Academic and Research Programs in Science, Math and Engineering

In summary: There are many great physics programs around the world. However, if you are looking for the best graduate program in the US, you should apply to Harvard.
  • #1
Gokul43201
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High Energy and Particle Physics programs around the world (courtesy Cern)
http://graybook.cern.ch/institutes/

High Energy and Particle Physics programs in the US
http://graybook.cern.ch/institutes/countries/US.html

(thanks to Astronuc for the above two links)



National Labs in the US :

Sandia, NM
Lawrence Berkeley, CA
Argonne, IL
Oak Ridge, TN
Lawrence Livermore, CA
Brookhaven, NY
Fermilab, IL
Los Alamos, NM
Pacific Northwest, WA
Jefferson Accelerator Facility, VA
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
US : Grad Physics Programs, Rankings

These are graduate program rankings provided by the National Research Council. Look at this list ONLY if you are applying to grad school. This means little to you if you are applying to college. Please use the following lists merely as rough guides for your decision-making process, when applying to graduate programs in the US.

NRC Rankings in Physics


1 Harvard 4.91
2 Princeton 4.89
3 MIT 4.87
4 Cal Berkeley 4.87
5 Cal Tech 4.81
6 Cornell 4.75
7 Chicago 4.69
8 Illinois 4.66
9 Stanford 4.53
10 Cal Santa Barbara 4.43
11 Texas 4.33
12 Columbia 4.25
13 Yale 4.21
14 Washington 4.20
15 UCLA 4.18
16 Cal San Diego 4.10
17 Penn 4.09
18 Maryland 4.02
19 Michigan 3.96
20 Rutgers 3.82
21 Wisconsin 3.79
22 SUNY Stony Brook 3.76
23 Minnesota 3.76
24 Ohio State 3.75
25 Rochester 3.65

http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jNewton/nrc_rankings/area33.html
 
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  • #3
US : Graduate Chemistry Programs, Rankings

NRC Rankings in Chemistry


1 Cal Berkeley 4.96
2 Cal Tech 4.94
3 Stanford 4.87
4 Harvard 4.87
5 MIT 4.86
6 Cornell 4.55
7 Columbia 4.54
8 Illinois 4.48
9 Wisconsin 4.46
10 UCLA 4.46
11 Chicago 4.46
12 Yale 4.38
13 Texas 4.28
14 Northwestern 4.23
15 Texas A&M 4.11
16 Indiana 3.99
17 North Carolina 3.97
18 Penn State 3.95
19 Cal San Diego 3.95
20 Princeton 3.92
21 Minnesota 3.89
22 Ohio State 3.87
23 Cal San Francisco 3.86
24 Purdue 3.83
25 Penn 3.78

http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jNewton/nrc_rankings/area28.html
 
  • #4
US : Graduate Math Programs, Rankings

NRC Rankings in Mathematics


1 Princeton 4.94
2 Cal Berkeley 4.94
3 MIT 4.92
4 Harvard 4.90
5 Chicago 4.69
6 Stanford 4.68
7 Yale 4.55
8 NYU 4.49
9 Michigan 4.23
10 Columbia 4.23
11 Cal Tech 4.19
12 UCLA 4.14
13 Wisconsin 4.10
14 Minnesota 4.08
15 Cornell 4.05
16 Brown 4.04
17 Cal San Diego 4.02
18 Maryland 3.97
19 Rutgers 3.96
20 SUNY Stony Brook 3.94
21 Illinois 3.93
22 Penn 3.87
23 Texas 3.85
24 Rice 3.82
25 Purdue 3.82
26 Washington 3.76
27 Northwestern 3.71
28 Ohio State 3.66
29 Johns Hopkins 3.65
30 CUNY 3.65

http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jNewton/nrc_rankings/area31.html
 
  • #7
What is engineering really ?

Engineering : what they didn't teach you in school.

http://www.engineeringk12.org/students/so_you_want_to_be_an_engineer/the_engineering_alphabet.htm [Broken]
http://www.ieaust.org.au/careers/ [Broken]
 
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  • #8
in connection with the math rankings...what's the basis of these rankings?? also wouldn't the rankings vary when you look at specific areas in mathematics(pure or applied)?
 
