⚛️ Careers if you like: physics and chemistry

45 careers for people interested in physics and chemistry: prospects, pay, AI risk and where to study.

• 🔌 Circuit Design EngineerDesigns the circuits inside devices, from power supplies to high-speed interfaces. Simulates, picks components and sends the board off to manufacturing. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ☢️ Nuclear EngineerWorks with nuclear reactors: designs them, runs them and is responsible for the safety of power plants and naval reactors. Mistakes are not forgiven here. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔬 Microelectronics Engineer (Chip Design & Fabrication)Designs microchips and the processes to make them: chip layout, lithography, testing. Builds the 'brains' of all electronics. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔋 Energy Storage Engineer (Batteries & Hydrogen)Develops batteries, grid storage and hydrogen systems, from a single cell to a container-sized battery for the power grid. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚗️ Drug discovery scientist (pharmacologist)Finds and designs new molecules, tests them on cells and animals and takes them to clinical trials. Years of work for a single medicine. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ☢️ Medical physicistCalculates radiation doses for cancer treatment, calibrates linear accelerators, CT and MRI scanners and keeps the hospital radiation-safe. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ☢️ Nuclear Reactor OperatorRuns a nuclear reactor from the main control room: power, pressure, cooling. Most shifts are routine, but you must be ready for any emergency. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌬️ AerodynamicistWorks out how air flows around an aircraft, rocket or race car: runs flow simulations on supercomputers and tests models in wind tunnels. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🛰️ Launch Vehicle & Spacecraft Design EngineerDesigns rockets, upper stages and satellites: calculates loads, models parts in CAD and follows the vehicle from the drawing board to the launch pad. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 Aerospace Test EngineerPuts aircraft and rockets through their paces: test rigs, vibration, engine firings and flight tests. Finds where things break before they break in the sky. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ✈️ Aircraft Design EngineerDesigns aeroplanes and helicopters: wings, fuselage and onboard systems. Works out aerodynamics and strength, and fights for every kilogram of weight. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔥 Propulsion Engineer (Jet & Rocket Engines)Designs and develops gas turbines and rocket engines: combustion, gas dynamics, heat-resistant alloys. The engine is the hardest part of any flying machine. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚡ Power Systems EngineerKeeps cities and factories powered: power plants, grids, substations, protection relays and maintenance. So that the lights never go out. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ☀️ Renewable Energy Engineer (Solar & Wind)Designs and commissions solar and wind farms and energy storage. Chooses the site, calculates output and connects it to the grid. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚗️ Chemical Process EngineerRuns chemical production: polymers, fertilisers, fuels, medicines. Sizes reactors, sets operating conditions and finds ways to make it cheaper and cleaner. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧱 Materials EngineerCreates and tests materials: alloys, composites, ceramics, polymers. Works out why a part cracked and what to make it from instead. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 📻 RF Engineer (Communications & Radar)Designs and tunes radio systems: antennas, radars, satellite and mobile networks. Catches a signal where there is almost none. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧭 Instrument Design Engineer (Sensors & Optics)Creates measuring instruments: sensors, gyroscopes, optics, navigation and medical devices. Micron-level accuracy is a normal requirement. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧲 Experimental PhysicistBuilds setups with lasers, detectors and vacuum systems, runs experiments at accelerators and in labs, and catches effects nobody has seen before. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚗️ Research ChemistSynthesises new substances and materials: drugs, catalysts, polymers, battery electrolytes. Runs reactions, analyses products and looks for a better route. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 BiochemistWorks out how proteins, enzymes and metabolism work inside cells: purifies molecules, runs experiments and helps develop drugs and diagnostic tests. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🏭 Food TechnologistMakes sure the milk, sausages or bread leaving a factory are equally tasty and safe every time: recipes, line settings, hygiene standards, new products. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔥 Heating and Energy Systems EngineerDesigns heating systems, district heating networks and boiler plants: works out how much heat a neighbourhood or factory needs, picks boilers and pipes, cuts heat loss. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 Polymer Process EngineerTurns plastic and rubber pellets into pipes, car parts, packaging and medical devices: develops formulations, chooses moulds and sets injection moulding conditions. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔭 Optical EngineerDesigns and builds lenses, gun sights, laser systems, thermal cameras and microscopes: from the lens formula to aligning the finished instrument. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔬 Nanotechnology ResearcherBuilds materials and devices a billionth of a metre in size: nanoparticles for drugs, graphene, quantum dots. Works with electron microscopes and in cleanrooms. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ☀️ Plasma Physicist (Fusion Energy)Tries to build a star on Earth: designs and runs tokamaks, holds 100-million-degree plasma in place with magnetic fields and calculates its instabilities. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔬 Forensic ScientistExamines evidence at crime scenes and in the lab: fingerprints, DNA, ballistics, handwriting, video. Their report can decide a case. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🎯 Flight Dynamics Engineer (Orbital Mechanics)Calculates the paths of rockets and satellites: how to reach orbit, when to fire the engine, how to dock with a station or swing around the Moon. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚛️ Quantum Computing EngineerWrites algorithms for quantum computers and helps build the machines: simulates molecules, looks for problems where a quantum computer beats a classical one. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🛢️ Petrochemical Process EngineerWorks at refineries and petrochemical plants turning oil and gas into fuel, plastics and rubber; looks after process units, reactors and catalysts. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔊 Acoustic EngineerFights noise and makes sound right: damps machine vibration, designs concert halls and studios, develops sonar and loudspeakers. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🪐 Planetary ScientistStudies Mars, the Moon, Jupiter's moons and meteorites: analyses probe images and data, helps build mission instruments, works out what planets are made of and how they changed. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚛️ Particle PhysicistHunts for new particles and laws of nature at accelerators: builds detectors, writes code to analyse billions of collisions, works in huge international teams. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 GeochemistStudies the chemistry of the Earth: uses rocks, water and gases to find ore deposits, date rocks and track pollution in soils and rivers. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧲 BiophysicistApplies physics to living things: how proteins fold, how nerves fire, how cells sense light. Works with lasers, microscopes and computer models. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🌾 Soil and Fertiliser Advisor (Agrochemist)Takes soil samples from fields and uses lab results to work out how much fertiliser to apply so crops grow well without exhausting or polluting the land. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔭 Astrophysicist / AstronomerStudies stars, galaxies, black holes and exoplanets: observes on telescopes, processes huge datasets and builds models of the Universe. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚛️ Theoretical PhysicistDerives the laws of nature with pen and computer: quantum matter, particles, gravity. Builds models and predicts what experiments will test later. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 📡 Exploration GeophysicistSees underground without drilling: uses seismic, gravity and magnetic surveys to find oil, gas and ore, then builds 3D models of the rock layers. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🏭 Metallurgical EngineerRuns the melting and processing of metals: blast furnace, converter, rolling mill. Sets the parameters so the steel comes out exactly as strong as needed. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 💎 CrystallographerWorks out how atoms are arranged in crystals, minerals and proteins: runs X-ray diffraction, uses synchrotrons, grows crystals for lasers and electronics. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• ⚗️ Analytical ChemistFinds out what is in a sample and how much: tests water, medicines, food and alloys with chromatographs and mass spectrometers, carries out expert analyses. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🧪 Chemical Process OperatorRuns a chemical process on a plant unit: doses raw materials, holds temperature and pressure, takes samples and watches the control panel and gauges. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance
• 🔬 Laboratory TechnicianPrepares solutions and samples, runs standard analyses, keeps lab notebooks and looks after instruments and order in a research lab. Prospects · Pay · AI resistance

Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.