PhD in Physics: Universities Around the World

[bartieshaw]

When i finish my current undergraduate courses (BE (aerospace) and BS (physics)) i am very much keen on continuing with my physics study.

I'm pretty sure here (in Australia) i would have to do a Masters first, but after that i am determined to do a Phd. Yes i know it requires a lot of work and passion for your chosen field, and i would like to stress this thread is not about what it takes to do a Phd, I've watched three family members do them and talked to many people about what it involves...

Instead, this thread is asking about which Universities around the world would be good to do a Phd in physics...(prefereably english speaking ones...cant speak much else)

I know of ones such as CALTECH and Princeton, but when I am here i see other universities mentioned which i have never heard of like Washington State...

I figure if you guys could give me some names i could have a look at them myself...

cheers

 

[tmc]

In Canada, the best would be University of British Columbia and University of Toronto.

 

[Tez]

In the UK it'd be oxford, cambridge or Imperial. But if you know the field specifically then there ar other places which have just as strong departments in specialized areas - those three just "average out" the best.

Remember (i) You'll probably have to pay international student tuition fees and (ii) in North America it'll be at least five years before you graduate, in Oz and the UK its 3...

My advice is to always choose where you go based on your potential supervisor and NOT on the supposed overall quality of the university. Find some you want to work with and try and read the papers they wrote recently (someone who did something famous 20 years ago could well be doing completely different stuff now). Also try and talk to their current students and postdocs.

 

[Gokul43201]

When i finish my current undergraduate courses (BE (aerospace) and BS (physics)) i am very much keen on continuing with my physics study.
I'm pretty sure here (in Australia) i would have to do a Masters first, but after that i am determined to do a Phd. Yes i know it requires a lot of work and passion for your chosen field, and i would like to stress this thread is not about what it takes to do a Phd, I've watched three family members do them and talked to many people about what it involves...
Instead, this thread is asking about which Universities around the world would be good to do a Phd in physics...(prefereably english speaking ones...cant speak much else)
I know of ones such as CALTECH and Princeton, but when I am here i see other universities mentioned which i have never heard of like Washington State...
I figure if you guys could give me some names i could have a look at them myself...
cheers

1. Do you know what area of physics you want to specialize in ?

2. Have you looked at Australian universities first (Melbourne, UWA, UNSW, Monash, etc.) ?

3. You'll find much better information off of Google, than by just asking people for a few random names. In fact, I'm not even sure how the latter helps you in any way. What will you do with these names ?

4. There's lists and rankings for Grad programs in the US in this thread : https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=76031

 

[bartieshaw]

1. Do you know what area of physics you want to specialize in ?
2. Have you looked at Australian universities first (Melbourne, UWA, UNSW, Monash, etc.) ?
3. You'll find much better information off of Google, than by just asking people for a few random names. In fact, I'm not even sure how the latter helps you in any way. What will you do with these names ?
4. There's lists and rankings for Grad programs in the US in this thread : https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=76031

1. No I am not 100% sure what i would like to specialise in, that's why i asked about universities in general that would be good.

2. Yes, i have looked at universities in australia, and i know some are very good, adelaide uni is very much trying to promote further research in optics and photonics by introducing scholarships and i know there are many great opportunities in Australia.

3. My intention regarding graduate education is to go overseas, not because i do not like it here in australia, or because i don't think the universities here are any good, rather that i want to gain life experiences, i have never left the country and do not like the idea of not ever traveling or leaving it before i was 28...i see it as an opportunity

i only ask so i know what universities to research myself. I started the thread, so i could find out places other than the ones i already knew so i could go to their websites and conduct my own investigations into them...so in my opinion, yes such a list would be helpful...

bottom line is, if you conduct any google search with the words 'physics' or 'university' in them, you will come up with at least a million results which makes an already time consuming process become simply too big to take on (even if i do have 4 months holidays... )

4. Thankyou for the link, it has been somewhat useful...

 

[Igor_S]

There's this nice link: http://www.phds.org/rankings/physics/get_weights? . If you're interested in the school quality in general, you can choose "[5] High" for "Program is effective in educating researchers" so you can get some feeling what universities are good.
For a better rankings, you should choose specific area then look at people at various departments. Another helpful link is http://www.gradschoolshopper.com/ which can give you very detailed info about most universities. Although they don't have Caltech and Uni of Toronto in their database, I found all others universities I was looking for.

 

[bartieshaw]

Cheers Igor S,

the links you provided have been very useful..