure out of pocket
Me: How to become Astrophysicist?
PBS: First. Be very smart
Me: Thank you
Right?? I so wish I was suited for this work, but I'm not 😭
I would say "be very VERY smart". Almost fair to say "non-geniuses need not apply".
@@orchdork775 same
If you are passionate enough you can still learn in your free time, gather a textbook in something specific that you like and any time you find a reference you don't understand, look for that subject in other books. There are plenty of passionate people that do research even if they aren't astrophysicists themselves. You probably won't have access to fancy instruments but you can still do stuff with small telescopes
I think it's more like "be motivated enough to work very hard". Intrinsic intelligence is overrated.
When I was young I wanted to work at NASA and be an astrophysicist. My grandmother told me that girls aren't scientists, we are teachers, nurses, or mothers. My grandma was everything to me, so she was right in my eyes. I was crushed but understood.
I was always really good at math & science in school, but I kept them, as well as my fascination for space, as hobbies as I got older.
Now I think about pursuing at least a physics degree but it seems a waste. I'm 45 and my pay is comparable to an astrophysicist. So I'll just watch your videos, read scientific articles, and keep all of this as a hobby. ❤
Grandmothers.... mine wanted me to be a priest and I have always been an atheist...
@@juanfran3924 hope that when well.
Hhhh hhhh so your grand mum dodge you that's why girls can't be scientist
My grandmother didnt completely told me no, but her answer made me think that I am not going to share my future plans with her or anyone (except the people whom i can benefit from)
Do what you love not what other tell you to love
" you may find that your talents lie elsewhere."
Thanks for putting it like this. No one likes to feel like a failure when they try something exceedingly difficult and don't succeed right away.
In my experience, most "stupid" people are way smarter than they give themselves credit for, and that old saying about judging a fish on its ability to climb a tree comes into play.
@@a-blivvy-yus I like that expression, judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree LOL. Thank you for that.
@@joeywall4657 It's usually attributed to Einstein if you look it up :)
Dr Brian May is a good example of a late finisher. Who also had a pretty interesting alternative career.
In case anyone is wondering, yes, THAT Brian May.
He was fortunate that his specific thesis subject hadn't changed that much in the intervening years. :)
@@calmeilles I'm not sure you are giving him proper credit for his accomplishment. For starters, the half life of retained learnings for complex calculus and such for me (which I never used after gradulating) was pretty short. Brian completed his PHD 30 years after he started it! For seconders, lots had changed in terms of technology for measuring and detecting, not to mention computing (for example - no internet when he started). I still stand somewhat in awe of his accomplishment. And his guitar playing too :)
@@donald-parker It's a point he made himself: that the sate of the art for his study, the zodiacal dust cloud in the solar system, hadn't changed enough to invalidate his original research data.
Someone in a similar position in a different field is unlikely to be so fortunate.
I am back in school to become a physicist because of this channel. I had to restart from PHYS 2101. I don't care. I love it (and I have a knack for maths). Never would have made the move if this channel hadn't made me see space like I did when I was a kid. Thank you for the inspiration!
Awesome, you're inspiring me to go too :)
wow you Inspired me
I was bad at a lot of things but physics I aced it. I had a good teacher and I m naturally curious.
That's AMAZING! I've been thinking about the same thing! So are you going for a second bachelor's? Or are you just taking classes?
*M O T I V A T E D*
Can you imagine doing all the work for the Challenge question, then messing up because you couldn't spell correctly for the subject line of your email?
Yes
Well, there is a misspelled word in this video. I guess even PBS Spacetime make mistakes.
@@TheLe016 makes*
Irving Chies PBS Spacetime=they
well you could just check whether the subject line is wrong after you sent it and then resend the email with the correct title, the odds of winning won't change anyways.
How to become an Astrophysicist:
Step 1: Watch PBS Space Time
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Everyone profits!
Your dissertation should be a youtube video.
Step 2: Play Kerbal Space Program
Step 1. Stop wasting time on youtube.
@@avoqado89, no - I discovered some time back that step 2 is always eBay.
--Dave, ALWAYS
ps: when I was doing my doctorate in theoretical astrophysics, eBay didn't exist yet. this may be why I didn't find a third postdoc or faculty-track position...
I have had the most enjoyable career teaching physics and astronomy in junior college. I got an MS in physics/astronomy (which is the same coursework as a PhD, just without the years of research/thesis), and now I enjoy great hours (only in school 175 days out of the year!), pay, and doing what I love. . . teaching others about the universe. It's another route to consider.
Interesting that you mention that about teaching in junior college. I took two astronomy classes in junior college before going on to a 4 year college as an engineering major, and I think the teacher I had for those classes was very content with his life and was able to take ski vacations often which was his other passion. In fact I'd say he appeared to be more content with his teaching career than any of the other professors in various subjects I recall running into later. As a student of his I got to do a lecture in front of the class on an astronomy topic of my choice, which was explaining the Drake equation. This was back in the early '80s, shortly after Carl Sagan's Cosmos series aired where I heard about the Drake equation first. Good memories.
