Oxford vs. American Univs.

[Tharmarajah Kugarajah]

I write regarding the recent discussions on Oxford vs. American Universities.

UK programs generally are not well-reputed in EE/CS for the
following reasons( to those who think they have known exceptions, I grant that
since exceptions are always present), which are based on my
knowledge of their system through discussions with several professors with
PhDs from top Univs in UK and USA, other friends who were past students in
Cambridge, Imperial College and Oxford, and students still there.

1.
The PhD program in most Univs. in the UK is without any coursework, and this
makes their graduates lacking in many core areas essential after PhD.
They generally are unable to move from one area into a slightly different
another area with ease. Only a very small number of their PhDs with truly
good research come to US and establish academic reputation. There may be more
freedom there, although it is a common misconception that freedom is not
available in US. Many professors here give complete freedom and expect
students' initiative.

2. Very few people there publish good papers and fewer still publish 'journal
papers' as opposed to conference papers. How many IEEE Fellows are there in
top Universities in the UK? Needless to say that it is a given that IEEE
remains the preeminent world professional body in EE. In fact, if one
considers the amount of research funding, quality and productivity of PhDs,
Industrial backing, facilities, etc., none of the UK universities can come
near any top 20-25 Universities in EE/CS as a whole( although differences
exist in individual areas within EE/CS). FYI, here in Maryland,the
annual research funding in EE is more than $15 million, and out of the 67
professors, 33 are Fellows( IEEE, APS, or OSA)). It is ridiculous to
think that Cambridge, Oxford or Imperial College can come anywhere near the
league of MIT, Berkeley, Illinois(Urbana), Stanford,
or the next tier: Caltech, Cornell, Princeton,
Michigan, UCLA, Purdue, Maryland, Carnegie-Mellon, Texas(Austin), etc. in
EE.(not in any particular order.) Harvard, Yale,etc are not in the
top or second tier in EE. I repeat that the above is in EE only. I make no
claim about other fields, but it is somewhat similar in CS.

3. I make no claim about the undergraduate level. There are people
who think "old is gold". Then there are people who think private Univs. have
more reputation. That doesn't make sense at the research level.
Then what about job availability, salaries and social esteem of EEs in the US.?
How highly are electrical engineers regarded inside UK?

4. On a note of caution, I will tell you this about USA. In the mad rush to
maintain competitiveness in coursework(exams--grades), several students can
actually settle for lack-lustre research, and vice-versa. It is in the
interest of students to decide for themselves whether after 4 years of exams
at the Undergraduate level, one can/should take more exams. All I can say is
that in the US, GPAs are just as important as research ability, and if you
feel one would compromise the other, you may consider that UK may be OK.

In the final analysis, as long as one selects a decent program, it is the
interests, ability and the choice of the country to work in that counts
rather than the any reputation often voted on by people who know nothing about
the what makes for reputation anyway.

-kuga