Why Should a Physicist Care About Project Management and Systems Engineering?
by
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia - Edificio Paolotti
Why do early-career scientists need project management skills? And what’s the deal with systems engineering?
The world of research has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Gone are the days when a lab could run with just 30 or 40 people. Now, we're looking at collaborations of 250 to 1,000 folks all trying to come together to make a scientific and economic impact. It’s like herding cats—very ambitious, scientifically-minded cats!
This shift requires a change in mindset that the current education system hasn’t quite caught up with. Even if you consider yourself a lone wolf, funding schemes today are incredibly competitive. It's not enough to be scientifically brilliant; you also need to prove you can steer a project to success. That means showing off your planning prowess, hitting milestones, and yes, even hiring and managing a team.
These are precisely the skills that project management offers you.
On that note, experimental physics is becoming increasingly challenging from a technological perspective and demands a wider skill set. Thirty years ago, a physicist could handle the electronics, readout, and mechanics of a detection system without breaking a sweat. Now, with cutting-edge technology, it’s impossible for a physicist to master all the necessary competencies. We’re working in the terahertz domain, at frequencies in the gigahertz range—definitely not your average DIY electronics project!
We’re using systems that are more complex than ever, with thousands of custom elements that need to meet specific requirements. A physicist today must collaborate with a diverse pool of engineers, each with their own specialties, and act like an orchestra conductor.
So, how do you make this symphony work? What language do you need to speak? How do you ensure everyone delivers what you expect and that you can verify it?
In this orchestra, each musician has their sheet music, knows exactly when to play, and understands when to harmonize. Systems engineering is like writing that music: it ensures every participant knows their role, organizes rehearsals, and checks for overlaps so that when concert day arrives, everything is in harmony.
You’re the conductor, and it’s time to learn how to read and write that sheet music. You’ll need to make sure everyone works together, delivers what’s expected, avoids those awkward overlaps, and figures out how to verify the results.
We’ll teach you how to become the best orchestra director out there!
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Prof. Domenico della Volpe
Département de Physique et Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (DPNC)
Université de Genève CH-1211 Genève 4
M. Doro, E. Prandini