@@moronicpest Thanks for your comments. We in junior college don't deal with the stress of doing "publish or perish" research at the expense of teaching. This is the reason I have never pursued being a professor at a larger university -- I get to teach! And, yes, the vacation time is unbelievable. Take care.
flat earther interviews famous astrophysisist ruclips.net/video/Cy1xJSgGKXs/видео.html&feature=push-u-sub&attr_tag=cihSQXInNUFPsMEC%3A6
lucky u
99% of the people here: “I am smart, but not that smart”
me a dumb bitch
"I just needed to know."
Man, you're an inspiration. I started an astrophysics degree in undergrad for the exact same reason, also without the intent of making it a career. I too felt like I was pretty dumb compared to my peers. The difference is that I succumbed to the pressure and changed my degree to film production. That ended up working out okay for me, but had I heard your story 15 years ago, it may have changed my mind. I still do regret that I didn't keep up with the math and physics, and probably never will understand the things that I've always wanted to understand.
It's great to hear about self doubt from someone as respected as you are. Thanks so much for doing this episode!
manonthedollar why don’t you study it on your own? It’s never too late to learn :)
and then one day u produce a film that explains all the great discoveries and interesting questions to the rest of us dumb shits (with lots of pretty pictures)
Study it. It's something you love, don't give it up. If you have time, take some classes now. It's never too late.
My Astronomy professor was 55 years old when she got her PhD. Heck, she went back to school to get her Bachelor's degree the same year as her son's started theirs too.
Trust me man. Regrets come back at you late in life and they can bring you to tears on a daily basis if you think on them too much. Avoid the problem, fix the regret if you feel you really should've done it.
@manonthedollar I'm responding to your post nine whole months later, but anyway; you might check out MIT OpenCourseWare (ocw.mit.edu) and work through some math and physics classes in your spare time. It's an incredible resource!
It gave so much comfort to hear you say that there are people above their 30's who started that path. I'm 25 and having an existential crisis because I love astronomy and science so much, and it frustrates me that I didn't realized that sooner. I have the passion and the will to go through the journey but I'm scared that my average grades and my underdeveloped math skills won't open much doors for me )=
i relate so much omg but i’m. a high schooler
"Need to have high grades"...
bummer...
yuuuuup...
Hah! School is for nerds!
*#nerdlife*
@@therighteousmoose5036 thats not true .
@@toothbrush2666 woooooosh
Umm what's happening in this chat and I am saying who all completed the challenge
Needed to hear the part where it’s never too late to start. I’m 25 and am only just now switching my undergrad degree to physics and I have a minimum of 3, even four years, left there before I can move on to grad school. I know 25 isn’t that old, but it’s hard when you’re walking around on campus with a bunch of 18-22 year olds!
I'm 31 and am a year and a half into a math and physics bachelors degree. It's definitely a weird experience constantly being surrounded by so many people so much younger than me . . .
Wow same boat finished a degree and now I’m back at 24 to major in physics and math! Hope you doing well!
I’m 40 and just started!
@@freya7084 congrats! Hope it goes amazing!!
The challenge question convinced me that I don't want to be an astrophysicist.
well, using a good arbitrary precision calculator (calc for instance in unix/linux), it is doable, but I'll just ballpark it... ∞ - 1
@@kaylaandjimbryant8258 it's simple calculus though, the rate is proportional to it's current state so it's an exponential growth. Derivative... How many over time? Integral :)
@@lukamitrovic7873 not gonna lie, that genuinely seems interesting, I started to imagine how the challenge should be made, thought about the exponential property, but didn't realise this would end in calculus.
I started a bachelor in general sciences, went great in general, but couldn't deal with the calculus. Now I kinda dropped it, not psychologically ready I guess. But fun stuff either way.
@@lukamitrovic7873 that's why i said i was being lazy. the problem sounds solvable, but at 3am....
@@kaylaandjimbryant8258 I am too lazy to plug in the numbers as well but the solution seems straightforward but whatever ig
The answer is 42.
Source: dude trust me
the answer to life the
universe and everything
I’m a 40 years old nurse studying a combined stem bsc in the open university focused in mathematics and astrophysics. I do it for pure personal interest only so I have nothing to lose. If I pass, I pass. If I failed, at least I tried. I think studying as a mature person with a established career is the best to be honest ❤️
"Your talents lie elsewhere"
Translation: "You suck at this"
And that's why I study physics as a hobby, not as a job.
Your conclusion seems invalid to me
Science Power - My conclusion is the same, and I think my thought process is valid.
Fulfilling a desire to learn is not the same as questing for one’s livelihood.
My unending passion for finding understanding of the inner workings of the cosmos doesn’t translate well to my current modern life; I suffer from two circadian disabilities for starters, and I also suffer from several civic endeavors, such as needing to pay a mortgage, and this thing where I do labor in order to eat and such.
I don’t need some stuffy old lecturer to validate my understanding, and I certainly don’t desire their sole opinion of my interpretations. And I absolutely don’t need to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars to do so. I loathe traditional education systems, and unless I’m mistaken, all any degree is is merely a certificate to tell other people that you’ve paid money for other people to validate you. And, again, unless I’m mistaken, one cannot pursue a career in many of these fields without substantial payola and validation certificates.
