Are those courses you consider non-professional really worthless?
Did you apply for Medicine and got Chemistry or Biochemistry?
Or you applied for Engineering and were admitted for Mathematics/Physics/Statistics?
Several students believe their courses are not professional or do not possess enough prospects. This is an outright misconception by students, especially from developing countries where unemployment rates are overwhelmingly high.
In this article, we will highlight 7 Underrated Courses That are Highly Funded Abroad – USA, United Kingdom, Canada and the rest of Europe.
According to the National Science Foundation, there is an annual budget of $8.8 billion approximately 27% of the total federal budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities (FY 2022).
NSF is divided into seven directorates that support science and engineering research and education: Biological Sciences, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Engineering, Geosciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, and Education and Human Resources.
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Students selected for graduate programmes in the United States are exempted from tuition and are eligible to earn up to a $25,000 stipend per year as living costs.
In the UK as well, The Royal Society reported that Natural and physical sciences and engineering dominate in absolute numbers, with clinical medicine receiving the most funding in 2014/15 (£120m), followed by biosciences (£91m), physics (£55m), chemistry (£55m) and IT (£46m).
For the academic year 2022 to 2023, the minimum rates for postgraduate (doctoral) students are tuition fees and a £15,609 stipend.
We will be highlighting the common underrated courses that are highly funded in top developed countries in subsequent paragraphs.
1. Chemistry
Chemistry is one of the most funded programmes (if not the most), especially in the USA. Details of the number of students admitted to postgraduate programmes have shown that the department of chemistry usually takes the highest number of students.
This is because research in the field of chemistry (Drug discovery, Medicine, Materials and Polymers, Food and Agrochemicals) generally assists and provides a backbone for other fields of research in the sciences. Below are current research fields in Chemistry;
Green and Sustainable Chemistry
Catalysis
Drug Discovery and Synthesis
Materials and Nanotechnology
Materials and Polymer Chemistry
Computational and Simulation Chemistry
Environmental Chemistry and Waste Management
Absorption and Water Treatment Technologies
Bioresources and Renewable Energy
2. Physics
Physics is also a highly funded field in terms of electronics, radioactivity, drug discovery and simulation, quantum and laser physics, and several other environmental health issues.
These research areas are among the worlds pressing problems and are receiving a lot of funding.
The following are current research areas in the field of physics;
Atomic Theory
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Atomic and molecular physics
Information theory and computation
Electronics, photonics, and device physics
Nuclear Physics and Radioactivity
Fluid dynamics
3. Computer Science
The world is tending towards the use of 5G and the volume of data accumulating from nations is increasing sporadically.
Moreso, the fields of data science, virtual assistant, data analysis, artificial intelligence and robotics, as well as cybersecurity have become emerging trends in a world where global powers now compete with digital assets.
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Data Science and Engineering
Cybersecurity
4. Geography
The field of Geography has a lot to do with urban and regional planning, demography, social and environmental hazards – flooding, erosion, ozone layer depletion, climate change, and deforestation.
More currently, the emergence of the Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing have become the recent field of the day in the geographical fields.
5 Biology/Microbiology/Zoology
Since the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020, world researchers have been keen on providing a total remedy to the pandemic, and as a result, billions of dollars are being pumped into research to come out with a permanent cure for the disease.
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Other world health issues such as cancer, polio, and other life-threatening diseases have received renewed interest by researchers in recent times.
Recently as well, cell biology, genetic engineering and evolution, plant pathology, and disease-curing properties are some of the latest trends in the field of epidemiology, public nd global health, and health policies.
6. Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife
Food security, food waste, malnutrition, and resource economics are gaining more attention o researchers in 2022. Professors are interested in how some nations/people will be food insecure in the future.
Climate change, livelihood issues as well as wildlife and forest conservation are also current world problems that have gained the attention of researchers in recent times.
7. Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
International relations, world conflicts and human capital development are recent interests in this field.
Research has now been focused on Environmental & health Policy, Conflict resolution, and international relations- These are receiving urgent attention & you get funding and opportunities post-graduation.
In conclusion, these courses are only misconstrued to be non-lucrative in developing countries owing to the low budgets accorded to education, high rate of unemployment as well as low attention to research and development.
Prospective graduate students are enjoined to coin pleasing cold e-mails and tailor them towards prevailing world issues.
There are enough funding for every willing candidate as not all students are graduate-school-worthy.
On a final note, take the best grades out of the current course you have found yourself. A strong GPA is a vital requirement to secure a scholarship abroad. Also, obtain all necessary documents required and review your applications before finally submitting
