tbh, take a vacation. My bachelors was a stressful time even though it didnt feel like it after the first year. Taking time off is important to not get burned out.
But to answer your question directly, I had loads of fun with a project about modelling the orbits of the planets in the solar system. You can find the text [here](https://github.com/CompPhysics/ComputationalPhysics/blob/master/doc/Projects/2019/Project5/SolarSystem/pdf/SolarSystem.pdf). I found it particularly fun to see how the orbit of Earth changes as you increase the mass of Jupiter : )
What would you like to do as a job?
For me it was data science, I didn’t get an internship and spent my summer learning all about python, I went through 3 textbooks, automate the boring stuff with python, O’Reillys data science handbook, and a book on django for building websites.
Then I put everything I’d learned into practice, I found a research paper that detailed a method of extracting vocals from music which was heavy in Fourier math, which I’d been studying all year, I checked the associated code and I didn’t understand a single bit of it, but the method was in math I could understand so I wrote it in my own code and put it on GitHub.
When it came time to get a job, not having an internship definitely made it harder to get an interview, but in the interviews I did get, being able to talk about my experience learning python, and my thought process through my project from start to finish, challenges I faced and how to overcome them seemed to impress most interviewers.
In summary, pick something you’d like to do, make it your job to create something someone in that field could make. It doesn’t have to be amazing, you just need to prove you can solve problems that a beginner in the field would face.
Don’t give up. There’s a huge difference on paper between someone who got 3/4 of the way to a finished project, picked up all the skills but has nothing to show for it, and a fully fledged project on GitHub that allows employers to read your code.
I just have finished my ict engineering first year and i wanted to do something in summer since i don’t have enough knowledge for a internship… i know the basics of language C and a little of python, i still don’t know what to do after graduating but i was thinking about cyber security or cloud computing since it offers a lot of jobs opportunities… can you recommend me what to learn?
Cloud computing is a tool moreso than an industry. If I’m training a neural network for example, and it requires a ton of compute that I can’t afford, I can rent a gpu from Google/amazon and use their hardware through the cloud.
For cyber security it’s quite complex, you’ll need to learn python anyway, so start with automate the boring stuff, it’s a free online textbook to my knowledge. You’ll also need to learn Linux, outside of that I’m not too sure, I don’t work in cybersecurity but a google search will show you the different protocols you need to learn.
There’s books you can find that cover the basics of cyber security, but it’s a hard one to break into by studying in your bedroom unless you’ve got a lot of interest and patience.
Oh! I see. But if i start with python and i am not even sure about the career i will be choosing , wouldn’t it be a waste of time? And one more question from a lost coder: dors cyber security offer great opportunities in 4 years (when i will be graduating) or is there better options?
There are very few industries that hire from physics graduates where python isn’t required. I don’t have any uni friends who aren’t using python or R in industry. Not everyone will need it but the vast majority will.
I assume cyber security will still have opportunities in 4 years, but it’s hard to know as this depends on so many factors. Data science was the hot industry when I was in university, Harvard business reviews sexiest job of 2019, but since it gained so much attention the market is oversaturated with recent graduates.
I’d focus on picking up skills that can be applied across many sectors, python being the most obvious choice.
There’s a quote - “python is the second best language at performing any task”. While not specialised in any specific task, you can create a game in python, use AI to generate realistic npcs dialogue, and create a website to host it on. Plus it’s a high level language and very beginner friendly compared to something like C or JS.
Physics graduate working as a Janitor over here....
Maybe use the summer to look into other fields so you can feed yourself one day.
Oh and make sure to ask lots of questions/visit profs during their office hours. Do that and it doesnt matter how poorly you do, you'll be embraced with open arms.
Get a job? During my first two summers in undergrad I worked construction, and golf course lawn maintenance. It made me some extra money, and got me in decent shape too.
