Hi everyone. I'm a undergrad physics student and a decent university (ranked 70th in the US for physics), with decent grades (~3.7/4.0), who should be graduating in May of 2014. My original plan was to go on for my PhD in physics, focusing on some sort of computational astrophysics research (modeling stellar structure/evolution, radiation transfer, celestial dynamics/n-body problems, etc.). However, I am now strongly interested in mathematical/quantitative finance, and I'm not sure if I should change my plans.I have a pretty good background in programming, I learned C++ about 5 years ago and use it semi-regularly, and have since picked up Python, C#, VBA, Matlab, and Java. As far as finance goes, I have almost no experience, but I do plan to start working my way through the reading list posted on these forums.My questions/concerns:-If I go on to do research in computational astrophysics, will I have any chance of being employed in this industry when I graduate? Am I better off looking for a MFE program instead?-If I do go the physics PhD route, how do I prepare myself for a career in the finance industry vs academia?-I've gotten mixed feedback on the state of the profession. How sure can I be sure quants will even exist 4-8 years from now, when I would graduate? (I understand that it's impossible to know for sure, but any input here would be useful.)-If there is no longer a demand for quants in the future, can MFE's and Financial Math PhDs be employed in other industries? With a PhD in physics, the employment opportunities are fairly broad.Thanks in advance!

how can you be 'strongly interested in mathematical/quantitative finance' if you have 'almost no experience'

I kind of agree with closdubois (who also makes decent wine) that you don't sound completely sincere. That being said, holding a PhD in computational astrophysics may qualify you for interviews in the finance quant space, and may in fact be better than (just) an MFE. In my personal opinion, it would border on insanity to spend 4-6 years of your life to obtain said PhD *in order to* become a finance quant. I think the only good reason for obtaining a PhD in astrophysics is an intense interest in the topic itself, not what collateral benefits you might possibly get in trying to get a job in an essentially unrelated field. The profession (which may or may not be an appropriate use of the term) is not in a very happy state, and is likely to get even less so, mostly because the banks are becoming increasingly miserable places to work. If you just want to maximize your employment opportunities, focus on your programming and develop general "engineering type" problem solving skills. In my experience, the most useful physicist are closet engineers.

Thanks for the replies.To clarify, I'm really passionate about studying astrophysics, and I know I would enjoy doing higher level research in that field. That's why I want to go for a PhD. The problem is, there aren't a whole lot of career opportunities for astronomers/astrophysicist to do astronomy/astrophysics. That's why I have been looking into other industries where my skills would be useful.Also, I probably used a poor choice of words when I said I am strongly interested in mathematical/quantitative finance. What I probably should have said is that I am really interested in learning more about it. It sounds like a career that I will have the right skills for, but I would definitely do some elementary research on the topic before making any drastic career changes.Sorry for any confusion. Hopefully you have a better idea of where I am coming from now.

Almost certainly, people will still do research in physics 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.It's hard to say if quants will still be employed, or derivatives still traded, 10 years from now.

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaAlmost certainly, people will still do research in physics 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.It's hard to say if quants will still be employed, or derivatives still traded, 10 years from now.Yeah and if you start a physics PhD now then youll probably still be a postdoc in 10 years.

QuoteOriginally posted by: EriatarkaQuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaAlmost certainly, people will still do research in physics 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.It's hard to say if quants will still be employed, or derivatives still traded, 10 years from now.Yeah and if you start a physics PhD now then youll probably still be a postdoc in 10 years.That's if you're lucky and there are still funding sources for postdocs...

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaAlmost certainly, people will still do research in physics 10, 20 or 30 years in the future.Unless everything is explained before that

Don't worry. Physicists are not interested in explaining anything for quite a long time. Publications, Hirsch index, postdoc, tenure - this is all what counts. Physicists don't need physical reality any more.

As people have previously said - there is a strong chance that the number of quant jobs are going to decline for at least the next 10 years so that there is very little demand for newcomers.you should explore technology research positions and see how you could fit in (google etc)

QuoteOriginally posted by: GamalDon't worry. Physicists are not interested in explaining anything for quite a long time. Publications, Hirsch index, postdoc, tenure - this is all what counts. Physicists don't need physical reality any more.That's a load of BS what you just said.