<p>I am about to start my third year in electrical engineering and I am starting to consider graduate schools. I want to make sure I prepare myself for the right school for me so I am starting as early as possible by taking a diverse background of classes. I have completed much of the EE core so far and will continue with it but I am really interested in physics so I will be taking a lot of physics classes soon. My schedule for the upcoming fall includes a class in each of the following areas:</p>
<pre><code>control systems
electronics
computer architecture
photonics
semiconductor materials/devices
</code></pre>
<p>For the spring I plan on taking:</p>
<pre><code>theoretical methods in physics
independent research
embedded systems
signal processing
</code></pre>
<p>I then want to finish my bsee requirments in addition to some statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics classes. I have been more interested in my physics classes than my signals/electronics classes. I want to work in industry in an R&D position and preferably NOT in academia. My main concern is choosing what to get my PhD in to work in the field I want to work in. I am leaning towards doing my graduate work in physics.</p>
<p>My question is: Will my course work prepare me well for a graduate program in physics? </p>
<p>My research interests are in high temperature superconductor applications or semiconductor device fabrication. I looked at some schools and their EE departments were good for some semiconductor device research but I thought a program in condensed matter physics might be better for fundamental research in these areas. </p>
<p>Would I be well prepared for R&D in industry if I don't do a PhD in engineering? If so will I be able to be successful in a Physics PhD program if I do my BS in EE?</p>
<p>Plenty of people got a PhD in physics after engineering. Grad schools will accept promising engineering grads for physics but will often require they either take some undergrad classes or encourage them to self-study the material. You apparently have missed out on the usual two semesters of classical mechanics.</p>
<p>The core that physics grad schools want is:</p>
<p>classical mechanics
E&M
quantum
stat mech/thermo</p>
<p>At least one semester of each should have you “covered” but like I said they may admit you but expect you to take the grad class prereqs. Since EE covers a lot of what modern experimentalists are into (it’s heavy on quantum and E&M, especially in condensed matter), being deficient in classical mechanics and stat mech is not as big a deal as being deficient in E&M and quantum.</p>
<p>I should add, the physics GRE (a requirement at all the “good” physics grad schools) covers mostly material from first-year physics, so get a copy of a Halliday and Resnick book.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply TomServo,</p>
<p>So I guess in short my classes won’t really prepare me fully for graduate work (I am fine with preparing outside of class). I could switch to a physics major and still graduate on time but I figured that if I wanted to work in engineering R&D, the engineering background would help. Should I try to stay in an engineering field for graduate school? If so does anyone know of any EE/related fields that deal heavily in quantum mechanics/superconductivity or would I be stuck in academia if I studied that at the PhD level?</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is research on the industrial side and NOT in academia (but who knows, my priorities could change). Are there even jobs in this field yet? When I do job searches I get mostly postdoc listings…</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insight here?</p>
<p>Well, companies often do research that is a blur between physics and engineering. The semiconductor industry hires physicists in addition to engineers but I imagine they are mainly interested in solid state physicists. “Antenna theory” is a big area of electrical engineering and I’m sure that industry research in that area involves physicists.</p>
<p>Industrial post-docs can be a prelude to an industrial research job. Remember, when the economy is bad research budgets are slashed. If you are just starting your undergrad, you have another eight years or so until you actually need to look for a post-doc position. The economy could be better. Just don’t engage in self-limiting behavior, i.e. only working in one city, or one state, or one country (yes, Americans are going to have to get used to working abroad as our own country goes down the toilet), or one sector of one industry, or whatever.</p>
<p>You’re actually lucky, you’ll have more industry opportunities than me, I plan to go into relativity. :D</p>
<p>From the perspective of a physics professor who has graduated a number of Ph.D. students over the years, and has been involved in graduate admissions, you can find a good job in industry after the Ph.D. (and probably a post-doc) but you probably need to develop some skills that are specific to the sector of interest. For example, for the semiconductor or magnetics industry, you really have to get experience in making and characterizing thin films.</p>
<p>I can also confirm that starting from a BSEE it is fairly easy to move to physics. Not all BSEE programs have quantum mechanics in the curriculum so make sure you take that as an elective. You might be asked to take a few prep courses to make up for missing material but it should not be too much and, at least in our program at IIT, we try to count as much of the remedial undergraduate coursework for the Ph.D. as possible to keep the total course requirements manageable.</p>