  • #9
http://princetonreview.com/home.asp A good source if you wanted to know some info on a particular school or a program.

http://www.bls.gov/ Information about salary of any particular field, as well as description of jobs and academic requirements to get into them.

http://www.campusdirt.com/ A very good resource contributed by the alumni of any school you are interested in. Find out if the graduates were successful in finding a job and what they thought about their schools, professors, classes, etc

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp Thinking of registering for a class? Make sure you read what those who walked the road before you have to say! Some professors are a lifetrap and will kill you with boredom - make sure not to become a victim.
 
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  • #10
People who want to do research in micro-electronics and nanotechnology :

http://www.imec.be/

marlon
 
  • #11
A bit of league table fun: http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/MultAnal_HT2006/LeagueTables.pdf
 
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  • #12
to mansi in post #8: obviously there are many different criteria to use, ans you should make your own criteria and researech these places by thoise to get a good fit for yourself.

an often used criterion is: numbers of phd grads per year (favors big places and places which attract good students).

also reputation amongst iother mathematicians as revealed by poll placement taken by AMS survey, but only every so many years, also favors places which are already famous, and fgreatly lags actual improvement or decline.

you should look i think for who is there in the area you favor, and how much money they have to support you in your work, and how much free time they give you to work as opposed to spending your time teaching (also faviors big rich places).

but you also need to know how many years they give you to graduate, how good and how friendly the other students are, for interaction. (obviously changes yearly but is influenced by tenor of the place as established by the department - are there student run seminars, do students have a say in things, do students get adequate, or ANY! training in teaching before being thrown in th classroom?)

I never got a single bit of teacher training before beginning to teach over 30 years ago.

if you can find it out you want to know how successful schools are at placing grads. that can depend on fame of school but also on energy and commitment of advisor. Phillip Griffiths now head of the IAS, used to be indefatigable in helping his (excellent) students get jobs after Berkeley grad school, phoning on their behalf, etc...

In the present day climate of declining american enrollments in math and attempts to increase them, there are sopecial programs like VIGRE that favor us citizens. some of these are at smaller places like may Iowa or Kansas, I forget, as well as UGA (until last year). These things affect support levels and also change yearly. ask what the commitment is for support, and how renewal is decided.

ask how many faculty have NSF or other grants to suport grad students? and what the university's own level of commitment is.
 
  • #13
J77 said:
A bit of league table fun: http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/MultAnal_HT2006/LeagueTables.pdf


It's a giggle to read, but don't base any decisions on it because the facts are at best dubious; and at worst outdated.
 
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  • #14
Some UK stats

brewnog said:
It's a giggle to read, but don't base any decisions on it because the facts are at best dubious; and at worst outdated.
OK - RAE 2001: http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/ [Broken]

Physics: http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/rae_dynamic.cfm?myURL=http://195.194.167.103/Results/byuoa/uoa19.htm [Broken] 5*A's: Cambridge, Imperial, Lancaster, Oxford

Pure Maths: http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/rae_dynamic.cfm?myURL=http://195.194.167.103/Results/byuoa/uoa22.htm [Broken] 5*A's: Cambridge, Edinbugh

Applied Maths: http://www.hero.ac.uk/rae/rae_dynamic.cfm?myURL=http://195.194.167.103/Results/byuoa/uoa23.htm [Broken] 5*A's: Bristol, Cambridge, Warwick

The next bout is in 2008... :biggrin:
 
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  • #15
CUNY is rank 30 in math, nice
 
  • #16
what does it take to get into a top 25 school?
 
  • #17
^ A rich parent?:confused:
 
  • #18
momentum_waves said:
^ A rich parent?:confused:

grad school
 
  • #19
momentum_waves said:
^ A rich parent?:confused:

dont worry, that only takes out about 24 of the top 25. Berkeley will take you in though.:rolleyes:
 
  • #20
Is there anyway to do research while still in high school?
 
  • #21
Ki Man said:
Is there anyway to do research while still in high school?

Possibly, yes. Think about all those kids who place in the Intel Science Fair. This years winner (or the most recent Intel's winner) did research in string topology under a university professor. So yes it is definitely possible.

