Hey, I have a few questions regarding what I should major in in order to be able to working in the nanotechnology field later on. I have searched this forum and many others as well for this topic however I’m not very satisfied with either the question asked or the answers given. I love learning about interactions between atoms and I am very (very) good at chemistry, however, I am not too fond of dealing with chemical reactions. I mainly like dealing with atoms and subatomic particles. I was thinking of majoring in Chemistry but I feel as if in the long run I would not enjoy it as much and Physics seems to be a very interesting field when you go in depth, specifically quantum mechanics. Highschool physics is unappealing to me honestly but I have heard that college physics is much different and I have read many books by physicists (richard feynman, walter lewin etc) and it is very interesting to me. What would be the best major based off of my interests and how would I be able to apply it in the nanotechnology field?
This question doesn’t really have relevance to my initial question but I’m just curious. Why is it that a lot of advancements in the knowledge of the atom have been done by physicists and not chemists? Ex: rutherford, bohr, broglie
You’ll find more opportunities to study within the field of nanotechnology(which is very broad as I’m sure you know) in your graduate and postgraduate years. Having a strong understanding of physics and chemistry is essential, so majoring in either one is alright. You said you feel more comfortable with chemistry, so go for it. Are you bad at reactions? Iron it out in college, no room for discrepancies.
What you don’t mention is whether you’d like to enter the research area or application area. You haven’t mentioned anything about engineering(which, in my opinion, could be a more exciting and lucrative career initially), so I’m assuming you want to go into research, and hope to be at the forefront of emerging theories and what not, much like the scientists you mentioned.
Lay the foundation for your masters and PhD degree, you’re most likely going to need them.
Use all available resources at your college, internships, workshops, etc… In general, buff up your undergrad so youll have more chances to land in a major research university geared in nanotechnology for your graduate and PhD years.
I would LOVE to be in the research area. Initially I had planned to pursue a phD in physics and go into research but I was looking around on the web for a while and the chances of actually acquiring a career that is physics related is fairly low. Nanotech on the other hand seems to have a lot of applications that could advance society and could be seen as a big field decades from now. I’m not bad at chemical reactions, it’s more so that it’s not as interesting as other fields like quantum mechanics.
A small secret, a lot of us physicists with Ph.D.s work in nanoscience/nanotechnology. It is a very good way to get into the field. I don’t agree with your statement that you can’t get a job in physics my Ph.D. students have all gotten very good jobs and some are in the nanoscience field.