There is this wealth of essentially free information on the internet and beyond, in libraries and human interaction. This is, after all, a hobby of mine. A hobby is something I use to escape the mundane and monotonous. Were I to become a physicist, then physics would become my day to day, and in doing so, become mundane and monotonous.
As a musician, I attempted to take my hobby and turn it into a career, and I stalled as a musician. I reached an apex, I plateaued, and I found the whole thing dreadfully boring, and had to step away from it for nearly a decade now. I’m slowly coming back around to it as a pastime, and not an endeavor requiring gain, whether monetary or personal/professional.
At the end of the day, if I need vindication or validation, I can always turn to my friends. I try and surround myself with many people who are better than me at many things. Unfortunately, most of the people I am surrounded with are better than me at one singular thing, and otherwise awful at everything else 😂
When my wife’s best friend’s and her husband come to visit, I get to wax poetic about cosmology and physics and mathematics, as he’s a poindexter with a PhD in physics and the personality of an engineer that’s an internet troll who thinks pronouncing “memes” as “mey-meys” counts as comedy. He is awkward, pompous, self-righteous, and has absolutely zero interpersonal skills. But when I want to talk about the implications of things like the quantum eraser experiment or expand my knowledge of particular field theories or some such, he’s the kind of prick that will bust my balls for not inherently being imbued with all the knowledge of the cosmos while also sharing a cheap bottle of whiskey with me, and not charging me thousands of dollars to sit in silence and hang on every word he regurgitates. It’s kinda the best of both worlds!
Anyways, I’m just coming off a 14 hour day and I’m rambling and practically incoherent so at this point I’m gonna do what I always do, and use a mildly obscure pop culture reference to diffuse my self-inflicted tension, and just kinda hope it sticks, while fully aware that it will probably cause more confusion than anything.
In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrasts, thank you.
@@wokeupinapanic that's a very valid explanation!
@@sciencepower4210 Chris doesn't give two shitts about your validation.
Another one who agrees here. I study physics, and not just physics, for reasons only indirectly connected at best to what I do for work. I'm very curious about *THINGS* so I look into those *THINGS* to find out how they work. But I don't feel like I'm the right person to be expanding on that basis of knowledge for others. It's nice to know, and it does help me at times in my day job (I'm a private tutor for basic computing - mostly very young children struggling or very old people starting late). Knowing bits and pieces about a wide variety of topics can help me to provide comparisons that people with a wide variety of interests will be familiar with, and makes it easier to connect to people who I've found are usually very intelligent in their specific areas of interest - even the children (or perhaps *especially* the children, in some cases). You're passionate about cars? This particular relationship between these functions is a bit like how this works in an engine. You're passionate about space? I can find a comparison to something there too. You're a math nerd? Me too, but you're probably better at it than I am! (and math nerds always do great with computers once they *get it* but sometimes struggle before someone gives them the right tools).
Matt....You are ABSOLUTELY an astrophysicist who earned and 100% deserve your success. You've gone where GED people like me dream of going, and you passed all of it. You're brilliant dude. Like really, brilliant. You're self concious and doubt yourself, and you're wrong about at least most of your self doubt, particularly when it comes to being an astrophysicist. We appreciate you amd your people for doing these jobs. Get out of your own way, Matt; you've already done all of the hardest work here, and paid dearly for it in every sense. Now allow yourself to enjoy it's benefits.
I want to be a psychologist, but your channel is so interesting and I watch it like every night. Thanks man, and thanks to the people behind the scenes who help with it.
"You need to have good grades." This ship has sailed.
I’m less than a year away from starting to apply to colleges and I’ve loved astronomy my entire life. I genuinely am considering being an astrophysicist, and I’ve discovered that I can actually handle numbers (after years of undiagnosed ADHD made me think I hated math), so watching this video was really uplifting and gives me a reason to continue to pursue my greatest passion into college
Hi! Same here, I wanted to go into astrophysics when I was a kid and in highschool but undiagnosed ADHD made me think I didn't have the "discipline" or ability to study the amount that is needed for astrophysics. I'm studying software engineering now, but I just got diagnosed with ADHD and am starting medication soon, so I'm thinking of studying astrophysics when I get my degree in two years if I get my ADHD under control
My story of my failed astrophysics degree before i even started:
I wanted to be a computer scientist after high school. I always loved astronomy and physics tho, so I decided that I would try to go for astrophysics major instead and computer science minor. I took calculus in college and failed each class once before I actually passed. Then I barely passed physics 1 and I finally passed linear algebra after the 5th time. By this point im 5 years into college with only an AA degree and 2 year away from my B.S. I worked my ass off but I have ADHD which causes severe short term memory loss for me, Im a terrible test taker, and cant take on too many classes at once or ill fail them. An astrophysics BS degree would be 3 years away on top of the previous 5. I decided I cant do that. I dont have the money or the time. I switched back to the Comp Sci major and wanted to do a physics minor. The minor itself would have added a year onto my BS comp sci degree and I didnt like that. So now im just doing the Com Sci degree. After watching your video Im a little happier that im not doing astrophysics, but I still wish I could. Unfortunately i dont think an astrophysics degree would ever be worth my time or money especially considering that ill have a comp sci degree. But thats ok, I do want to come back to school some time after im done with my comp sci degree to get some sort of physics degree. I may not do that if it wont help my career tho. I plan to work in the aerospace field as a computer programmer.
