Risky business: A study of physics entrepreneurship

Abstract

Physicists who work at startup companies create and improve marketable technologies. But their goals are not always aligned with those of the funders who pay the bills.

Nurturing entrepreneurship

“…These are not just shooting-for-the-stars examples, but represent a trend of physics entrepreneurship, which has grown stronger in the past few years. A recent survey from the American Institute of Physics on entrepreneurship and innovation revealed that nearly one in eight PhD holders had founded their own company 1 . With prospective academic positions expected to absorb a mere 4% of today's PhD students 2 , physicists are drifting away from academia, and not only to traditional alternative career paths in teaching, industry and finance.…”