career

An illustration of a woman with dark hair head in hand, falling asleep at a desk in front of a computer monitor. A desk lamp signs on her. Her room has two walls missing and floats in the nightsky in a cloud.

Four physicists, including Fermilab’s Claire Lee, share their experiences dealing with major setbacks, trauma, mental health issues and toxic work environments.

The data wranglers

Illustration: Scientists sifting through data

A degree in particle physics or astrophysics can lead to a career in data science. Physicists know how to take enormous amounts of raw data and use it to address a question—often approaching it from multiple angles before finding the answer.

Those who study particle physics will find that every step of the journey offers a new perspective and new set of responsibilities. Symmetry chats with scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider to hear about differences between seven different rungs on the academic career ladder.

Right now could be considered one of the best — and most uncertain — times in theoretical physics. That’s what Symmetry heard in interviews with 10 junior faculty in the field. They talk about what keeps them up at night, their favorite places to think and how they explain their jobs to nonscientists.