Alice Requier (PhD, LPS, Orsay)
I’ve always been a physics enthusiast, and a lover of beautiful cities. So back in 2018, joining the Magistère de Physique Fondamentale offered by the University of Strasbourg just made sense. After a bachelor degree in fundamental physics, that got me into the world of soft matter and deepened my knowledge in plenty of other physics-related topics, I joined the PhyQS master’s track. This has been a real turning point that allowed me to chose the path I wanted to follow (the wondeful path of soft matter physics in case you still wonder). One of the biggest strength of this master, especially the second year, is the large number of topics it covers. From out-of-equilibrium statistical physics to soft matter interactions and open quantum systems, you will certainly graduate this master with a complete general background in matter physics, enhanced by a wide choice of elective courses.
I’m not going to lie, if you want to pursue your studies in soft matter (like me) and you’re not really interested in quantum mechanics (like me), the first semester of PhyQS track may be tough (not mentionning that due to covid, almost my whole first semester course was held in visio, that may have played a tiny role in how I felt back then). But it is definitely worth it. The enthusiasm, availability and deep knowledge of all the teachers are amazing and noteworthy. Wether it comes to teachers or other students, the watchwords are really « kindness » and « helping each other ». And the proximity with the physics lab and researchers is a must, knowing that the second semester is dedicated to a lab internship (good opportunity to apply what you’ve just learnt without moving too far !). I must say it’s not always easy to be a female physicist, and neither is being a soft matter physicist in general, but in Strasbourg it always was. This is why I highly recommend the PhyQS master to any physics student (especially women) that are interested in matter physics and would like to follow this way. Despite my conflictual relation with quantum mechanics, I would definitely do it again !