Announcing Gizmodo’s Degrees of the Future

In the 1950s, a visionary college student might have pursued a degree in computer science, and helped create our modern digital world. In the 1990s, that same student might have studied biotechnology, and developed genetic engineering techniques that are solving today’s health crises.

But what and where should a forward thinking student study in 2022?

To find out, Gizmodo is partnering with the independent research firm Statista to identify the top universities within more than two dozen fields of study that we believe will define the 21st century. We’re looking for the people and places offering the best education in areas including nanotechnology, cybersecurity, bioinformatics, climate studies, and neuroscience. (More information, including a list of all fields of study, can be found here.)

The goal of this project is to provide guidance to students who are choosing a university in one of these important fields, and to recognize the universities preparing those students for the future. This isn’t yet another college ranking: We’re only awarding accolades to a small number of institutions in each discipline, and the goal is to highlight success stories, rather than compare schools against each other.

But in order to do that, we need the participation of academic and industry leaders, as well as current students and alumni. So we’re inviting everyone to take a survey that helps us identify the universities doing the best job preparing their students for careers in these fields.

Are you a researcher, professor, or academic administrator? Or a current student or alumni of a program in a cutting edge field? Click here to register for our survey, and help today’s students make the world of tomorrow.

For every participant, we will make a donation to FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization that inspires young people with programs to help them build science, engineering and technology skills.

The nomination period for Gizmodo’s inaugural Degrees of the Future opens on January 20, 2022, and will remain open until February 28, 2022. The final list of honored universities is expected to be announced at the end of May.

Updated 1/20/22 at 9:00AM ET with new details.