How do I become an astrophysicist?

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Hi everyone,

Tentatively asking, how does one become an astrophysicist? What kind of Maths does this involve? Are there good job prospects? What about the pay?

Please help!

Thank you!

[crappy]

Hi everyone,

Tentatively asking, how does one become an astrophysicist? What kind of Maths does this involve? Are there good job prospects? What about the pay?

Please help!

Thank you!

There is a really cool link on ABC Ace jobs -   http://www.abc.net.au/acedayjobs/cooljobs/profiles/s2384514.htm


well, very quickly:

Job prospects are very bad, not many in australia, you would have to go overseas.
The pay is awesome if you have a high position
Not sure about the maths
You would have to do a PhD


Im also thinking about Astrophysics, such an interesting and cool science!!!!

[mark_alec]

You don't become an astrophysicist for the money.

Generally speaking, you will want to do an undergraduate degree majoring in Maths or Physics, and a PhD in Astrophysics.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I know, crappy, it sounds AWESOME! =D

True, so it's more of a government/research position?

Right, I'd so want to major in Maths. Do you know any other careers involving a Maths major - I don't think Actuarial Studies does, doesn't that mainly consist of business/probability type maths?

[humph]

I know, crappy, it sounds AWESOME! =D

True, so it's more of a government/research position?

Right, I'd so want to major in Maths. Do you know any other careers involving a Maths major - I don't think Actuarial Studies does, doesn't that mainly consist of business/probability type maths?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/26/cb.ten.math.jobs/

[QuantumJG]

Hi everyone,

Tentatively asking, how does one become an astrophysicist? What kind of Maths does this involve? Are there good job prospects? What about the pay?

Please help!

Thank you!

To become an astrophysicist you would need a physics major in your undergraduate degree or you could do a maths major where you would atleast have a physics minor.

The maths involved would be in the pure/applied area. Astrophysics would involve general relativity, quantum mechanics, etc.

Job prospects aren't that good (it's not a job a lot of people do, it's a job a very select few will pick) you won't expect a lot of job offers. You could always become a university academic. Pay would depend on experience, what you are researching, who has hired you, etc.

I know, crappy, it sounds AWESOME! =D

True, so it's more of a government/research position?

Right, I'd so want to major in Maths. Do you know any other careers involving a Maths major

Having a maths major will give you great job prospects, since everything requires maths. You could enter the commerce section if you have the right maths, engineering companies may hire you if are great at doing computer models.

Maths is one of those areas of science that could have great prospects for you because of what you can do. You have probably heard this before, but if you did specialist maths you would have aced it and could have accelerated what maths you do at uni.

Humph does the PhB at ANU have a bridging subject for specialist maths? Ilovemathsmethods, you could easily get the ENTER for the PhB at ANU and that would probably be the best place to do a maths degree.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

If I want to major in Maths at Melb Uni, do I go about it by undertaking a Science degree with a major in Maths and Statistics?

[zzdfa]

Yes.

[QuantumJG]

If I want to major in Maths at Melb Uni, do I go about it by undertaking a Science degree with a major in Maths and Statistics?

Yes.

Now because you haven't done specialist maths in VCE you will need to do calculus 1 (basically the important parts of specialist maths taught in 12 weeks), then you will need to do linear algebra and calculus 2. Since you got great marks for maths methods you could ask if you can do calculus 2 and linear algebra at the same time in semester 2.

You could probably teach yourself everything in calculus 1 before uni starts. I have also included a calculus 1 exam.

If you would like to have more careers open to you, you could do a bachelor of commerce and a diploma of maths (basically a major in maths). This will probably extend your degree by an extra half year, but you will have more career options open to you.

[QuantumJG]

Argh not doing any real calculus in ages has made me really rusty to a lot of this stuff.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Is it possible to major in Actuarial Studies AND do a diploma in Maths and Statistics?

Thanks for the exam =)

I was wondering - I like the calculus type Maths - where is this kind of Maths used? I don't think it's used in Actuarial...is it?

[Ilovemathsmeth]

The exam looks awesome, this is the kind of subject I'd like to study.

How do you study at Uni - are the reference materials kind of like VCE checkpoints/exam busters etc and you go through them for extra practice?

[QuantumJG]

The exam looks awesome, this is the kind of subject I'd like to study.

How do you study at Uni - are the reference materials kind of like VCE checkpoints/exam busters etc and you go through them for extra practice?

With maths you are given an excercise book that covers every topic. You also have weekly tutorials where you are given 7 questions to do thats related to what you are doing in lectures. Studying for maths is basically just going through those problems and making sure you know what to do with each question. As for extra practice I'm sure you could ask your lecturer for more questions to do if you don't find what you are given is enough.

As for actuarial studies I think you need a study score of atleast 38 in specialist maths to do the major (check with the uni for this), because in first year you need to do accelerated maths 1 and 2. Also I dug up a cool thing about actuarial studies:

Typically, a newly qualified actuary would earn around $95,000-$110,000 per annum, with at least an $11,000 increase per year for several years. More senior, experienced professionals would earn in the vicinity of $200,000 per annum.

also visit (http://www.bcom.unimelb.edu.au/bachelor/majors/actuarial_studies.html#act_courseplan) for the course plan

[Gloamglozer]

The exam looks awesome, this is the kind of subject I'd like to study.

How do you study at Uni - are the reference materials kind of like VCE checkpoints/exam busters etc and you go through them for extra practice?

With maths you are given an excercise book that covers every topic. You also have weekly tutorials where you are given 7 questions to do thats related to what you are doing in lectures. Studying for maths is basically just going through those problems and making sure you know what to do with each question.

How about short answer questions?  Are those 7 questions usually short answer (like worded problems with part a,b,c, etc.) or are they like "differentiate the following"?

[QuantumJG]

The exam looks awesome, this is the kind of subject I'd like to study.

How do you study at Uni - are the reference materials kind of like VCE checkpoints/exam busters etc and you go through them for extra practice?

With maths you are given an excercise book that covers every topic. You also have weekly tutorials where you are given 7 questions to do thats related to what you are doing in lectures. Studying for maths is basically just going through those problems and making sure you know what to do with each question.

How about short answer questions?  Are those 7 questions usually short answer (like worded problems with part a,b,c, etc.) or are they like "differentiate the following"?

They are questions with parts a,b,c,etc.