Non-Academic Astronomers Network

My friend Rolf Danner has started a Facebook page for the Non-Academic Astronomers Network.

This network was originally founded as an activity of the Committee on Employment of the American Astronomical Society. The purpose of the group is to connect astronomers on a variety of career paths. If you are an astronomer working in a non-traditional job consider becoming a member.

Physics Bachelors Degree Salary Information

The AIP has put out a new flyer (PDF) with starting salaries for new college graduates. It compares offers for Physics ($40K-$63K) majors to other fields, and they do pretty well.

As we are all painfully aware, the US economy has been in a serious recession. However, we are happy to report that recent physics bachelors have been getting among the highest starting salaries. Physics bachelor’s salaries are comparable to those offered to computer science bachelor’s and graduates in many engineering fields. Physicists’ starting salaries are quite a bit higher than people who earned bachelor’s degrees in other sciences, business, the humanities, or education. These data were collected and published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The data reflect salary offers made by campus recruiters during the last academic year. You can find the data on the SRC website at: http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/phystrends.html

The Gig

While I continue to procrastinate on writing a real post, I'll just point you to another new blog, The Gig by Nate Chinen. Nate is a great jazz writer.

Twitter

I joined twitter. I have no intention of using it, but who knows? My username is johngizis.

First Post

This is a test. I intend to start a personal blog.