For Professional Development
Career Placement
For a first pass at looking at potential career resources for physics students, please take a look at our Physics Undergraduate tab for some career resources located at: Careers in Physics
Please visit the Graduate School's web page for resources more related to students pursuing Master's and PhDs. This includes a resource they continue to develop called the Versatile PhD, which is helpful for considering non academic or traditional careers.
The College of Arts and Sciences has a website that includes many useful links such as for resume writing tips and upcoming career fairs as well as job searching resources. This website has a log of good information available so please take advantage of the assistance it can offer. You can also make an appointment with an advisor in that office for some individualized assistance.
The American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics both offer resources specific to the field of Physics.
Buckeye Careers lists relevant, on and off campus, career resources to assist graduate students in their career decision making processes.
Professional Development
Meet our PhDs by speaking at our Invitations to Industry (i2i) Seminars. Designed to connect your organization with top PhD talent from universities in the Erdős Institute network.
Learn more about diverse career paths in the STEM disciplines from Ohio State alumni working in industry, national labs, government research, science policy and other career paths. Each semester, Ohio State alumni will share their career-related experiences and provide you with tips and advice on landing that perfect job.
The Preparing Future Faculty program is a mentorship and career development program that helps graduate students from any discipline discern whether they are interested in pursuing faculty careers in liberal arts colleges or small universities.
Ohio State Graduate Teaching Development
Find important resources that will help enhance teaching and provide support for GTAs (TA) at The Ohio State University.
Ohio Union Activities Board - Graduate-Professional
The Ohio Union Activities Board (OUAB) strives to provide diverse programs and events that are educational, entertaining, and thought-provoking for students on the Columbus Campus. The Graduate and Professional student committee of OUAB designs and executes over 200 programs that are intentionally created to enhance the graduate and professional student experience. In an effort to provide holistic opportunities, we offer programs in the five key areas listed below.
The Research Commons provides a suite of services and a space through which researchers can explore collaborative, interdisciplinary, and emerging research methods and connect with experts for support at any stage of the research process. Browse our focus areas, and let us know how we can support your research!
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a competition in which doctoral students attempt to effectively explain their research to a non-specialist audience in only three minutes and using only one static slide.
My Individual Development Plan
MyIDP provides:
- Exercises to help you examine your skills, interests, and values
- A list of 20 scientific career paths with a prediction of which ones best fit your skills and interests
- A tool for setting strategic goals for the coming year, with optional reminders to keep you on track
- Articles and resources to guide you through the process
Developed by Paula Chambers, a PhD alum of Ohio State in English, The Versatile PhD is for members of the graduate community who are interested in exploring non-academic career options.
As part of the Office of Student Life, Buckeye Careers is an university-wide initiative designed to support students throughout their professional development, with a focus on connecting them with local, national and global organizations.
Powered by people, Alumni Fire transforms dispersed networks into exclusive communities. With engaged members, open doors, and unique value, Alumni Fire turns your network’s noise into signal.
Graduate Awards
We are beyond proud of every Physics graduate student who receives an award, and we want to acknowledge them here.
Graduate Travel Funding Awards
Note: You can find more general information on travel procedure on our Travel Page.
Graduate Travel Funding Requests
As a result of several donations in support of graduate student research and development, the Physics Department is able to offer some funding to help Physics graduate students to present at conferences, workshops, and colloquia. Much more limited travel funding may be available if a presentation will not be given.
In order to standardize the funding request process and give all students who want to an opportunity to request funding, the Grad Studies Office will have two Travel Award Request Windows per year. (Approximately in April and September.)
Students will be notified ahead of time, and then the MS form will go out to everyone to fill in their proposed travel information and budget, as well as any additional important information.
If you are planning to attend a conference and anticipate needing travel funding, we strongly encourage you to apply proactively, even if your plans are not yet finalized. These windows are intended to support travel occurring during each half of the academic year. If you believe that the timeline of the next window will not give you enough time to attend a specific conference, please apply early.
The graduate school and university offer many opportunities to apply for funding, and we encourage you to check these out:
- Graduate School Grants page: Grants | Graduate School
- Alumni Grants for Grad Research and Scholarship: Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship | Graduate School
- Office of Research and Sponsored Programs: Find Funding | Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge at Ohio State
- Council of Graduate Studies funding: Funding, Awards & Resources : Council of Graduate Students
- Career Development Grant: About the Career Development Grant : Council of Graduate Students
- Ray Travel Award for Service and Scholarship: Ray Travel Award for Service and Scholarship (up to $1000 per academic year) : Council of Graduate Students
- General Resources: General Grad Student Resources : Council of Graduate Students
- College of Arts and Sciences Small Grants Program: Graduate Student Funding | College of Arts and Sciences