Physics PhD with more than a decade of experience and a year and a half in professional wilderness. Has anyone found their way back?
Hi all, this is something that has been sitting with me for a long time and I have nobody to really consult with for help, so I'll ask here in hopes of hearing ideas or getting inspiration from people who have had similar experiences.
Briefly: I hold a PhD in theoretical physics from an R1 university in the US. I had several postdoc stints (one at an Ivy League institution in physics) and others in my home country (machine learning, web development, EU infrastructure projects). I had a stint as a visiting assistant professor of physics in the US, and also taught A-level physics part time at a high school. As this becomes relevant later: I do not have an American passport. I studied and worked on F1 and later H1B visas.
All of this came to an end in late 2024, and I have been without formal employment ever since. My last job was a postdoctoral appointment at a research institution in my home country, an EU country with a tiny population where science does not exactly flourish. I worked there for about five years in various postdoc-like appointments on projects centered around machine learning with forensic data, developing web apps, and managing a large infrastructure project. Somewhere in there I also tutored privately whenever an opportunity appeared and took on two freelance web development projects on the side.
After I found myself without a job, I tried sending applications, cold emails, reaching out to old friends, and applying to industry roles. I did not keep a count but I estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-400 applications and emails. I even posted in an American Physical Society forum asking for work, and at some point on LinkedIn (which I did not like as an idea and eventually deleted). The results were: two postdoc interviews in the US, in one of which I made it to the final round before being rejected (one in ML in forensics, one in physics); two local postdoc interviews in which I was treated as a curiosity that did not fit (both AI research related); three teaching interviews; and three interviews for ML roles in industry, all of which went badly except one, in which the hiring manager asked me whether I could log into a terminal and seemed to assume I had never seen one. That is ten interviews across roughly a year and a half.
The only real thing that landed, but just for a month, was a research visit in central Europe where I worked with a decent group on using machine learning methods to emulate physics calculations, which I enjoyed very much and which produced some promising early results. To continue the project, I would have had to apply for a fellowship with roughly a year long decision timeline, which at the time felt like putting my hopes on a roulette spin, so I did not apply. During this same period I managed to publish one paper on ML with forensic data, and another was submitted and is currently in revision. I also run a YouTube channel covering physics topics, which has picked up some traction, and an Instagram account focused on generative art. I enjoy making content and explaining things, and I would like to develop both further, but without monetization or some kind of support it is hard to sustain. Even if it eventually pays off, it is not a substitute for actual research.
Anyway, I feel as if I am in professional wilderness. I would love to live abroad again and start fresh, either in academia or in something that makes sense. I do not particularly like the idea of local industry, which is strongly focused on tourism and real estate. My experience with all these interviews also taught me that if you step away from your primary training you end up sounding thin. A physicist knows how to code and can retrain, but industry jobs have specific requirements that a physicist typically does not have.
What I actually want is to return to the US (or North America) and work on theoretical physics, or on projects in chemistry or engineering where the underlying methods are close enough that my background is genuinely useful rather than decorative, or even in an industry role or startup where the work is similarly grounded. The intersection of ML and physics is where I feel most capable and most interested currently, and I have some HPC experience that tends to be useful in those contexts. I am aware that funding in the US has tightened considerably and that H1B visas have become harder to obtain, so I am not naive about the obstacles. I know someone will say the answer is another PhD, and I understand the logic, but I am in my forties and going back would mean repeating coursework and qualifying exams I have already passed. I would genuinely consider some kind of internship or junior research role if that is even something that exists for someone at my stage. That said, I am also genuinely open to staying where I am if the right remote collaboration or project comes along, something in physics or ML where the work is real and there is at least some prospect of income down the line.
Has anyone been through something like this and found solid ground? What actually worked?