Europe vs. USA

[tbone8888]

I've been recently debating trying to complete a PhD in Europe and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if its a good idea to complete research abroad or if working in Europe will hurt my changes of getting a job as a professor in Canada? Schools I am considering are DTU in Denmark, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Any advice in this matter would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

[Usmivka]

USA! USA! USA!

OK now that I have that out of my system (and I do love you Europe, I've just gone through the American public school system and it leaves certain indelible traces...):

I think given the international standing of ETH Zurich it will certainly not be looked down upon for you to go there (I know some joint appointments between there and MIT, and a number of graduates from my program have ended up there at one time or another). I'm afraid I know little about the other two in terms of engineering. My feeling is that Canadian universities will not look down on European schools relative to the US, and the system there will be more similar to what you will return to in Canada.

That said, the US has more well regarded universities in the same country (numerically, not necessarily per capita)--this is to your advantage, since you would only have to familiarize yourself with the particulars of international applications and student visas to one country instead of several to cover your bases. It is also convenient in terms of travel to professional conferences and networking. The big downside is that many US programs assume you are starting without an MS, and acceptance to a PhD when you already have one can be difficult (I'm assuming you have an ME from a Canadian school). But I think this is much less of a problem for Engineering.

And, of course and always, it really comes down to your adviser and the work you are doing, not the reputation of the institution.

Now that I've written that, I need the Canadians to post and correct me. I'm looking at you TakeruK...

Edited September 18, 2012 by Usmivka