Some suggestions:
1) Try looking for a research professor at a university WITHOUT a graduate program. If you live by Berkeley, do you really think those professors will take time away from GRAD students for you? Instead, no shame in going to a smaller university or a well known undergrad research university, email the head of the math or physics department with your situation.
2) Maybe ask your high school teachers if they have any connections to uni professors as well.

It's probably not the easiest thing in the world, it's difficult for some college students to get some research under their belt, but it is definitely worth a try. Be persistent and put as many feeler emails/phone calls out as possible.
 
  • #22
I can't believe the NRC rankings come out in December 2007, precisely when all my grad applications are due for PhD admissions!
 
  • #23
Are there any REU programs that don't require letters of recommendation? I don't feel comfortable asking any of my professors for them, but I would really like to participate in an REU.
 
  • #24
Is Penn State - University Park a good school for Engineering/Physical Sciences?
 
  • #25
1 Harvard 4.91
2 Princeton 4.89
3 MIT 4.87
4 Cal Berkeley 4.87
5 Cal Tech 4.81
6 Cornell 4.75
7 Chicago 4.69
8 Illinois 4.66
9 Stanford 4.53
10 Cal Santa Barbara 4.43
11 Texas 4.33
12 Columbia 4.25
13 Yale 4.21
14 Washington 4.20
15 UCLA 4.18
16 Cal San Diego 4.10
17 Penn 4.09
18 Maryland 4.02
19 Michigan 3.96
20 Rutgers 3.82
21 Wisconsin 3.79
22 SUNY Stony Brook 3.76
23 Minnesota 3.76
24 Ohio State 3.75
25 Rochester 3.65

Actually, these are the cutoff GPAs to apply to grad school at these universities.
 
  • #26
Anyone one have a list of the best UNDERgraduate engineering schools? Or is it pretty much the same as the grad list?
 
  • #27
Quincy said:
Anyone one have a list of the best UNDERgraduate engineering schools? Or is it pretty much the same as the grad list?

USNews does publish that information. However, it is based on retention rates, student resources, etc. The most prestigious programs are a subjective matter.
 
  • #28
when talking about the cutoff GPAs... does that mean they won't even look at any applicant who's worse than that ?
 
  • #29
Does "Washington" in the rankings mean Washington University or University of Washington?
 
  • #30
Johannes said:
when talking about the cutoff GPAs... does that mean they won't even look at any applicant who's worse than that ?
carsten was kidding. Those numbers are not "cutoff GPAs".

uman said:
Does "Washington" in the rankings mean Washington University or University of Washington?
U Wash - Seattle
 
  • #31
Hello everybody!

I was wondering if something like NRC Rankings exist also for European Grad Programs. In particular, I would really like to find a ranking (or merely a list) of the best Astronomy-Cosmology Grad Programs in UK-France-Spain-Italy-Portugal.

By the way, I suggest http://graduate-school.phds.org [Broken] for the rankings of Grad Programs in the US. It is very powerful and customizable by a lot of parameters (e.g. number of grants, tuition fee, number of scientific papers...).
Using my parameters for Astronomy, I got this ranking: http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/astronomy/rank?w2=0&w3=0&w1=5&w10=5&w7=5&w32=0&w12=0 [Broken] .

Thank you!

Cheers,

Guido
 
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  • #32
Gokul43201 said:
High Energy and Particle Physics programs around the world (courtesy Cern)
http://graybook.cern.ch/institutes/

Thank you for the links

I found the programs in my country, Uzbekistan

It's really funny :D
 
  • #33
Hey guys,
I got Physics PhD offers from Purdue University, Stony Brook University, and Georgia Tech. Which one should I go for?
Thanks
 
  • #35
MIT offers some options on Engineering and Technology

Engineering Systems - http://esd.mit.edu/academic.html
MIT’s Engineering Systems Division (ESD) represents a bold educational initiative aimed at establishing Engineering Systems as a field of study and advancing theory, policy and practice in this domain. Within MIT, ESD is an interdisciplinary academic unit that spans most departments within the School of Engineering, as well as MIT's School of Science, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and MIT Sloan School of Management.

ESD brings together faculty and students with engineering and management professionals interested in researching large-scale, complex engineering systems. The division focuses on complex, technology-based products (i.e., automobiles, airplanes, etc.) and systems (i.e., transportation, telecommunications, energy, etc.) While technology is a fundamental part of these systems, so too are issues of managerial and, more generally, societal interactions.