And here's another bit of realistic advice: if you can't love an equation and spend hours thinking about it and playing with it, not because you have to but because it is so interesting, the way a poet may spend hours crafting a poem, forget about becoming an academic physicist.
I suddenly became interested in astrophysics 1 month ago. I knew myself as a person who always liked to try a variety of different things, so I was so worried at the time when I first started. I knew 1 month might not be long, but as I girl who was back in science and maths before high school, I was content with this decision. I really want to continue loving it. Thank you for your fruitful video that got me more familiar with this career.
I love space so much. My passion for it exceeds anything i’ve ever loved before… in my life. Recently I remembered that i’m behind in math and science, it takes ten years to become an astrophysicist, and I am not one person to stick to one thing while the world goes in around me… I love it so much, math is so fun but i’m behind and bad at it… basically i won’t make it… and that kills me so much to think of because i could NEVER imagine a life without learning more and more about space and it’s vastness. I will miss the hope of becoming an astrophysicist… but there’s no way i could ever be one… now i have nothing.
Most of Space Time viewers, including me, honestly don't love Astrophysics. They just like looking at it as a beautiful lady passing by, but are unwilling to put out what it takes to love her and bear all the challenges she brings to the life...
But any which ways, My eyes and ears are open to knowledge and Matt always fulfills the hunger
That is a nice metaphore indead. People are skittish, small and petty. It takes alot to confront exiting ones comfort zone, even more to stay out of it for a while. Astrophysicist lives and works outside that border.
@@airnidzo Thank you. But it's not my original. XKCD had made a cartoon strip criticizing the people who post random science bits and shout "I love science", which they of course do not
I am an autoworker eyeballing retirement so a little late for this guy...lol! I still love every episode and learn something from each. Grateful for RUclips and this channel. Your hard work pays off because you reach so many here and enrich so many lives...thank you for choosing to pursue this field and keep up the good work!
"If I'm always the smartest person in the room, then I'm probably in the wrong room."
Well said, Matt. Only learners see the wisdom in this.
The apparent honesty and forwardness in this career informational video is astounding and a serious breath of fresh air! Thank you!
Ive read Neil Degrasse Tysons 'Astrophysics for people in a hurry'. Does that give me a partial credit?
If you get to 1000 likes, it'll probably count as half a partial credit. And it's scaled exponentially so you'll probably need about a million for an actual partial credit.
No
Thank you for this! Especially for emphasizing that you can do it at any age. I started college about ten years later than most people. When I started studying physics I wasn't sure how far I would make it, but I knew I would enjoy the journey regardless. Now here I am, 32 years old and just starting the second year of my physics PhD.
Excellent! This triggers multiple perspectives.
Perspective 1: "Would you let an 18 year-old choose your career?"
As high school was winding down, I realized I had little idea what professionals, other than teachers, actually did for a living! Even my own father's job was a mystery to me. Clearly, college was necessary, since working at minimum wage wasn't getting me much of anywhere.
And study what? My favorite subjects in school were all the STEM classes, though I had little preference between them. The advice I was given was to start college, then make the decision after taking more classes in each area. But if I went to college immediately, I'd only be exposed to professors; teachers who did research. And teaching is not itself a STEM subject!
Perspective 2: "There's no rush."
In Europe, the notion of the "gap year" has been a part of the culture for over half a century, perhaps longer. Sure, I wanted to travel, but in my family that would mean paying my own way, or wiping away the meager college funds available. I didn't want to spend a year just working a minimum-wage job!
So, how could I best spend my time between high school and college, preferably in a way that would let me make a living, gain experience, hopefully travel, and also obtain some education along the way?
Perspective 3: "Uncle Sam Wants You!"
My chosen path was to enlist in the US Navy. My good high school grades and STEM focus had recruiters falling all over themselves to give me whatever I wanted. That alone reinforced in me the notion that it would be a limited gig, focused on working hard and learning as much as possible. My chosen specialty was to become an electronics technician and a nuclear reactor operator.
I won't go into the details of my time in the Navy other than to say I stayed for 6 years total, simply because the Navy kept sending me to fascinating schools followed by orders to challenging duty stations where I could make a real difference. They worked me hard, and I ate it up. And I obtained a work ethic and an attitude toward service that have served me well ever since.
When I did leave active duty, I was immediately hired as a nuclear technician at a wage many college grads would envy. I was working with a bunch of other Navy vets with similar history and qualifications. At first I thought: "Who needs college?" Then I was assigned to be the R&D technician to our lead scientist, and that changed everything. I immediately realized the only difference between us was education, and only then did I commit to attending college.
Being a veteran, I had extra points in my favor that ensured my application was accepted by my first choice. (I was also accepted by two other great schools, but wanted to stay local.)
I also had several financial advantages going in, perhaps the best reasons to wait between high school and college:
- Being a veteran, I had the GI Bill. It paid nearly all my tuition.
- Being in the US Navy Reserves, I was well-paid for a weekend a month and two weeks of service in the summer. That covered my books and food.
