Taxonomy List with Sub-fields

The definition of a program is a unit that satisfies at least three out of the following four criteria:
1) enrolls students, 2) has a designated faculty, 3) develops a curriculum for doctoral study, and 4) recommends students for the award of a doctoral degree. Do not split or combine existing doctoral programs. To be listed, a program must have produced 5 Ph.D.s during the period 2001/2 to 2005/6.

Emerging Fields. Some fields are listed in this category because they are sometimes offered through stand-alone programs or are sometimes programs that are included as part of another larger field. Institutions are requested to report programs in emerging fields regardless of whether or not they are included in another program. If it is a separate program, respondents will be asked to indicate whether it is a stand-alone program or not. Other fields are listed because they have been experiencing significant growth, although they do not yet meet the size criterion for inclusion in the study. Institutions will also be asked to list the number of doctoral faculty members associated with the program and the number of students enrolled in it. Emerging fields will not be included in the ratings process.

Note: Field names are provided so that the study may group doctoral programs that are comparable to one another. Doctoral programs should be assigned to fields. A field may contain more than one program within the same institution. If a program has research strength outside its field (e.g. astrophysics in a physics program) or is interdisciplinary in nature, there will be an opportunity to select multiple fields for a program on the program questionnaire. In the case of “umbrella” programs in the biosciences, a doctoral program should be assigned to the field in which it awards a degree, not the program which admits doctoral students.

The names of sub-fields are provided for two purposes: 1) To assist institutions in placing their programs in the fields in the taxonomy, and 2) To indicate areas of research of program faculty so that students may have an indicator of what research specialties exist in each program. Data will not be collected or reported by sub-field except as an indicator of the research specialties of program faculty.

If you have questions about the taxonomy, please send them to: ResDocTax@nas.edu

Biology/Integrated Biology/ Integrated Biomedical Sciences (Note: This is only if the degree field is not specialized. )
Kinesiology

Aerospace Engineering

Aeronautical Vehicles
Space Vehicles
Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
Astrodynamics
Structures and Materials
Propulsion and Power
Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics
Multi-Vehicle Systems and Air Traffic Control

Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

Biological Engineering
Bioelectrical and neuroengineering
Bioimaging and biomedical optics
Biomaterials
Biomechanics and biotransport
Biomedical devices and instrumentation
Molecular, cellular, and tissue engineering
Systems and integrative engineering

Chemical Engineering

Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Catalysis and Reaction Engineering
Complex Fluids
Membrane Science
Petroleum Engineering
Polymer Science
Process Control and Systems
Thermodynamics
Transport Phenomena

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Civil Engineering
Construction Engineering/management
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Structural Engineering

Computer Engineering

Computer and Systems Architecture
Digital Circuits
Data Storage Systems
Digital Communications and Networking
Hardware Systems
Robotics

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Biomedical
Computer Engineering
Controls and Control Theory
Electrical and Electronics
Electromagnetics and photonics
Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing
Nanotechnology fabrication
Power and Energy
Signal Processing
Systems and Communications
VLSI and circuits: Embedded/Hardware Systems

Engineering Science and Materials (not elsewhere classified)

Engineering Mechanics
Dynamics/Dynamical Systems
Non-linear Dynamics
Mechanics of Materials

Materials Science and Engineering

Biology and Biomimetic Materials
Ceramic Materials
Metallurgy
Polymer and Organic Materials
Semiconductor and Optical Materials
Structural Materials

Mechanical Engineering

Acoustics, Dynamics, and Controls
Applied Mechanics
Biomechanical Engineering
Computer-Aided Engineering and Design
Electro-Mechanical Systems
Energy Systems
Heat Transfer, Combustion
Manufacturing
Ocean Engineering
Tribology

Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Ergonomics
Industrial Engineering
Operational Research
Systems Engineering

Emerging Fields:

Computational Engineering
Information Science
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Nuclear Engineering

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Agricultural and Resource Economics
Anthropology

Archaeological
Biological and Physical
Linguistic Anthrolpology
Social and Cultural

