randomman

Hi@Euler17, yes I do consider the geographical proximity and tend to work in the US after my PhD (doing a postdoc at a renowned European institute is also great though). As you mention Edelsbrunner, who's indeed a great mathematician I might want to work with, I'm wondering about the advantage of working with such a great expert versus that of doing a PhD at a good but not top (say top30 or 50) American university in terms of the competitiveness in the American academic or industrial job market.

Hi@csheehan10! I did notice that most European programs are 3/4-year, but this is not exactly the case for IST Austria which leans toward the American system.

How would one compare IST Austria and a mid-ranked American university (nationally ranked top 30 or top 50)? I received offers from ISTA and a few American universities and am trying to decide where to go. All of these institutions have a few faculty members who I want to work with, but there may be differences in working environments, cultures, rankings, the fame of institutes, the geographical considerations (e.g. attending school in the US has advantage of more closely connected to other schools in the states) etc. As IST Austria is a rather young institution, it seems a bit hard for me to do the comparison by only looking at the info online. So, I'll appreciate it if any of you could tell me something.