Over 50 faculty and researchers, most holding dual or joint appointments within ESD and one of the aforementioned units, are devoted to teaching and research in the emerging field of Engineering Systems. Approximately 300 students are enrolled in ESD's five Master's programs, plus about 60 students in our Ph.D. program. All are working together to understand, model, and predict the behavior of technologically-enabled complex systems in order to help the engineering profession address contemporary critical issues and better serve humankind.
http://esd.mit.edu/people/faculty.html

http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/degre.engin.engin.shtml#fac
 
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<h2>1. What are the benefits of pursuing an academic program in science, math or engineering?</h2><p>There are numerous benefits to pursuing an academic program in science, math or engineering. These programs provide a strong foundation in critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. They also offer opportunities for hands-on research experience, which can enhance your understanding of theoretical concepts and prepare you for a career in these fields. Additionally, graduates of these programs often have access to a wide range of job opportunities and tend to earn higher salaries compared to other fields.</p><h2>2. What types of academic programs are available in science, math and engineering?</h2><p>There are various types of academic programs available in science, math and engineering. These include undergraduate degrees, such as Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), as well as graduate degrees, such as Master of Science (MSc) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Some universities also offer specialized programs, such as dual degrees or combined degrees, which allow students to study multiple disciplines simultaneously.</p><h2>3. How do I choose the right academic program in science, math or engineering for me?</h2><p>Choosing the right academic program in science, math or engineering can be a daunting task. It's important to consider your interests, strengths, and career goals when making this decision. Research different programs and universities to find the ones that align with your goals and offer courses that interest you. It's also helpful to speak with current students or alumni to get a better understanding of the program and its outcomes.</p><h2>4. What opportunities are available for research in these fields?</h2><p>There are numerous opportunities for research in science, math and engineering. Many universities have research labs and facilities where students can work on projects with faculty members. Some programs also offer co-op or internship opportunities, allowing students to gain hands-on experience in their field of study. Additionally, there are often research grants and scholarships available for students to pursue their own research projects.</p><h2>5. What skills and qualities are important for success in these academic programs?</h2><p>Success in academic programs in science, math and engineering requires a combination of academic skills and personal qualities. Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are essential, as well as a passion for learning and a curiosity about the world. These programs also require a high level of dedication and hard work, as well as the ability to work well independently and in a team. Good time management and organizational skills are also important for managing coursework and research projects.</p>

1. What are the benefits of pursuing an academic program in science, math or engineering?

There are numerous benefits to pursuing an academic program in science, math or engineering. These programs provide a strong foundation in critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. They also offer opportunities for hands-on research experience, which can enhance your understanding of theoretical concepts and prepare you for a career in these fields. Additionally, graduates of these programs often have access to a wide range of job opportunities and tend to earn higher salaries compared to other fields.

2. What types of academic programs are available in science, math and engineering?

There are various types of academic programs available in science, math and engineering. These include undergraduate degrees, such as Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), as well as graduate degrees, such as Master of Science (MSc) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Some universities also offer specialized programs, such as dual degrees or combined degrees, which allow students to study multiple disciplines simultaneously.

3. How do I choose the right academic program in science, math or engineering for me?

Choosing the right academic program in science, math or engineering can be a daunting task. It's important to consider your interests, strengths, and career goals when making this decision. Research different programs and universities to find the ones that align with your goals and offer courses that interest you. It's also helpful to speak with current students or alumni to get a better understanding of the program and its outcomes.

4. What opportunities are available for research in these fields?

There are numerous opportunities for research in science, math and engineering. Many universities have research labs and facilities where students can work on projects with faculty members. Some programs also offer co-op or internship opportunities, allowing students to gain hands-on experience in their field of study. Additionally, there are often research grants and scholarships available for students to pursue their own research projects.

5. What skills and qualities are important for success in these academic programs?

Success in academic programs in science, math and engineering requires a combination of academic skills and personal qualities. Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are essential, as well as a passion for learning and a curiosity about the world. These programs also require a high level of dedication and hard work, as well as the ability to work well independently and in a team. Good time management and organizational skills are also important for managing coursework and research projects.

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