Computer science enrollment continues growth, but PhDs down
Student enrollment in computer science has continued an upward trend that started last year. Total enrollment by undergrad computer science majors is up 5.5 percent over last year, a shallower recovery than the year before. However, the numbers on gender and ethnic diversity are less impressive, and the field has seen its first decline in PhD production since the 2001-2002 year.
Of the computer science departments that the Computing Research Association surveyed for information, 71 percent responded, a slight decline from last year's 73 percent. Their responses showed that computer science undergrad enrollment is up a total of 14 percent from when it bottomed out in 2007.
Bachelor's degree production declined by 12 percent in 2009 from the year before, an echo of the low enrollments from a few years back, when graduates first declared in computer science. Females remain a small contingent of graduates, constituting 11.3 percent, and minority graduation rates declined 1.6 percent over the year before (down to 10.1 percent).
Likewise, graduate programs have seen some statistical fluctuations. For the first time since the 2001-2002 academic year, PhD Production rates have declined 6.9 percent in all computing-related study areas, and 7.8 percent in computer science.
Like bachelor's degree production rates, this is partially an echo of low enrollment when graduate students started their programs in 2002-2003. The statistic may also reflect an unwilligness to enter the ravaged job market. Total enrollment in PhD Programs has remained the same, though the percentage of new doctoral students from outside North America has gone up to 59.1 percent, compared to 54 percent last year.
PhD graduates have specialized more in security and architecture and less in databases, software engineering, and theory. Only 47.1 percent of 2009 graduates entered industry, compared to 2008's 56.6 percent. The report's authors suggest that this is a product of the new NSF Computing Innovation Fellows program, which provided more opportunities for postdoctoral studies in the academic world.
At the master's level, there was a slight increase in new students, less than two percent. The biggest difference was the increase of non-resident alien graduates to roughly two-thirds of those enrolled, up from 55.8 percent in 2008. Other master's stats, like gender ratios, have held.
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Everything you ever wanted to know about particle smashers (but were afraid to ask)
On March 30th, humanity is scheduled to start running the biggest, baddest particle collider ever constructed, the one that makes its closest competitor, Fermi's Tevatron, so out-of-date that the current plan is simply to shut the Tevatron down. But Brookhaven's RHIC, which can't even reach the Tevatron's energies, will be kept running indefinitely.
If that doesn't make sense, it's just one of a large collection of things associated with particle physics that may not be very intuitive. Like the fact that we've built a series of detectors in the Large Hadron Collider that are designed to pick up signs of particles that we've never seen before, and tiny bits of dark matter that don't actually interact with anything. Or the fact that we need a bunch of detectors for this in the first place. Fortunately, for the last month or so, I've had a variety of physicists explaining matters to me in language that even a biologist could understand. In a series of articles, I'll try to explain the process of physics so that, as the LHC gears up, you can appreciate why scientists think it's a pretty big deal.
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feature: Mastering Windows Search using Advanced Query Syntax
Search has become an integral part of Windows, particularly in later versions. While the major search improvements began with Windows Vista and were backported to Windows XP, it's really only with Windows 7 that the larger majority of users are discovering the search bar all over in the operating system. Search is built into every aspect of Windows 7 to help users cope with the increasingly rapidly growing number of files, be they work documents and e-mails, personal photos and videos, or music collections.
Many users perform searches without thinking nowadays: it's an ingrained habit of using the operating system. Like many habits, this one is worth breaking in order to to develop an even better one. Here we take a quick look at a few basic search techniques and a few more advanced ones. Force yourself to use them and you'll soon become a master of Windows Search. A bit of extra time now will save you loads of effort in the long run.
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Week in gaming: Genocidal Jedi, DRM, Nerf swords
This week in gaming we take another look at the historical bad guys in the world of Star Wars, discuss why DPI in gaming mice may be more important than we thought, look at the first details of Nintendo's upcoming 3DS system, and hear about DRM frustration from an EA spokesperson.
We also play Just Cause 2, swing the new Nerf swords, and confirm that Jonathan Coulton will be back making music for Portal 2. This is your week in gaming.
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Week in Apple: Mac Pro rumors, publishers and devs preparing for iPad
Publishers, developers, e-book sellers, TV networks, and pretty much everyone else on earth is preparing for next week's iPad launch. But in addition to that, the top Apple news from this last week was spiked with some juicy Mac Pro rumors, the Pwn2Own contest, and more.
12-core Mac Pros, 27" Cinema Display may be coming soon: Several Macs are overdue for an update, especially the three-year-old 30" Cinema Display. A 27" LED Cinema Display should replace that by this summer, along with new Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.
iPhone will be first mobile device to fall at Pwn2Own 2010: Hackers expected to be able to take down the iPhone during this year's Pwn2Own contest, which took place this last week at the CanSecWest security conference. And they were right: the iPhone, as well as IE8, Firefox 3, and Safari 4 all went down on the first day.
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Week in tech: last rites for Palm, Nexus One displays, Ubuntu 10.04b
Is it time to stick a fork in Palm? Sales are way below Palm's and Wall Street's expectations, the company has little cash left on hand, and shares of PALM have dropped all the way back down to $4. There's a growing consensus—as expressed by the market—that there are only two possible futures for Palm: acquisition, or insolvency.
Sorting out the real resolution of the Nexus One's screen is much more than a minor technical exercise, because a lot of Nexus One buyers based their purchasing decision at least in part on the amazing-sounding screen resolution, and many of us were disappointed in the lack of crispness of text. Ars investigates.
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