Not in research myself but my SO is a 6th year PhD student among many other data points. Your goals seem awesome but I didn’t get the impression you want to pur

Not in research myself but my SO is a 6th year PhD student among many other data points. Your goals seem awesome but I didn’t get the impression you want to pursue physics research - just that you like science/physics and want to go deeper. My opinion/suggestion would be to look into a Masters program first - (my background is in engineering in the US so not sure if it’s different with physics) but I’ve known multiple people in various STEM field who’ve extended their Masters into a PhD. Conversely you could always “master out” of a PhD program if that’s what fits/a possibility but again you haven’t mentioned anything like “I want to be a professor/do research at a national lab” etc Certainly not trying to dissuade you from anything and I find your post inspiring. Best of luck and hope you find what you’re looking for Edit: kind of went on a tangent rather than focusing on the original question. If financials are not a huge part of the question I think your profile would make for a good graduate student. There is precedence for success among people I’ve known with similar age/educational profiles. If ones’ goal is to become a faculty member that’s more subject to chance