Is Photonics a Good Field for Independent Research and Career Growth?

[unplebeian]

Hey, I would like to enter grad school and complete my Masters and PhD. Eventually I would like to work for the R&D dept. of a company.

Photonics was one of the choises that I had as I am interested in the new tech. that integrates photons in I.C.'s. Unfortunately I cannot find a lot of material on it such as what kind of equipment they use etc. I am in the power electronic design field right now so this will be a big change. Is there oppty. to pursue independent research also in this field (as apposed to aerospace where you generally have to work in groups.)

Any info. passed will be greately appreciated with regards to top universities offering the program and more info about the field itself (I've been to wikipedia!)

Thanks.

 

[cmos]

I know that Rice University has an NSF sponsored IGERT in nanophotonics; you might want to do a search.

 

[will.c]

University of Central Florida's CREOL is pretty highly regarded and has a lot of industrial ties. You should see if any of their research lines up with what you want to do.

 

[nandha08]

Hey am also looking for research in Photonics and Biophotonics at any university in this world. But I don't have any english proficiency test score (In my all education, medium of instruction and communication in english onlly). Without this condition, Have you seen any offer for PhD ... please inform me

 

[Asphodel]

Unfortunately I cannot find a lot of material on it such as what kind of equipment they use etc.

Tube ovens, lasers, and SEM probes . It depends on the specifics of the research, really.

Is there oppty. to pursue independent research also in this field

Sort of, it depends. There's a lot of cooperation in any scientific effort. But the "professor + grad students" model is seen frequently, yes.

The two places I've personally had contact with in this area (through colloquiums & conferences) are Rice and the University of Washington. They both sounded pretty interesting. For UW in particular, I know a number of research areas that could apply, e.g. photonics, nanotechnology, and solid-state physics.

Hey am also looking for research in Photonics and Biophotonics at any university in this world. But I don't have any english proficiency test score (In my all education, medium of instruction and communication in english onlly). Without this condition, Have you seen any offer for PhD ... please inform me

I don't really understand your wording, but you will probably always need to take the test for English Proficiency. Grad students typically participate in a teaching or research assistantship. Grad students that teach and have poor English are a huge burden to their students, and research requires frequent coordination with your fellow researchers. There isn't really a way around this requirement.