- My employer offered to hire me for any odd hours I had available during school, and full-time during breaks. That handled everything else, with some left over.
I did one of the heaviest Bachelor's degrees in history (after I graduated they added 3 classes and made it a Master's). I was on the "5-year plan". But I could afford it: I graduated not only debt-free, but with cash in the bank equal to a new car.
As Matt recommended, I did do lots of undergrad research: Because of my advanced age (24), many assumed I was a grad student or post-doc, and I did nothing to dissuade them from that notion! On two of my projects, I was the only undergrad. The research was both challenging and fun, but the main benefit was a surprise: It made my classes *_extremely_* relevant, meaning far more than just books and exams. That alone is a massive benefit whose value must not be underestimated!
As graduation approached, I realized I simply was done with school: I was months from turning 30, I was an Engineer, and I wanted to make things happen in the real world, not the classroom!
Perspective 4: "Will it go round in circles?"
I've had over 30 wonderful, amazing and awesome years as an engineer! And while my career is far from over, I'm now feeling a deep desire to help make more engineers: I'm considering becoming a High School teacher, not just to teach STEM, but also to give students access to another type of professional: An engineer!
So, could it be that teaching *_is_* a STEM subject?
One final perspective: "You don't need a PhD to do research!"
I've been privileged to do both theoretical and applied research with top engineers and scientists, and I've seen that research used to make products that changed their markets. I've also done other research as a hobby, just because it was an itch I wanted to scratch. I have also volunteered at many technical and scientific conferences, not just to gain free attendance (cha-ching!), but also to get away from the crowds and rub shoulders with folks whose research I admire. I call myself "the BS between the PhDs".
If there is one fundamental key, it's to be always learning, always growing, and endlessly curious. If you have that, you'll certainly love your career at least as much as I have loved mine!
today is my 2nd day of my undergrad career. majoring in physics. i'm really excited!
Ah, so it’s called Imposter Syndrome! I felt exactly that way during my academic studies and still do even though I’m currently a post doc (in planetary science rather than astrophysics). The best advice I heard about going into science was that in order to succeed, you must be okay with feeling dumb most of the time. Also, getting a PhD isn’t about how smart you are; it’s all about how stubborn you are. :)
1972 - finishing an undergrad degree in physics. Loved it but couldn’t stay in school. Fortunately, had taken FORTRAN as an elective. Time was right - did a career in aerospace software and systems engineering in Southern California because they liked physics degrees. Retired. Now I can continue learning physics, and it’s damned interesting.
“If im the smartest person in the room then im probably in the wrong room”
Thinking of going back to school at 35 for astrophysics--it was my childhood dream to become an astronomer and then life had many, many detours and distractions (particularly health). Always had a passion and connection to hard sciences though, and now finally have the freedom to pursue it. Great episode of SpaceTime.
ME TOO OMG. I was raised Jehovah's Witness so I was prohibited from studying or else I'd be kicked out and homeless. I finally moved out on my own and now got very very sick with an ilness that doctors don't even understand. You've really motivated me to think one day I'll be able to finally study it. I hope that works for you
@@fluffycorgi3695 absolutely chase that dream! I'm disabled and chronically ill but I'm also going to go after it. I'm sure you've got a great journey of learning ahead. I'm rooting for you! Also i love your username 💕💜
Matt: "Even in undergrad, I was no longer the smartest person in the room... but in grad school, I sometimes wondered if I was the dumbest. Serious ego check, *serious* imposter syndrome, which I still experience regularly."
Me: *[HYPERVENTILATES IN CELL BIO MS]*
Too real, Matt. That's not fair.
Yeah, that one hit close to home.
I'm just starting off my PhD in High Energy Physics and every person who talks about grad school talks about this. I really with imposter syndrome even in my undergrad and I'm dreading what is to come, but hey, if someone can deal with it, then it should be theoretically possible for me to deal with it too, right?
All those 'don'ts' - excellent. I have seen soooo many PhD students (not in astrophysics) in it for the wrong reasons and they either drop out or, if they manage to scrape a thesis together (with immense help from their peers and supervisors), end up in technical roles anyway because their hearts are just not in science and they don't have that yearning for knowledge. Great post.
@7:40
"Craft a good appliation"
Just give a little time to double check the application while your at it!
A perfect explanation of the path to become a researcher (not just an astrophisicist) in less then 10 minutes! I will probably steal "if you are the smartest person in the room, you are probably in the wrong room"
I'm an art student, i have never and will never be able to do the math required for astrophysics, but damn i love this channel.
I'm a music student.. Just wish I could do astrophysics or something similar part time.
Honestly, the only hard part is lots of memorizing. It's much easier to just learn the basics and big picture then just cheat and use pre-worked out examples or software for the actual math if you wanna figure something out.
I'm a nurse, consume beauty/makeup/skincare first on yt, physics as a close second. Love this channel.
It'll help you with writing science fiction.
Well! Not with that attitude you won't!...
Thank you so much for this video! I'm an Australian Year 12 student with my heart set on maths or physics in the future - but I often doubt the practicality for my life of going into research. Thanks for explaining that it's okay to get started on that track and still end up doing something else, and for laying out a potential route so clearly.
