<p>I have a genuine interest in almost every science from molecular biology, to chemistry, to theoretical physics. Is there any major or program that seems to combine multiple sciences in one....like a biochemistry physics major or something? also, how common is it that scientists work outside of their major in real life? Thanks</p>
<p>Chemical and biomolecular engineering? (as chemical engineering departments have rebranded themselves while adding a bit of biology to their curricula)</p>
<p>Maybe environmental science/engineering or civil engineering.</p>
<p>Biology probably comes as close as any. It requires not only a variety of biology courses, but also chemistry, physics and calculus. It often involves statistics and computer science, and can make use of geology, physical anthro, optics, electronics and maybe even astronomy.</p>
<p>Some potential employers will think you spent four years dissecting frogs, however.</p>
<p>Biology might also use climatology; ice ages, evolution and extinctions.</p>
<p>Bio medical Engineering comes to mind.</p>
<p>If you’re outdoorsy, I’d suggest geology or environmental science.</p>
<p>If you’re not, I wouldn’t.</p>
<p>thanks for all the responses.
Could anyone elaborate on what biochemical engineers and geologists do? I have an idea of what they study but i’m not exactly sure how that translates to a career.</p>
<p>Also, is it common for scientists to work outside of their field? like a chemistry major being recruited in a biology or physics lab.</p>
<p>Geology. Word. </p>
<p>As an isotope geochemist doing my PhD in climatology in a geology department, I analyzed the stable isotope composition (chemistry) of corals (biology) to understand ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns (oceanography, physics) using some fairly ugly spatial data analysis (computer science, statistics if you count those). Also I hit rocks with hammers (geology!). </p>
<p>Now I am a catastrophe modeler, working on sorting out the destructive potential of hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, floods, wildfires, volcanoes - basically, I use every kind of science you can shake a stick at.</p>
<p>Most geologists tend to stay geologists of some flavor - hard to shake the bug. Out of the 22 geology majors from my undergrad that I still know where they are, 18 are in geology/environmental science, one leads outdoor experiences, two are lawyers, and one went into marketing. I’d say that’s a pretty low attrition rate.</p>
<p>Other geologists might become university professors (research, teaching), perform government research (mostly USGS, NASA, and NOAA, although there are others as well), oil and gas or mining (looking for…oil, gas, minerals), go into environmental consulting (a lot of this seems to be performing site assessments, although the nature of the work varies geographically), or become hydrologists (water quality monitoring, water resources - there can be some overlap with environmental consulting). Some K-12 teaching options too, although less common than is the case for bio/chem/physics. Those are the big options, anyway.</p>
<p>Oh, and as far as lab-switching goes, it’s very common in the geosciences up through grad school. I was the only geologist in my lab actually - most of the others were some combination of chemist, physicist, and engineer. After the graduate level, though, it gets a lot less common, although still probably more common in geology than other fields due to its highly interdisciplinary nature.</p>
<p>My d is preparing for the possibility of grad school in biophysics by majoring in biochemistry and getting minors in physics and applied math. She likes it all. There are a few schools with biophysics majors.</p>
<p>[What</a> is Biophysics?](<a href=“http://www.biophysics.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/WhatisBiophysics/tabid/2287/Default.aspx]What”>Biophysical Society)</p>
<p>I was the same way starting out at university… interested in EVERYTHING. I was mostly interested in physics and biology. I started out in bioengineering because it seemed to be the most “sciency” engineering discipline and I didn’t know if I wanted to go to grad school which physics would require. After my first year, I fell in love with math/physics even more, dropped engineering, and switched over to the physics department. I worked in a neurobiology research lab my first year and summer doing computer modeling work and realized I wanted to try something more outdoorsy/field oriented. I took a geology class and now, this summer I’ll be doing earthquake seismology research through a geophysics REU program.</p>
<p>Overall, I’d suggest going with a physics major if you’re interested or good at physics/math (though I’m a bit biased). You will get a very broad education and can go into almost anything for graduate school if you play your electives right: Biophysics, geophysics, applied math, computer science, engineering, etc</p>
<p>Also, physicists are the best at working “outside of their major”. I got into a strictly geology REU studying river deltas due to the quantitative background of a physics major. My geology professor has his BS and PhD in physics. I had a bioengineering professor with a PhD in physics and many other engineering professors have physics degrees. Physicists can do anything :)</p>
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<p>lol did you have fun with frogs?</p>
<p>Geology is multi-disciplinary, though I imagine how heavy or how little it involves biology and physics depends on your subfield. I took an intro geology course and there wasn’t much physics, it’s more abstracted as chemistry, although chemistry is “merely” an application of physics.</p>
<p>I’d say physics or chemistry at the grad level can prepare you for involvement with many other sciences, especially biology. Biology now is focusing more than ever on the very small, they’re starting to study systems where quantum effects are important (like synapses) and they need to bring in physicists to make sense of things. Also a branch of physics I hear more and more about is “soft-body physics,” which is used for a lot of biology apparently.</p>
<p>Might I add, that just because you do programming doesn’t mean you’re doing computer science. :-P</p>
<p>BioChemical Engingeering and BioMedical Engineering.</p>