Expert: Daniel Mazur - 7/10/2009

Question
Hi,
I have graduated this year with a B.Sc in Physics from Mumbai University, India. My score in the final year is 89.5%
I wish to pursue an M.Sc. in Physics. My key areas of interest are : Particle physics, stro physics and bio physics. Clearly, my interest in very wide but I can not make a better informed decision unitil the end of at least the 1st semester of M.Sc.
I'm looking for universities abroad (US or Europe), that provide a robust curriculum in these branches of study and also provide opportunities for summer research projects.
Which universities in Europe and US do you think are the best for these courses?
I have already missed the deadline to apply for the September course, I think. Do most universities have courses starting in February?

I will be very grateful to you for your help.
Thank you.

Answer
Hello Kanika,
my apologies for answering late. Yours is a question that would be best answered by some kind of Chief U.S. and Europe's physics education coordinator. No such function exists, so:

Particle physics is best studied at universities nearby particle accelerators. CERN in Europe and Fermilab in USA are the most well known. For CERN then it is best at University of GEneva, Switzerland, where I work. For Fermilab you need to go to some major Chicago or Illinois university: University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, ... at Urbana-Champaign, the Illinois Institute of Technology or the Northwestern University.

Astrophysics is not dependent on accelerators, so you can study it at most universities. In the USA the most famous will be on the East (Harvard, MIT, Uni of New York, Colombia Uni,...) or West coast (Caltech, Uni of California,...) or in Florida. In Europe it is universities in major cities and capitals - Charles University in Pragu, Czech Republic is doing surprisingly great in astronomy and astrophysics, but I don't doubt that there are productive astrophysics departments at many cities, the Imperial College in London, Uni of Amsterdam, Uni Paris-Sud in Orsay,... Same could be said about biophysics, where the offer is even broader. It is impossible to choose a university "because they offer the program", you need to use other criteria. What are your other criteria?

The US universities are used to students starting either in Fall or in Spring. In Europe we are more conservative. Starting in February is possible, but you will need to have a good official reason and in any case, you may be the only one. So, you may end up in isolation school-wise, because you won't be going to all classes with all others etc. Even for the February admission in the USA you may be near a deadline, though! You need to pass TEOFL and GRE tests before applying and then it takes one whole month to receive the scores and then only you can mail in the application. You must check on this with some concrete universities, of course. They all have admissions office, so there...

Good luck!
Daniel