Hi,
I have got admit in PhD program from Boise State University ,USA. The topic of research is aligned to my interest.
I have got another offer to pursue PhD from TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology), Netherlands which will be carried out at Holst Center, NL. Here also the topic is aligned to my research interest. Its related to Microelectronics.
At this point I am a bit confused as whether to join Eindhoven or BSU. I am sure there is someone with good experience in these things that can help me.

Thanks

Hi!

Great you get to chose between two PhD programs. Its hard for me to give advice, but if I were you I would take the following things into consideration when chosing:
- In which country do you want to live? The Netherlands and the USA are quite different. If you want to know anything about Eindhoven, let me know. I am from there :)
- How much do you get paid and are you able to live on that salary/stipend? In the Netherlands you are not considered as a student when you are a PhD student, you are considered as an employee. This translates into a relatively good salary.
- How long will the PhD be? 3 or 4 years?

Cheers

Something else to take into account is who are your supervisors? How often will you see them?

The conditions for PhD students in the Netherlands are really nice. As janjansen already told you are considered as an employee and paid according to that. What I heard so far, this is not always the case for the US. You should consider the reputation of the group and the university. The standard in the Netherlands is really high, personally, I never heard of a Boise State University, so I can't say anything about that, but I would check if the reputation/funding/publications are comparable. An important part is of course if you want to live in the NL for 4 years. Nice country but completely different to the US. Some people have no problem with that, others might. Generally, a long stay abroad can be a nice new experience and is usually really beneficial for your CV.

go for eindhoven. having studied in holland as well i concur with dunham and janjansen. boston state university sounds a little bit less good than eindhoven. holst centre collaborates with belgium which is a plus.

It's Boise Ste Uni, not Boston (which would be an improvement!)- Boise State is some Episcopalian set-up that has only been awarding it's own degrees for c. 40 years.

If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate to go to TU/e. Never been there but I visited the other Dutch university, Delft and I was thoroughly impressed with facilities there and the level of research in my engineering field. TU/e is a reputable institution especially in the engineering. I'll be shocked to come across anyone based in Europe who hasn't heard about TU/e. Good luck

The obvious answer should be Eindhoven University of Technology! People hardly heard of Boise State University! But thats because most of people writing in here are from Europe and except for few big cities in the US, they never visit anywhere else in the continent and think the rest is just filled up with many many hillbillies!

In fact one of the biggest name in electronics and microelectronics is "Micron Technology" which is one of the top five high-tech microelectronics and solid states companies in the world (physical assets over 22 billion dollars), based in Boise, Idaho with strong ties to BSU. Most likely even the computer you reading this message has few parts from them(i.e. SDRAM, solid state drive or even the flash memory you are using). Many of the electronics in computers are invented in Boise, Idaho! Who would of thought of that!

If you think that your supervisor can define some innovative industrial project for you, Silicon Valley or Intel wont be too far! I would not hesitate to pick BSU over any other hyped european names.

But be warned, Boise is a small midwest town, can be extremely cold in winter and is relatively far from main American cities that europeans like to visit and certainly you cannot find many european cultural things over there (including over crowded coffee shops or men dressed in skinny jeans + crakow shoes and women in Sinbad pantaloons if I remember correctly) but if you are an outdoorsy person, lots of thing to do! ;)

Thanks everyone for your views :)
There is no doubt that TU/e is one of the finest universities in Europe plus a collaboration with Holst center is making things even better.
But the point of my confusion is rightly highlighted by KimWipes. The presence of Micron Technology is making me to think about BSU. Moreover my supervisor has good connections in Micron. So its getting really difficult for me choose between the two.

@ janjansen : There is no preference for any particular country, be it US or NL, doesn't matter much. Yes I will be hired as an employee in TU/e. The PhD will be of 4 years. Could you please let me know how difficult is it for a non EU citizen to get job in Eindhoven in microelectronics field(I have heard that you need to know Dutch to get a job)?

@ KimWipes :Its really nice that I found someone who has knowledge about Boise and Micron :p. If I get a degree from Boise, will people in US (or silicon valley) recognize where is this university located ? I understand that its an average university, but is it that its an unheard name in US (precisely Microelectronics Industry in US)? I am going to join a group of prof there, who is doing some pioneering work in memristors. As far as weather and living style is concerned, that doesn't matter to me. I have heard that crime rate is lesser in Boise, is it so?

Hi again! I am pretty sure that you dont need to know Dutch to get a job here in your field. Of course, for certain jobs you need to know Dutch, but I know many people who are living here for a couple of yearsa and barely know Dutch.
I dont think you will face problems in finding a job after your PhD. Especially since there are so many non-EU expats in Eindhoven due to Philips. And since you will do your PhD here and you will already be living in the Netherlands, it will be easier as well.
But I dont think you need to depend your choice on the job perspectives after your PhD though, because in 4 years it might all be different.

Hi again everyone!
There is one more query which I would like to raise. If I choose academics as a career in Australia/Asia/Middle East etc then which degree will be valued more in these places, an American PhD or a European PhD?

Thanks :)

@Dunham: I know, there are many good european universities that people in this side of the world have never heard of! I was just pulling the legs!

@Daffodils: Yes, generally speaking, the crime rates are much lower in small towns than big cities so your safety in Boise is not a concern. But bear in mind that there are other things to be considered when you move to the midwest. The state is extremely conservative and somewhat traditional and religious so you may find it a bit difficult to adapt into social life if you strongly believe in liberal ideas. Also the state's population is very homogenous with small traces of other minorities or other religions so if you are from these groups or a very practical religious person of other kinds, you may find yourself a bit isolated. But in general people are extremely friendly and kind and welcoming. I grew up in a small city myself so I find them more attractive than most of the people so I can be a bit bias.

I agree 100% with TheEngineer that it is more important to know your field than where you got your diploma. But also, I understand that when following the path for "academic as a career" and at the beginning of your job search sometimes boutique names can open more doors than lesser known ones. If you go to BSU you may be able to get jobs in industry in the US(as many people in electronics industry recognize the name) but if you go to Middle East or Europe or Australia and want to teach, you may face more challenges than lets say you get your degree from some known european colleges!