I'm currently in university and I'm an intended astrophysics major! Hopefully I can get involved in research soon and I'm aiming to get a PhD after I graduate from uni. Thank you so much for this!
Your views on Physics, and imposter syndrome resonated deeply with me. Physics was my first love at 9 and has been at the root of how I conceptualize EVERYTHING since. That has been a wonderful boon.
Imposter Syndrome, on the other hand, not so much. Even as a professional with over 25 years of global experience in my field, I still struggle with it.
Thank you for continuing to make videos that I love and that deliver explanations to my friends in manners far more accessible than I could. ❤️
I'm trying to get into graduate school for biomedical engineering right now. I appreciate this insight.
Me too and I'm kinda doubting my reasons when I reached the end of this video.
I'm still hoping for the big $$ eventually .. 😅
This was a great video and have only made me more determined to apply for phd studies until I get a position! I’m in the field of Astrophysicist but in Machine learning/HPC/computational biology. But I really felt that the video resonated with me as well. I love the unraveling the deeper connections between gens and proteins and applying my knowledge in machine learning to help me with that. When I am working on problems I feel like I’m doing something important not necessarily to humanity but to my self and that’s what drives me to works towards the solution.
“Be good at math and have good grades”
Glad I didn't even try
Those that study like you, despite the hard road ahead and still stick to it, you are the heroes of humanity. There are other heroes of course, but they maintain or existence. You expand it.
Those are very good advices that apply not only to Astrophysics, but all areas of knowledge.
Working on my masters in law and plan on starting my PhD 2020 or 2021.
How can someone not love this channel?
Great well rounded advice.. 99% is applicable to any degree program actually
Thank you so much for this I am in my 30s now and am half way through my combined physics/maths degree. Definitely never too late!
I like Astrophysics and even audited an Astrophysics class in college. But, honestly most of the high end math is beyond my skill level or even interest in learning. The concepts however make perfect sense to me and I loved learning the information. It was probably one of the best classes I took in college and since i was not being graded there was no pressure which made it super relaxing to just learn lol. All my poor physics buddies were being graded though so harder on them. Course I have a love of science as my Undergrad degree was Geology and my MS in Geochemistry. I still have my note book from that Astrophysics class which tells you how much I valued it overall! Super informative Matt and totally true!
I appreciate the honesty in this video. When I grew up 20 years ago, I got so much crap advice like you'll change careers x number of times and humanities majors can get rich due to their analytical skills. Don't go undeclared because school is really expensive nowadays. Go for one of the few moneymaking majors right out of the gate from high school like computer science, business administration, or nursing. If it's a choice between philosophy major at Harvard or computer science at the low-end state university, I choose CS at the low-end school every day of the week.
Definitely not something for me, but I applaud the great minds that decide to take the journey.
Thanks for making this video, I am an undergrad student entering my junior year, majoring in astrophysics. It is a good reality check to see something like this and understand the struggles that I may have in the next few years. Certainly more intimidated by the prospects, but all the more encouraged to keep working in order to reach my goals!
Thanks! I needed this! I’m thinking of doing PhD in astrophysics, and this honestly helped me firm this.
Awesome, bro!
Same for me. I just entered into college and already I want research positions just to see how it feels to actually increase the limits of human knowledge and understanding of the universe.
Thank you for making all the RUclips videos because I don’t whana go to school all over. but, I want to know about well about everything you normally talk about on here
Thank you for telling me its not too late! I'm 28 and I've told myself that I want to be in college by 30,,i just felt weird about it
I am 23 and am still feeling weird about it.
Anthony Ellis I’m 32
What a great, practical video. I'm sure that many of us would like to know some of the specifics of your job, such as: Do you teach? What is the first thing you do when you walk into your office in the morning? Etc...
Amazing video. We need *more astrophysicists and less politicians* ; at least in my country.
we need scientists in general
That could be literally any country though...
I'd settle for "people who use critical thinking" at this point......
The less politicians we have the closer we get to a dictatorship. We need more, better politicians, not less.
@@ObjectsInMotion I think they meant that instead of people who devote their entire lives to getting and staying in an office (called a "politician" as that is their ONLY profession) we should instead have people who's profession is "scientist" fill those roles. They were not advocating for a reduction in the total number of representatives etc (in a broadly speaking sense). I agree that career politicians are not the proper choice for our public offices and that we would be better served by someone like a scientist of some kind who has a proper grasp of the scientific method and facts as well as how to analyze and use that information.
I always presumed the background was static. With a continuous view as Matt talked, I suddenly realised it changes. Which is cool, kind of got hypnotised trying to locate all the moving elements.
Q: Does the field of astro physics have any 'rock stars'?
A. Yes- Matt O'Dowd.
Don't forget Brian May from Queen. He's literally a rock star - and an astrophysicist.
They give out Nobel Prizes and Breakthrough foundation awards to said rockers. Google “most intelligent people on earth” and several of them are in science.
My path was a 5 year diploma (supposedly a 3+2 years BSc+MSc equivalent) in Applied Physics in a high level University in Athens, Greece. Then a 2-year MSc in Physics & Astronomy in Amsterdam. After that, even though I got accepted for (non-funded) PhDs abroad, I had to return home, mainly for monetary reasons. What followed was 1.5 years working in retail. Yes, retail. After that I was lucky to find a funded PhD in Computer Science, studying galaxy evolution via simulations. Strange path, but my time working outside the field made me realize how much I loved Astrophysics...
