Patent Examiner (Physics)

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. OPM's prescribed Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Patent Examiner Series, GS-1224,can be found at Patent Examining Series 1224 (opm.gov)

Individual Occupational Requirements for Physics can be found at, Physics Series, 1310 (opm.gov)

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

A. At least a bachelor's degree in physics, or a related degree that included at least 24 semester hours of physics.

OR

B. A combination of education and experience - coursework equivalent to a major in physics totaling at least 24 semester hours, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In either A or B above, the courses must have included a fundamental course in general physics and, in addition, courses in any two of the following: electricity and magnetism, heat, light, mechanics, modern physics, and sound.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

For documentation requirements, see REQUIRED DOCUMENTS.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

GS-7: A) Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). This can be defined by one of the following:

1) Class standing-Upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the "School of Engineering and Applied Science" or "College of Science and Technology" based on completed courses.

2) Grade point average (GPA) as recorded on the final transcript-

i) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on the official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or

ii) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. The GPA is rounded to one decimal place. (2.95 = 3.0 and 2.94 = 2.9). The final transcript must cover the period being used to determine the GPA.

3) Honor Society membership--Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society. Click here for a list of qualified honor societies.

B) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying basic physics and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc.

OR

C) Have at least one year of graduate level education from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements. If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study.

OR

D) Have less than the full amount of graduate education as described in "C" above and less than the amount of experience described in "B" above, but have a combination "B" and "C" above.

GS-9: A) Have at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service interpreting and applying intermediate physics and/or scientific principles, theories, concepts and methodologies used in the evaluation of technology; planning and conducting research; applying appropriate references to the claimed invention, etc.

OR

B) Have a combination of education and experience. Possess at least a bachelor's degree in Physics AND have experience applying physics principles and theories in the Physics field.

OR

C) Have at least two years of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college and/or university in the fields of study as described in the Basic Qualification Requirements. If the number of credit hours representing one year of full-time study cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study.

OR

D) Have less than the full amount of education described in "C" above and less than the amount of experience described in "A" above, but have a combination of the type of graduate education described in "C" above and experience described in "A" above.