Abstract: “Should I pursue a career in academia?” This question often looms over aspiring physicists, shrouded in uncertainty and doubt. From the winding path of graduate school to the challenges of research, the academic journey can seem daunting. In this talk, I will peel back the layers of academia and offer strategies for navigating its complexities. Drawing from my own experiences as a graduate student and postdoc, I will provide insights into what each stage of the academic track entails; unveiling the hidden curricula and potential pitfalls, as well as exploring tools and resources that can propel you towards success.
All of this may sound foreboding, but I also want to emphasize the joys and rewards on the academic path. Despite its challenges, academia offers unparalleled opportunities for discovery, collaboration, and intellectual growth. By the end of this talk, my hope is that you will have a clearer understanding of the academic track so that you can decide whether it is a career you want to pursue. If so, I hope this leaves you with a renewed sense of purpose and determination in your choice to pursue it. And even if you decide academia is not for you, the tools that I will discuss are also relevant in many industry careers.
Bio: Jessica Howard is a KITP Postdoctoral Scholar working on theoretical particle physics. Before joining KITP, she received her Ph.D. degree at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests focus on characterizing the nature and interactions of the building blocks of our
universe: fundamental particles. Despite their sub-atomic size, these particles have huge effects on the world around us; everything from nuclear reactions to galaxy rotations. In her work, Jessica employs advanced computational frameworks from machine learning and mathematics to improve theoretical calculations in quantum field theory and help us discover and characterize new particles at current and future experiments. In particular, she uses techniques from Optimal Transport theory, a branch of mathematics originally designed for moving dirt!
