Cross-post: An American’s five-country research tour

Written by Tess Jaffe for the career issue of Physics Today.

Photo Credit: NASA

A year ago former Physics Today editor-in-chief Charles Day asked me to write a narrative of what we termed my “rather bizarre career path.” That’s a reasonable summation. My first research experience in astronomy was a summer internship I did after my freshman year of college. Having no astronomy background, I applied on a whim and happened to be accepted as their wild card for the year. While modeling stellar atmospheres, I fell in love with the subject. It was a fantastic experience that made me decide to pursue a physics major. But when I returned for my sophomore year, motivated and with a plan, I effectively flunked out of the physics program. That roller-coaster experience turned out to be a microcosm of my career.

Read more about Dr. Jaffe's career path and salary history at

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.5100