Welcome to Academics in the Wild
Changing careers is not just about learning new skills, it's about rediscovering yourself and finding your place in the world
Hi, my name’s Aggie. I did my PhD in physics (quantum optics theory) at the University of Queensland, in Australia. I then spent 10 years in academia, first at the University of Toronto and then at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo.
Academia was wonderful in many ways, but in 2020, the time came to make a change, and so I joined IBM’s Quantum Computing division (aka IBM Quantum). In industry, I gained news skills and confidence. By 2024, I was ready to make an even bigger career change: to venture out on my own.
Now I’m working on my own ventures and projects, including Academics in the Wild (AITW), which is an initiative designed to support academics as they embark on nonlinear career adventures beyond academia.
Changing careers is hard…but it’s also awesome
Changing careers is hard. It’s not just about learning new skills or adapting to different ways of working. It’s about rediscovering yourself and finding your place in the world, all while grappling with existential questions about identity, belonging, and meaning. But these challenges are also what makes it awesome...as long as you can successfully rise up to them.
The point of AITW is to give you the community and tools you need to overcome these challenges, to grow into a better version of yourself, and to create a fulfilling career that aligns with who you are as a person. This journey is less scary and a lot more fun, with a supportive community by your side.
Who is it for?
AITW is for physicists and mathematicians. In particular, it’s for folks who started down the academic path but realized it might not be for them. So if you started your PhD and aren’t sure if you want to finish it, or if you’re finishing and wondering what to do next, or even if you’re already on the academic path as a postdoc, lecturer, or prof—but you aren’t sure if you want to keep going—then AITW is for you.
AITW is also for physicists and mathematicians who already made the change from an academic path and are now doing something else. If that’s you and you want to help others who are exploring a similar transition. Or if you want to network with other industry professionals who come from a similar background, then AITW is also for you.
What is it?
Our main focus is on creating a space where physicists and mathematicians can connect with others who are on—potentially different stages of—similar trajectories.
The careers that physicists and mathematicians go into are typically at the forefront of technology and innovation (quantum computing, AI/ML, fintech, aerospace, robotics, data science, etc). These industries move fast, so the best way to know what you need to know is to directly talk with people who work in those industries.
It’s also important to connect with people at the same stage of your career. As any seasoned professional knows, the people that make the biggest impact on our careers are often our peers who we met 10-20 years ago. We want you to meet each other now so that when you enter the wild, you can continue to support each other.
Our main focus is therefore on hosting events that bring people together. For now we have AMAs with industry professionals and casual meet & greets for members. Soon we will have speed networking and 1-1 coffee chats.
Our secondary focus is on providing resources and frameworks. In future, we may explore providing training, such as courses, workshops, and reading groups.
Before Academics in the Wild (the community), there was Physicists in the Wild (the podcast). We might also explore more podcast seasons in the future.
Join the journey
So if all of this resonates with you, please join me in growing this community.
If you have a physicist or mathematician in your life, who you think could use a different perspective on their career, please share this post with them.
To stay connected, subscribe to this newsletter, join our events, and let’s make this journey together!
I’m excited to see where this adventure takes us!
Aggie