Physics undergrad here!
I'm currently doing research in my schools astrophysics lab (origin of double peaked emission lines in active galactic nuclei) and taking my physics courses, and definitely thinking about applying for astrophysics grad school
My question is: what is a cutoff point, in your experience, when it comes to GPA? How differently would a 3.83 and a 3.75 be considered? How much does GPA matter as long as you're above a 3.5?
Hey, savannah, the better cgpa the better though I think you should look for profs who click with your interest and pursue it if it's your dream because the worst thing is to never trying and having regrets. Hope it helps and I hope to see you do an awesome job :)
Ok guys, I am a PhD student in Czech Republic doing PhD in Japanese literature. The path described above plays out very similarly in our field too, but there are some differences, both field related and European university system related and I thought some of you might want to hear something about it.
Over here people on the committee don't really care about your grades, they care about your ideas, you have to come up with a thesis project before you apply and you gotta convince that committee that your project is original (nobody has done something similar recently or it isn't a dead horse you gonna be beating) and also well thought-out. We do interviews so you should be able to present your ideas in like 10 minutes to convince those profs who probably don't know anything about the problem you like that it is worth taking you in. You gotta realise the field is so specialised that nobody knows everything so simpler is better.
Work on the knowledge of literary theory, you have to be able to explain what a genre is, how the narator works, etc. Read up naratology, Jameson, Bakhtin or whatever you like. It will give you tools to do what you wanted to do.
Getting that undergrad research done will also make those profs believe that you won't just quit after half a year so that is also very important. Also, find a supervisor beforehand, don't be afraid to talk to your teachers, if you find somebody you like on your university, stick to them.
As for me, I did almost nothing of this and I can feel it cost me a lot of time that I had to spend catching up. I didn't have a supervisor (not wholely my fault) and I got a guy that was not even doing Japanese literature as one, but we built a pretty good relationship and he helps me immensly so I am glad for that. I didn't have a well thought-out project (the source of my imposter syndrome) but I got it working after half a year of hardcore study. As for how I got admitted, the foremost expert on Chinese literature vouched for me because I "seemed really enthusiastic about it" and "looked really clever" and I am really greatful to her for giving me that chance. Even though I am also kinda terrified of her :D Also the fact we don't have droves of applications in our little pool of oriental studies helped too. Now, I got into a government scholarship programme in Japan so I will probably continue my studies there for next few years. Ain't so bad after all it seems.
And yes, if you want to do PhD because you want to learn more, don't do it. Nobody will teach you, you are way beyond that at that point. You will teach yourself, you will spend hours upon hours obsessing over books too difficult to understand in a language you barely understand. But in succeeding in it, however small that success might be (like getting a publication somewhere) will feel like you are the biggest sage of them all, let me asure you.
Thank you for saying that you can be older and still go for it.
One of my astronomy professor's was 55 years old when she got her PhD. She went back to college to get her Bachelor's the same year her sons entered college too.
She is my inspiration for sure. I'm in my 30s now and still love going to uni.
Stellar advice for PhD prospecting, I'm currently doing my PhD in Chemical Engineering in the UK our system is very different to that in the US. Happy to help with any Q's about the UK process :)
This video definitely helps me with choose what to study in uni, thanks!
Wizardinchik Trodon yh deffo, I'm starting undergrad physics next month😬
I am currently working on my PhD in astrophysics and I must say Matt that you have been quite the inspiration for me. I feel keenly aware that I don't want to become a professor at some university after I get my doctorate, so I sometimes feel frustrated at the lack of defined career paths in physics otherwise. I've looked up to your model as a science communicator through youtube, and have been interested in this side career path you have carved out for yourself here, and have been working on exploring that because of your example.
Anyways astro is a small community so I hope to chat you up someday, and I hope you keep on inspiring others.
Your own path?
World line graphic or it didn’t happen.
#penroselife
Everyone follows their own path. *draws out 10 billion 4D world lines, none of which are exactly identical*
See?
After 5 years of grad school, I finally realized a Ph.D. is not for me. I did great in all the physics courses, but I didn't understand any of the research projects I was assigned. It was a big drain on my mental health. Just a month ago I told my advisor I want to take the M.S. back door out this fall, and my life immediately changed for the better. I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I feel so much more free than I was.
FirstRisingSouI I can understand you I had the same problem, I really wish you the best.
I have always been very interested in astrophysics.
But the truth of the matter is that I absolutely cannot get past the math barrier involved in studying physics. I'm barely capable of slowly stumbling through my computer science degree right now (the semesters in which I do actual computer science feel like a relieving vacation compared to the ones where I fight a math module).
The good news is that, thanks to channels like yours, most of the juicy interesting stuff is still accessible for me to learn about.
You had questions about this universe, you studied and mastered... isn’t it amazing..
