iMechanica - Recruiting PhD students to study Solid Mechanics at Harvard - Comments

Ph.D. study of fracture mechanics at Harvard University

Zhigang Suo — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:50:00 -0400

Sorry to see this message so late. Yes, fracture mechanics is a traditional strength here at Harvard. Quite a few projects are concerned with fracture. There will be some changes in coming years:

David Clarke, an expert on the mechnaical behavior of materials, will join the faculty of Harvard in January 2009.
John W. Hutchinson will retire in the Fall 2009.
We have just started a search for additional faculty members in mechanics.

A rare opportunity

gautambalaram — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:50:09 -0400

I am a masters student presently from Imperial College London. I am working on alternative modeling of fracture and more specifically the Rice-Tracey model. I am using this to model adhesive fracture on a DCB specimen using FEA. I have a very keen interest in pursuing a PhD in the field of fracture mechanics and specifically in modeling of fracture. I would be glad if you could enlighten me whether there are any openings in this field. If yes, then I would be honoured to apply for this rare opportunity.

This is a great opportunity

gordman — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:47:48 -0500

This is a great opportunity for bright young students, Harvard is a reall landmark for the universitary environment world wide. Everyone would work hard for such an opportunity.

Nouveau Riche

Thanks

Ahmed_Elbanna — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:37:01 -0500

Dear Zhigang

Thanks for the valuable information you have provided here.

Best,

Ahmed

Solid Mechanics and other positions at Harvard

Zhigang Suo — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 07:43:43 -0500

Ahmed: As you probably know well, at Harvard Jim Rice is active in the field of earth science. You may want to contact him directly. If you are interested in other fields where solid mechanics plays roles, you may want to contact other faculty memebers as well. Here are annoucements of two positions:

Hi Zhigang I am currently

Ahmed_Elbanna — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:13:24 -0500

Hi Zhigang

I am currently a PhD student in Caltech. I have strong interests in Applied Mechanics with special focus on solid mechanics and physics of earthquake rupture. I am expecting to graduate by 2009. Are there any opportunities for Post Doc. positions available at Harvard Solid Mechanics?

Best,

Ahmed

Recruiting PhD students to study Solid Mechanics at Harvard

Zhigang Suo — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:11:35 -0400

Each year, several new students begin their studies of Solid Mechanics for PhD degrees at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The students come from all over the world. We have no constraint on where they come from.

Faculty members in Solid Mechanics. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is not divided into departments, but faculty do self-assemble into programs. Faculty members directly responsible for the program of Solid Mechanics are

Please look at the above websites, and feel free to contact us for any question.

Application. We will be delighted if you find that your interest matches with ours. In the application form, please check the “Solid Mechanics” box. In the statement of purpose, please indicate your experience or aspiration relevant to Solid Mechanics. You only need a Bachelor degree to apply for admission as a PhD student. Of course, if you do have a master degree, please tell us your experience in some detail. We love Solid Mechanics, and appreciate people with similar enthusiasm for our subject.

If you are interested in working with a particular professor, please mention in your statement of purpose the name of the professor and your reasons. We read each statement of purpose with care, and look for good matches. So, please help us.

Mentioning the name of a professor does not bind you with the professor. You can choose to work with anyone at Harvard once you are here. Please learn more about application.

Admission. Individual faculty members can make recommendations, but cannot determine which student to admit. All students are admitted through the Graduate Admissions Committee in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, on a competitive basis.

Financial support. Every PhD student receives a fellowship, which is sufficient to cover all expenses to study and live in Cambridge. The fellowship, however, is rarely offered to a Master student. If your final goal is to obtain a PhD degree at Harvard, you may not wish to apply for admission as a Master student. Instead, you may apply for admission as a PhD student: you only need a Bachelor degree to do so.

Your program of study. We are flexible. Once you come to Harvard, you and your advisor will work together to define a program of study specifically suitable to you.

If you absolutely cannot wait to plan ahead, here is what you need to get started. The PhD degree requires that you take 12 courses. (A discussion is ongoing to reduce this number to 10, but we don't know when and if this new number will be used.) You may look at the catalogue of courses at Harvard. Harvard students can also take courses at MIT. Here is a very short list of Harvard courses popular among students of Solid Mechanics:

Engineering Sciences 240. Solid Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 241. Advanced Elasticity
Engineering Sciences 242r. Solid Mechanics: Advanced Seminar
Engineering Sciences 246. Plasticity
Engineering Sciences 247. Fracture Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 216. Biological Dynamics
Engineering Sciences 220. Fluid Mechanics
Engineering Sciences 262. Advanced Hydrology and Environmental Geomechanics
Earth and Planetary Sciences 263. Earthquake Source Processes
Earth and Planetary Sciences 201. Physics of the Earth's Interior
Earth and Planetary Sciences 204. Global Sesmology
Applied Mathematic 201. Physical Mathematics I
Applied Mathematics 202. Physical Mathematics II
Applied Physics 282. Solids: Structures and Defects
Applied Physics 292. Kinetics of Condensed Phase Processes
Applied Physics 293. Deformation of Solids

A short list of other Harvard faculty members who have strong interests in Solid Mechanics or closely related fields. Once you come to Harvard to study Solid Mechanics, you are likely to encounter the following professors:

Joanna Aizenberg (biophysics)
Michael J. Aziz (materials science)
Debra T. Auguste (bioengineering)
Michael P. Brenner (applied mathematics, fluid mechanics)
David A. Edwards (bioengineering)
Robert D. Howe (bioengineering, robotics)
David J. Mooney (bioengineering)
Richard J. O'Connell (theoretical geophysics)
Kit Parker (disease biophysics)
Shriram Ramanathan (materials science)
Frans Spaepen (materials science)
Howard A. Stone (fluid mechanics)
David A. Weitz (soft matter)
George M. Whitesides (physical chemistry, bioengineering, soft matter)
Robert J. Wood (microrobotics)