I've been interested in nanotechnology for a long time now, not only for the sheer enthusiasm of unraveling matter's secrets and overcoming engineering obstacles at this tiny scale, but also and more importantly for it's infinite applicability on our lives, being the medical field the most promising one (opinion). Also, I figured that if I truly desire life extension therapies to be available in my lifetime, I better be proactive about it.
I'm not yet in college , but I'm still young (21), so I believe there's still hope for a fruitful career. I'm faced with some choice regarding courses (bachelor level) in my country and universities in my city (I believe the main universities in Portugal are all pretty much on the same level, so I'm not very picky). I've narrowed it down to the following:
- Physics: it offers some minor options like astronomy, physics engineering or other fields.
- Physics engineering: there's 2 universities teaching this near me, one being a bit more prestigious than the other, but I guess I'd be better off judging them based on their curricular plans.
- Micro and nanotechnology engineering: this is very obviously related to nanotechnology, but perhaps it might be a better option to acquire some broad fundamental knowledge first, rather than working on a specialization from the very start (even though this course obviously covers the essential physics) edit: i forgot to mention this course is very recent, about 2 or 3 years old, should that be a determining factor?
There are other options such as materials eng., electrotechnical eng., biomedical eng., but they're probably not that related to nanotechnology. I'm more inclined towards the 3rd option, but it'd prove very useful to read some opinions from people more knowledgeable than me. Some totally unrelated career is not entirely dismissed, say genetics, but nanotechnology pleases me and I believe that in the not so distant future all fields of science will rely on nanotechnolgy for further progress.
One thing that worries me is the prospect of employability. Portugal has no research on this particular field, apart from the newly inaugurated International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) that does research on nanomedicine, but I can't rely on this only option. Now, Portugal has no Cambridge University nor IMT... so how exactly can I get an international employer interested in me?
That'd be all for now, thank you.
Cheers
Edited by Vindex, 20 October 2010 - 08:50 PM.