Communication

Broadcast/Video Studies
Communication Technology and New Media
Critical and Cultural Studies
Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
Health Communication
International and Intercultural Communication
Interpersonal/Small Group Communication
Journalism Studies
Mass Communication
Organizational Communication
Public Relations/Advertising
Social Influence and Political Communication
Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Economics

Behavioral Economics
Econometrics
Economic History
Economic Theory
Growth and Development
Industrial Organization
International Economics
Labor Economics
Macroeconomics
Public Economics

Geography

Physical and Environmental Geography
Human Geography
Nature and Society Relations
Geographic Information Sciences

Linguistics

Anthropological Linguistics/Sociolinguistics
Applied Linguistics
Comparative and Historical Linguistics
Computational Linguistics
Discourse/Text Linguistics
First/Second Language Acquisition
Typological Linguistics and Linguistic Diversity
Language Description/Documentation
Morphology
Phonetics/Phonology
Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics
Semantics/Pragmatics
Syntax

Political Science

American Politics
Comparative Politics
International Relations
Models and Methods
Political Theory

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Public Administration
Public Affairs
Public Policy
Urban Studies

Psychology (Ph.D. programs only)

Biological Psychology
Clinical Psychology (Ph.D. programs only)
Cognition and Perception
Cognitive Psychology
Community Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Health Psychology
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Personality and Social Contexts
Social Psychology

Sociology

Demography, Population, and Ecology
Family, Life Course, and Society
Gender and Sexuality
Inequality and Stratification
Medicine and Health
Methodologies : Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical
Place and Environment
Politics and Social Change
Race and Ethnicity
Regional Sociology
Rural sociology
Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance
Social Psychology and Interaction
Sociology of Culture
Theory, Knowledge and Science
Work, Economy and Organizations
Criminology

Emerging Fields:

Criminology and Criminal Justice
Science and Technology Studies
Urban Studies and Planning

ARTS AND HUMANITIES
American Studies

American Film Studies
American Material Culture
American Popular Culture
Ethnic Studies

Classics

Ancient History (Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity)
Ancient Philosophy
Byzantine and Modern Greek
Classical Archaeology and Art History
Classical Literature and Philology
Indo-European Linguistics and Philology

Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature

Literature in English, British Isles
Literature in English, Anglophone (other than British Isles and North America)
Literature in English, North America (other than ethnic and minority)
Literature in English, North America, ethnic and minority
Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Rhetoric and Composition

French and Francophone Language and Literature

French Linguistics
French and Francophone Literature

German Language and Literature

German Linguistics
German Literature

Language, Societies, and Cultures

African Languages and Societies
East Asian Languages and Societies
European Languages and Societies (not elsewhere classified)
Latin American Languages and Societies (not elsewhere classified
Near Eastern Languages and Societies
Slavic Languages and Societies
South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies

History

African
Asian
European
Islamic World/Near East
Latin American
United States
Cultural History
Diplomatic History
Gender
History of Religion
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Intellectual History
Legal
Medieval History
Military History
Political History
Social History
Women’s History

History of Art, Architecture and Archaeology

American Art and Architecture
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture
Asian Art and Architecture
Contemporary Art
Modern Art and Architecture
Theory and Criticism

Music (except performance)

Composition
Ethnomusicology
Musicology
Music Theory

Philosophy

Continental Philosophy
Epistemology
Esthetics
Ethics and Political Philosophy
Feminist Philosophy
History of Philosophy
Logic and foundations of mathematics
Metaphysics
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Science

Religion

Biblical Studies
Comparative Methodologies and Theories
Ethics
History of Religions of Western Origin
History of Religions of Eastern Origins
Religious Thought/Theology/Philosophy of Religion

Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature

Latin American Literature
Portuguese Literature
Spanish Linguistics
Spanish Literature

Theatre and Performance Studies

Theatre History
Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory
Performance Studies
Playwriting

Emerging Fields:

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Film Studies
Race, Ethnicity and post-Colonial Studies
Rhetoric and Composition