<p>I have some questions regarding grad school for theoretical physics and the job market. My first question is, do they give students scholarship to go to grad school for physics? Also I heard that You can do a work study program and pay off grad school that way, is this true? Another one of my concerns is that, I go to a relatively unknown school and was wondering wether that would negative affect my chances to get into a really good physics grad program. And if I were to get a PhD in physics, how common is it to just do research and not teach like at the institute for advance study? Thanks</p>
<p>Generally, PhD students in physics will be offered an assistantship, either doing research or teaching. If you’re looking to pursue theory, though, you should be aware that there’s a lot less funding out there than there is for experiment. This means that that it will be much more difficult to get accepted into graduate programs, and if you do get accepted you will likely have to spend a few years as a teaching assistant in order to receive funding. No matter what, you should definitely not pay for a physics graduate program.</p>
<p>As for your question about how common it is to do only research and no teaching: very uncommon on the university level. You’re kind of getting ahead of yourself there, though, because it’s really difficult to get a tenure-track position at all.</p>
<p>Theoretical physics is a hard road. Particularly in particle physics. It is common for a Ph.D. in theoretical physics to take 2-3 different postdoctoral positions before even being considered for a faculty position. There are some positions at national Laboratories but they also will require multiple postdocs.</p>
<p>If you are interested in computational materials physics, however, there are more opportunities as it is a fairly hot field now (no guarantees in 7 years though).</p>