Sheffield hosts UK’s biggest physics careers fair

Sheffield: Students from over 20 different universities took part in the UK’s biggest physics careers fair, hosted by the University of Sheffield.

The fair, organised by the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy (WRIPA), aimed to establish collaborations between more than 45 employers and physics students from universities across the country.

It saw a series of Q&A panels, interviews and presentations, giving students the opportunity to gain an insight into graduate level positions, industry placements, internships and possible career pathways.

The 45 exhibitors at the event were from a diverse range of sectors, including teaching, medical, patent law, engineering, aerospace and more.

WRIPA is a collaboration between the universities of York, Sheffield, Hull, Nottingham and Leeds, aiming to facilitate collaboration between students and industry. The initiative was awarded £2 million in funding by the Higher Education Funding Council For England (HEFCE).

Dr Alastair Buckley, the WRIPA lead from the University of Sheffield, said: “This event really shows the benefits of universities working together to help our students. We wouldn’t have been able to get so many great companies and fantastic students together if we were working on our own.

“Each year the event gets bigger and bigger. There is a real demand for physics students by a whole range of different organisations and it’s our job to help our students find these opportunities.”

He added: “WRIPA is all about getting physics graduates into the heart of UK industry – right where they are needed. Part of the problem is that our students don’t really know where to start looking and they’ve no idea how valuable they are. The other issues is that many organisations don’t really know what physics students can do.

“WRIPA helps organisations and students find out about each other – through industrial projects, during the careers fair, through placements and by making physics courses more outward facing.”