Graduate Applied Physicist

Our Graduates Make a Difference  

As a physicist at PA, you’ll be able to apply what you have learned to real world challenges – this could be any part of your degree or science you have never seen before. Our scientists are constantly learning about their craft and broadening their knowledge, working alongside colleagues who all have a passion for using what they know, every day.  

Joining us as a graduate is a big step. If you want to make use of the specialist skills your degree has given you, we want you to be bold, stay curious and dive into the opportunities we have to offer.  

We can’t tell you everything we are doing now – there’s not enough space! Some of the core capabilities our graduate scientists support is: 

Making Science real 

We help clients understand, contextualise and mature science from a blank sheet of paper to real world products and capabilities. We do this by understanding what the problem is that they are really trying to solve, and how we can use the whole palette of techniques available within science to do this. Our breadth spans the creation of new kinds of radio receiver based on atomic gases, showing quantum computers can help make better decisions, to working with exciting start-ups to accelerate the development of affordable cell and gene therapies, which is set to revolutionise the healthcare industry. 

Enabling sustainability 

The world needs products and processes that are more sustainable and make more efficient use of resources. We develop novel materials as replacements for single use plastics, novel sensors and sensing systems to help us make more intelligent use of resources; we support public sector, start-ups and the world’s largest corporates in understanding and achieving their sustainability ambitions.  

Creating new medical devices and therapies 

We develop new medical devices and the manufacturing processes that help save lives. We supported the UK’s Ventilator challenge – massively scaling the supply base for ventilators during the pandemic – everyone who needed a ventilator got one and made use of our physics base to create a new way to test autoinjectors – saving time, energy and resources in developing these lifesaving technologies.  

There are so many more stories we’d love to share with you, but you’ll have to come talk to us to find out more! 

Qualifications

• Completed or Studying towards an undergraduate degree in Physics (or related subject)

We expect you to have a combination of: 

• The curiosity to learn about new technologies and new markets
• Enthusiasm for solving problems
• A passion for using your knowledge in context– not just applying rote learning
• The versatility to apply your skills to new technical areas and work as part of a multidisciplinary group
• The ability to communicate what you know to experts and non-experts alike
• A pro-active approach to getting stuff done!

And ideally: 

• Commercial or academic experience in a particular area of physics outside your degree
• A specific area of interest for example, optics, materials, fluids, quantum systems
• Strong practical and desk-based research or modelling skills

This is an exciting opportunity to apply science in situations which will ultimately lead to real-world innovation.   

The Offer   

• A real chance to use all areas of your physics degree to solve real-world problems
• A unique role striding a huge breadth of technologies and sectors
• Your work base will be our Global Innovation & Technology Centre, Melbourn, Cambridge
• Salary potential: £30,500 with an additional £3,500 transport allowance
• This role will start in Autumn 2025