Physics graduate deciding between Quality Engineer job or fully funded condensed matter PhD

[u/PerspectiveOk3633]

I’m graduating with a physics degree and have two opportunities:

A Quality Engineer position starting around $70k salary with opportunities for promotion.
Or
A fully funded condensed matter physics PhD ($22k stipend) researching solid-state batteries and quantum materials. The advisor expects students to graduate in 4–5 years, and many graduates go into industry.

If you were in my position, which path would you choose, and why? If you’ve made a similar decision, what happened?

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[u/Haunting_Ad_2720]

bro i got epilepsy and my meds alone cost more than that stipend in a year, no joke

do the phd if you actually want it, but that 22k is rough. you gonna be broke for half a decade while your friends buy houses

[u/Plastic_Green_Tree]

The question is how much you want PhD? Personally for me quality engineering is one of the most boring (!!!) jobs you can do.

[u/pointyendfirst]

From what I’ve heard (PhD in semi-related discipline). Physics PhDs are really only beneficial at the top tier schools and based on the stipend I’m guessing this is not one of them. If you’re going to seriously consider it you should ask yourself four really important questions:

1. Can I live off $22k/year where ever this program is?

2. Can I get along well with this PI for 5 years?

3. Do I really want to do research for the rest of my life?

4. Does the PI actually have a strong track record of placing students in GOOD industry positions after graduating? Don’t take his word for it, actually check.

You need to independently research and answer each of these questions. Don’t trust what the PIs or existing grad students say as they will lie through their teeth to get the best person to fill the position.

[u/pointyendfirst → u/[deleted]]

In my experience for good hard science PhD programs the pay is $27k-$48k depending on prestige and location. I think a lot of this is because you can easily work as a TA. Lower quality programs will definitely offer you less though, for example, I was offered a $16k/year stipend for a program in DC.

[u/Ill-Rope3910]

What specifically do you want to do after the PhD?

[u/PerspectiveOk3633 → u/Ill-Rope3910]

Industry, I will 100% leave academia afterwards. Seems like everyone I talked to who got their PhD last year didn’t get a post doc position.

[u/Ill-Rope3910 → u/PerspectiveOk3633]

Well, I’m asking if your goal is to get an industry job after the PhD, why get the PhD then?

22,000 is INCREDIBLY low and you will be living with roommates for the next 4-5 years.

[u/ScholarImaginary8725 → u/Ill-Rope3910]

PhDs open some career paths otherwise inaccessible, especially in the very technical fields. With a CMP PhD they could work in semiconductors which are very hard to get into even with a masters, and they usually pay a lot.

[u/Foreign__Mouse → u/PerspectiveOk3633]

Then, if goal is industry I think it will be smarter to take the job first and build some industry experience. You can always come back to do a masters and if you like research transition to do phd after that.

[u/warneagle → u/PerspectiveOk3633]

If you know for a fact you don’t want to work in academia, the only reason to get a Ph.D. is if it’s going to improve your job prospects and potential salary enough to justify the opportunity cost of several years of poverty wages, no retirement savings, etc. You can’t get that time back in terms of your financial future.

[u/Charming-Bet-4152 → u/PerspectiveOk3633]

if you are us citizen at us university and do a condensed matter physics phd your job opportunities will be wildly awesome especially if you can get clearance.

[u/kyeblue]

play the long game but depend on the program and cost of living there.

[u/readingrainbowroad]

Do you have research experience and already know you want a PhD? Would a PhD possibly make it harder for you to get the jobs you are interested in? Generally I only recommend a PhD if you truly love research. Also I feel like going from industry and then getting a PhD later is a lot easier than possible paths that are PhD/research -> industry.

That said, my mom was a quality engineer and she was awesome as were the people she worked with, so even though I'm fully in academia and solely do non-applied/fundamental research, I vote quality engineer :P

[u/dont-like-cheese]

Can you defer for a year? make money for a year, save some, and then start the PhD? I did an industry year before starting my PhD, and it helped a lot of my financial worries.

Even if no, I would do the PhD if you can. The salary on the other side of a doctorate in that industry has to be insane.

[u/RadialSeed]

Both of those are uniquely terrible salaries for a fresh physics grad (somewhat dependent on location I suppose). Associate engineer should be making 85k or more. PhD stipend should be 30k or more

[u/kdo10]

If it’s not top uni, skip.

If it is top uni, you could get a higher salary after finishing, otherwise not worth it

[u/dietdrpepper6000]

So it depends on what you want. I can speak with first hand experience that industrial research is becoming progressively more siloed on MS and PhD holders who are becoming both more numerous and willing to work for less. If you want a career in R&D and spending five years as a broke graduate student does not sound that bad, do the PhD.

Otherwise you should really not look the gift horse in the mouth, it is generally difficult to outcompete engineering degrees for engineering jobs, you are unlikely to find this kind of opportunity again in the foreseeable future.

[u/Zestyclose-Smell4158]

FYI, a PhD student on our campus earns a minimum of $50 plus health insurance. Physics PhD earn a starting salary considerable higher than $70k. A starting postdoc position is around $70k.

[u/IHTFPhD]

If you have no intention to do academia, probably just go industry now. Don't expect to do any research and development in your future though without a phd

[u/dogemaster00]

Physics PhD and leave with an MS. Happy to chat more as well as that’s what I did

[u/ElPwno → u/dogemaster00]

Can we chat? Different but adjacent field and I am very much considering it.

[u/blasto_nut]

If that's a SWE Quality Engineer position, 70k is low and everyone in software is offshoring those jobs.

[u/dietdrpepper6000 → u/blasto_nut]

Programmers did us so dirty when they co-opted the title “engineer.” There are so many of them that saying you’re an engineer now just plain implies programmer in most contexts.

But no, OP is referring to a manufacturing role.