How To Become A Research Physicist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a research physicist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Nicholas Mauro

If you have a passion for physics and an even greater passion for research, the career of a research physicist is the right path to take. As a research physicist, you will conduct research on physical phenomena, create theories based on findings, and develop methods on how to apply physical laws and theories. In essence, you will get to use your background in physics and, more importantly, be able to expand your knowledge tenfold.

The specific job duties that this role entails usually include developing simulations, creating presentations, developing experimental designs, and maintaining research equipment.

Before you can become a fully-fledged research physicist, however, you have to have a master's or doctorate in physics. Of course, you also have to be proficient in research, presentation, and experimentation, which can usually come from prior research work in graduate school.

Now comes the fun part. On average, research physicists make around $91,000 per year, while some take home as much as $125,000.

What general advice would you give to a research physicist?

Nicholas Mauro

Assistant Professor of Physics, Saint Norbert College

My advice to someone beginning their career is that although we have a challenging time in front of us, they should be feeling optimistic about their future. I know this seems impossible when we are struggling, as a nation, to contain the pandemic and craft a strategy to combat the short- and long-term effects. However, this is what I would say to a recent physics graduate: American success has always depended on, and benefited from, physical science talent. Physics students have historically been among the most employable graduates. The extensive preparation in a physics program enables our students to pursue interests in a wide variety of industries and find success. We shouldn't sugar coat it, early-career physicists have experienced very real and acute disruptions and face a degree of long-lasting uncertainty. The real challenges we present to our students make them highly adaptable and help them be competitive in the job marketplace.

ScoreResearch PhysicistUS Average

Salary

5.8

Avg. Salary $74,663

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 10.77%

Black or African American 2.57%

Hispanic or Latino 7.86%

Unknown 3.37%

White 74.72%

Gender

female 14.57%

male 85.43%

Age - 47.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47.5

Stress level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a research physicist

Explore research physicist education requirements

Most common research physicist degrees

Bachelor's

51.7 %

Doctorate

30.5 %

Master's

16.6 %

Start to develop specific research physicist skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	20.23%
Laser	14.88%
Python	10.17%
Data Collection	7.79%
Technical Reports	7.44%

Complete relevant research physicist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New research physicists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a research physicist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real research physicist resumes.

Research research physicist duties and responsibilities

Foster cross laboratory collaboration between physics labs and between engineering, biology, and chemistry departments to accomplish share goals.
Design and oversee construction of flow loop for development of multi-phase NMR flowmeter.
Develop and conduct technologists' training on MR QC, QA and safety programs.
Commission of ArcCheck (SunNuclear) for patient-specific QA of IMRT, RapidArc, and SBRT as medical physics resident.

Prepare your research physicist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your research physicist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a research physicist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable research physicist resume templates

Build a professional research physicist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your research physicist resume.