Physics dept. grad student - Graduate Student Researcher UCLA Employee Review

4.0
Mar 28, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I can really only speak for the physics department (and my subfield specifically), I'm sure the experience differs for other students. UCLA physics seems to be a pretty good place to do graduate study. -The professors are top-notch researchers and I've found all the projects I've been involved in to be fairly interesting. -The other graduate students are hard-working and very smart. -The atmosphere is very academic, but also pretty laid back (I wear shorts and a t-shirt literally every day, and my hair/beard is crazy and no one has ever cared). -Lots of opportunities to network with big names in the field; professors are always arranging talks/conferences.

Cons

-Average time to PhD for theoretical physics here seems to be about 5-6 years. That's a long time, but it's also pretty average for the field, I'm told. -There is definitely a lack of women and POC in the department, but students/faculty are actively working to increase enrollment, and this is a problem in the field as a whole, not just at UCLA. -I wish I was paid some more for my TA duties, but I'm not living in poverty, so I guess I can't complain. -Be expected to work 40-60 hour weeks if you really want to get your work done (but hey, that's grad school!).

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5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefit, good pay, good location

Cons

bad work life balance, no promotion

2.0
May 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent benefits, but not really as great as everyone assumes. Some colleagues who really care and do great work. Impressive students.

Cons

Relatively poor pay and pay inequities. Extremely poor fiscal management - that CFO who was fired for outing it was spot on. Senior administrators and faculty are incentivized to spend a lot of money on things that serve few students and hoard resources to make themselves look good for performance reviews and tenure committees, but it means a lot of extra work gets dumped on a growing a number of mid-level administrators and support staff - who now face layoffs or added workloads. It's all strangling the university's ability to serve its students, but I know several faculty members simply don't care about students or teaching.

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