Can an engineer find success in a mathematics or physics PhD program?

[HaroldPike]

Last year I received my BSc in Electrical Engineering (Control Theory and Electronics Dept.) and enrolled in MSc program at the same institution (hopefully I will receive the MSc degree next summer). Now, I really don't see myself as an engineer, that is why I want to pursue a PhD program in mathematics or physics.

1. Mathematics is my first love. Still, I don't think I could enroll in a pure mathematics PhD program since my engineering background is too weak (you know how sloppy engineers are when it comes to mathematical rigor).

2. Mathematics + physics + control theory (I grew fond of it during my classes - but I see that engineers around me /even the teachers and TAs/ don't care much about the theory itself, it's all about applications, technology - that's not my game) combined - give Nonlinear dynamics as a possible area for PhD research for me (while I am at it - what are the best places for studying and research in nonlinear dynamics in EU and USA?).

3. Discrete mathematics. Having decent extracurricular experience in combinatorics and number theory, as well as in graph theory make me want to take it further - but would anyone accept a PhD student with EE background?

4. Mathematical physics in general - what areas of it would be appropriate for me, since I have the preliminary knowledge (i.e. QM, topology) in most of the fields involved, but the diploma doesn't have anything to do with it.

All in all - I have my doubts about the field in which I want to proceed (Nonlinear dynamics seem like my current first choice - my BSc thesis and my first conference paper were in the field, Combinatorics would be second choice - my first serious journal paper was in the field), but still there is so much other things I enjoy...

On the other hand, the universities in my home country are a total mess (and that's an understatement!). Therefore I would like to enroll in a PhD program in Western Europe or in the US & Canada. Any recommendations and useful hints in my pursuit?

[I have to apologize for my not-so-perfect English, I'm trying my best]

 

[hunt_mat]

There is maths in anything if you look at something carefully enough. The engineers I have met have not been so good with maths (nor some physicists for that matter). My current interest in industrial applied maths, it is a very worthy study, so you can keep you engineering knowledge and still look at things from a mathematical perspective.

Fluid dynamics has lots of applications for the mathematically inclined, people look at it from a geometrical, topological and analytical perspectives, indeed one of the clay prizes involves the Navier-Stokes equations. Megnetohydrodynamics is also very fertile for using geometry and topology in.