The 5 Most Popular PhD Subjects to Study in the USA

#1 Biological Sciences

The USA is a world-leader in biological sciences research, making groundbreaking strides in areas such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, genomics and environmental biology. Eight of the top 10 universities for life sciences are located in the USA, according to the 2023 Times Higher Education World Rankings, meaning you’ll learn from some of the world’s top experts!

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#2 Engineering

The USA is home to six of the top 10 universities for engineering in the world, according to the 2023 Times Higher Education World Rankings. Studying an Engineering PhD in the USA is an opportunity to contribute to exciting research projects and explore topics from computational fluid dynamics to construction safety.

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#3 Computer Science

Studying Computer Science in the USA is an opportunity to conduct research in a country that is at the frontier of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and imaging science.

There are plenty of employment opportunities in the USA for PhD graduates in Computer Science at the many leading start-ups tech companies and research centres in the country.

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#4 Medicine

The USA is home to 172 medical schools, and many more offering PhDs in subjects related to medicine. These include prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University and Yale University, all of which rank amongst the top 10 universities for medicine in the world!

You’ll be able to choose from a range of specialisms from human nutrition to epidemiology, and produce research that will help to advance healthcare across the globe.

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#5 Mathematics

There are many fantastic opportunities to study a Mathematics PhD in the USA, with universities taking an interdisciplinary approach that will allow you to collaborate with researchers from a range of fields such as finance, data science and engineering.

You can choose from a range of specialisms including Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics.

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