Institut für Theoretische Physik
1. Was begeistert Sie an Ihrem Fachgebiet?
Physics is the mathematical description of nature. The mathematical formulation often enables us to explain miraculous phenomena and correlations encountered in everyday life by abstract models, which would not themselves be easily accessible to observations. For example, the color of the sky can be understood based on the interaction of air atoms and electromagnetic waves, both being truly abstract constructions.
Today we can explain many observations in this way, but by no means all. That means, physics is not merely the most awesome intellectual edifice ever constructed. It is, at the same time, a most exciting voyage of discovery, maybe "the greatest adventure that the human mind has ever begun" (Richard Feynman).
2. Welche Bereitschaft, Interessen, Neigungen und welche Fähigkeiten sollten Studieninteressenten aus Ihrer Sicht mitbringen, um das Studium erfolgreich zu bewältigen?
What is generally needed for a voyage of discovery: inexhaustible curiosity, persistence, sheer brain power, and an independent, penetrating mind. It is not going to be a leisure trip. If your main concern are the legal rules to get the final certificate, study law, not physics.
3. Welche Berufsbilder und Berufsperspektiven können sich für Absolventen dieses Studiengangs ergeben?
Physics and its way of thinking are permanently expanding into many areas where there is something to be understood and to be cleverly quantified. Unemployed physicists are rarely heard of. With the mindset sketched above, you will be welcome for many jobs offered by diverse employers, from hight-tech companies to consulting agencies.
4. Welchen Rat würden Sie Studienanfängern mit auf den Weg geben?
Work together in groups and keep discussing physics. This is how we do it in research, when textbook knowledge cannot take us any further. Absolutely retain the mindset sketched under 2.), e.g. by playing joyfully (not exclusively professionally) with physical phenomena, reading popular science books, etc.