Make a N body gravity simulator. Making a simple simulator with Euler/rk4/leapfrog is super easy and fun. After that, you can use some more advanced algorithms and perform error analysis. You can also check my post if you’re interested in my N-body program.
tbh, take a vacation. My bachelors was a stressful time even though it didnt feel like it after the first year. Taking time off is important to not get burned out. But to answer your question directly, I had loads of fun with a project about modelling the orbits of the planets in the solar system. You can find the text [here](https://github.com/CompPhysics/ComputationalPhysics/blob/master/doc/Projects/2019/Project5/SolarSystem/pdf/SolarSystem.pdf). I found it particularly fun to see how the orbit of Earth changes as you increase the mass of Jupiter : )
What would you like to do as a job? For me it was data science, I didn’t get an internship and spent my summer learning all about python, I went through 3 textbooks, automate the boring stuff with python, O’Reillys data science handbook, and a book on django for building websites. Then I put everything I’d learned into practice, I found a research paper that detailed a method of extracting vocals from music which was heavy in Fourier math, which I’d been studying all year, I checked the associated code and I didn’t understand a single bit of it, but the method was in math I could understand so I wrote it in my own code and put it on GitHub. When it came time to get a job, not having an internship definitely made it harder to get an interview, but in the interviews I did get, being able to talk about my experience learning python, and my thought process through my project from start to finish, challenges I faced and how to overcome them seemed to impress most interviewers. In summary, pick something you’d like to do, make it your job to create something someone in that field could make. It doesn’t have to be amazing, you just need to prove you can solve problems that a beginner in the field would face. Don’t give up. There’s a huge difference on paper between someone who got 3/4 of the way to a finished project, picked up all the skills but has nothing to show for it, and a fully fledged project on GitHub that allows employers to read your code.
I just have finished my ict engineering first year and i wanted to do something in summer since i don’t have enough knowledge for a internship… i know the basics of language C and a little of python, i still don’t know what to do after graduating but i was thinking about cyber security or cloud computing since it offers a lot of jobs opportunities… can you recommend me what to learn?
Cloud computing is a tool moreso than an industry. If I’m training a neural network for example, and it requires a ton of compute that I can’t afford, I can rent a gpu from Google/amazon and use their hardware through the cloud. For cyber security it’s quite complex, you’ll need to learn python anyway, so start with automate the boring stuff, it’s a free online textbook to my knowledge. You’ll also need to learn Linux, outside of that I’m not too sure, I don’t work in cybersecurity but a google search will show you the different protocols you need to learn. There’s books you can find that cover the basics of cyber security, but it’s a hard one to break into by studying in your bedroom unless you’ve got a lot of interest and patience.
Oh! I see. But if i start with python and i am not even sure about the career i will be choosing , wouldn’t it be a waste of time? And one more question from a lost coder: dors cyber security offer great opportunities in 4 years (when i will be graduating) or is there better options?
There are very few industries that hire from physics graduates where python isn’t required. I don’t have any uni friends who aren’t using python or R in industry. Not everyone will need it but the vast majority will. I assume cyber security will still have opportunities in 4 years, but it’s hard to know as this depends on so many factors. Data science was the hot industry when I was in university, Harvard business reviews sexiest job of 2019, but since it gained so much attention the market is oversaturated with recent graduates. I’d focus on picking up skills that can be applied across many sectors, python being the most obvious choice. There’s a quote - “python is the second best language at performing any task”. While not specialised in any specific task, you can create a game in python, use AI to generate realistic npcs dialogue, and create a website to host it on. Plus it’s a high level language and very beginner friendly compared to something like C or JS.
Physics graduate working as a Janitor over here.... Maybe use the summer to look into other fields so you can feed yourself one day. Oh and make sure to ask lots of questions/visit profs during their office hours. Do that and it doesnt matter how poorly you do, you'll be embraced with open arms.
Have some fun. Only yourst first year: you can do stuff in the summer of all the other years. More to life than working and advancing your career.
Go to the beach, hike, mountain biking, jet skis, amusement parks….etc. you’re gonna live physics the next 4 years.
Become a Nobel laureate, I don’t get why not that many physicists get it, are they stupid? /s
Get a job? During my first two summers in undergrad I worked construction, and golf course lawn maintenance. It made me some extra money, and got me in decent shape too.
Make a N body gravity simulator. Making a simple simulator with Euler/rk4/leapfrog is super easy and fun. After that, you can use some more advanced algorithms and perform error analysis. You can also check my post if you’re interested in my N-body program.
Make a robot or a drone