Shit man, this video helps me so much. I am in music production school right now, and although it was the plan all along, I'm having some doubts about starting my astrophysics study next year. It's gonna be a major intensity switch in my school life, as I would be going from 2 days a week to 5, and is gonna take a lot of hard work. Among other great youtubers, you keep reminding me why I wanna do that hard work: cause the universe is beautiful, and the more I learned about it the more beautiful it got. This video made me realise that the other people in my position likely feel the same way, and although I will be feeling this way for a long time to come, I'm with others in that feeling, so we can help eachother out
Oh I wish this video came out 25 years ago. Would have chosen this instead of law.
Did you at least strike it rich?
You'd have had the laws, of physics
You heard him. It's never too late. You can do it :)
@@Alorand Don't know. Just started working.😭😭😭 That'll come a little later, hopefully.
@@JorgetePanete hahaha. I wish my friend, I wish. But it's too late to go back to studying now.
I will say that if I were just finishing high school now, that i would most certainly choose a career path involving space. My fascination for it grows as fast as the universe expands.
I tried to become an astrophysicist 6 years ago. The physics was okay but I couldn’t handle University level Mathematics. Though I love space/research as a hobby, I figured it was best not to mix the two in the end.
As long as you're happy :) I was denied admission (bs reasons). But I never let go of it :)
DIG IT i had a similair problem but the math can be learnt.
Its very hard work but eventually you are bound to get better at it.
Hell, u might even start to like it.
Your channel is actually one of the best to understand easily complicate things ! This is called subtlety I believe !
What would we need to quantify gravity ? Or why can’t we quantify gravity ? What’s the problem exactly ? Any video to explain this would be possible ?
I'd rather sit on my chair, sip tea and watch Astrophysicists. =)
Same.
That’s one of the coolest Australians right there, hosting one of the coolest science programs on Earth. Giving you both sides of choosing astrophysics, plus a ton of tips too.... one of the great things about life is having positive, passionate People with so much to share. SpaceTime is at the absolute forefront of astrophysics news and education.
Somewhere in the first ten. Native Baltimoron looks up... hears someone compliment this... place. Looks back down.
@Adam Edward I'm legitimately not used to people saying this place doesn't suck.
@@miaththered I'm from Europe, and all I know about Baltimore comes from the Wire :D . Never would have thought there's a good physics department out there
@@D1ndo I... am not sure how I feel about that.
Heh. "moron"
STSci is nowhere near inner city Balm'er, Hon.
love this. so candid and honest about it. once i am done with my warehousing and forklift driving career, it is off to Astrophysics ! and PS i love your videos so educational to the rest of us. i greatly appreciate that you stuck with it and i thank you. and PSS i love writing and would love to write a thesis. i helped my warehouse manager write her thesis for her MBA. and PSSS i have a real need to understand how the universe is and what it is all about, i guess that is why i watch so many youtube videos on this stuff. thanks !!
"How to become an astrophysicist*s*"? My eyes!
Love this video! I've toyed for years with the thought of studying astrophysics, but my wife asked me if I, as a 65+ year old post-retirement computer programmer, if I really thought anyone would hire me, even if I managed to get my doctorate. I still dream of it. Thanks for this video!
did you go for it?
@@beth9137 not yet!
If someone become an astrophysicist, should definetelly be awarded with Astrophy 🏆🏆🏆
Sorry, what??
This video was helpful in my decision. I'm going to focus on aerospace engineering and minor in astronomy. As much as I love astronomy and physics my interest in them is burning curiosity more than employment. The types of jobs I would get as an aerospace engineer focusing in astronautics are more my fancy as far as career.
"Craft a good appliation" Preferrably spell-checked or proofread.
"Preferrably" ...thats funny..
I thought that was pretty ironic to tell people to check their spelling after the “appliation” blunder!
Thanks for sharing. Not at all unlike walking into day 1 of med school. It was suddenly a very different crowd of people. Being smart was suddenly not enough. It took mental and physical toughness.
Medicine is my job, but Astronomy is my hobby/passion/love. I was a bad high school student, so the party State Uni I attended had NO astronomy program at all. It didn’t matter what I majored in for med school, prepare for the MCAT and crush it. Little else mattered.
Imposter syndrome occurs at school, during residency, and even after finally passing board exams. It takes a long time before you realize that you’re not going to kill anyone.
"in Baltimore, which is a great town by the way"
Wonder who this was directed at 😉
Matt, thank you for all these episodes. At no point have I ever wanted to go back to school, as I already went with law, but boy do I wish I had gone with astrophysics in the first place. I probably would have washed out of that field like I did with law but at least I'd be able to get these challenge questions right! In any event, I truly love watching your videos and want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the knowledge you share with dum-dums like me. We live in a crazy universe where I can eat fried chicken at 10:00 a.m. and learn about black holes and shit. I'll never take either of those things for granted. Thank you.
I want to become an astrophysicist
I'm currently a high school math teacher. While I don't want to become an astrophysicist, I enjoy learning about astrophysics (and consider it to be my "intellectual hobby"). Thanks for making these videos so that I can have a better understanding of this fascinating field!
Me : I am going to sleep early.
Also Me : Why am I watching this even though I am a computer student?!
Me too bro
I know a lot of people who started and have degrees in physics went into CS or SE. Soooo theres that.
CS or IT especially data analysts are needed too. Science is a collaborative effort :)