Scientific Disciplines

SACNAS uses a taxonomy of disciplines based on the National Science Foundation Survey of Doctorate Recipients.

Biological, Agricultural & Environmental Life Sciences

  • Animal Sciences –  Animal breeding/genetics, animal husbandry, animal nutrition, animal sciences, dairy science, poultry science
  • Biochemistry/biophysics – Biochemistry, biophysics
  • Biology (general)
  • Botany – Botany, plant pathology, plant physiology
  • Cell/molecular biology – Cellular biology, molecular biology
  • Ecology/evolution – Ecology, ecological risk assessment, ecosystems, evolution/evolutionary biology, paleoecology
  • Environmental science/studies – Environmental science, fish and wildlife science, fisheries science/management, land management, marine biology, polar sciences
  • Food science/technology – Food distribution, food engineering, food sciences
  • Forestry sciences – Conservation/habitat restoration/renewable natural resources, forest biology, forest engineering, forest management, forestry science, wildlife, wildlife/range management, wood science and pulp/paper technology
  • Genetics – Genetics (human/animal), genetic education/counseling, genomics, plant genetics
  • Microbiology – Bacteriology, immunology, microbiology
  • Nutritional sciences
  • Plant sciences – Agronomy/crop science, horticulture science, plant breeding/genetics, plant pathology, plant protection/pest management, plant sciences
  • Pharmacology – Pharmacology (human/animal)
  • Physiology/pathology – Animal/plant physiology, pathology (human/animal), physiology (human/animal)
  • Zoology/entomology
  • Other agricultural sciences – Agricultural sciences, agroecology/sustainable agriculture, biogeochemistry, soil chemistry/microbiology, soil sciences
  • Other biological sciences – Anatomy, biological immunology, biological science (other), biomedical sciences, biometrics/biostatistics, biotechnology research, developmental biology/embryology, endocrinology, hydrobiology, neuroscience, parasitology, toxicology

Computer & Information Sciences

  • Computer science, information science/systems (including all informatics), all other computer/information sciences

Engineering

  • Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical – Aerospance engineering, aeronautical engineering, astronautical engineering
  • Agricultural engineering
  • Bioengineering/biomedical engineering
  • Chemical engineering
  • Civil engineering
  • Computer/Systems engineering – Computer engineering, systems engineering
  • Electrical/electronics/communications – Communications engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, electrical/electronics engineering
  • Engineering sciences/mechanics/physics – Engineering mechanics, engineering physics, engineering science
  • Environmental engineering – Environmental health engineering
  • Engineering (general)
  • Industrial/manufacturing engineering
  • Materials engineering – Ceramic science, materials science, polymer/plastics, textile engineering
  • Metallurgical engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Mining/minerals engineering
  • Naval architecture/marine engineering
  • Nuclear engineering
  • Petroleum engineering
  • Other engineering – Engineering geology, ocean engineering, other engineering

Health

  • Audio/speech pathology – Speech/language pathology, audiology
  • Health services administration – Health systems, services administration
  • Medicine (e.g., dentistry, surgery, optometry, veterinary) – Dentistry, medical/surgery, optometry/ophthalmology, veterinary medicine
  • Nursing
  • Pharmacy
  • Physical therapy/rehabilitation/therapeutic services – Rehabilitation/therapeutic services, physical therapy
  • Public health (including environmental health/epidemiology) – Environmental health, environmental toxicology, epidemiology, public health, public health/epidemiology
  • Other health/medical sciences – Exercise physiology/science, kinesiology, health disparities, health sciences, hospital administration

Mathematics & Statistics

  • Applied mathematics – Applied mathematics (including: differential equations, computational mathematics, etc.)
  • Mathematics (general)
  • Operations research
  • Statistics – Mathematical statistics, statistics
  • Other mathematics – Algebra (including abstract algebra), analysis/functional analysis, computing theory/practice, discrete mathematics, geometry, logic, mutlidisciplinary mathematics, number theory, topology, other mathematics, pure mathematics

Physical Sciences

  • Astronomy/astrophysics
  • Atmospheric sciences/meteorology – Atmospheric physics/chemistry, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric sciences/meteorology, climate studies, meteorology
  • Chemistry (except biochemistry) – Analytical chemistry, agricultural/food chemistry, general/other chemistry, inorganic chemistry, medicinal/pharmaceutical chemistry, nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry, theoretical chemistry
  • Earth sciences/other physical sciences – Hydrology/water resources, marine sciences, physical sciences
  • Geology – Applied geology/geological engineering, mineralogy/petrology/geological chemistry, geology, geomorphology/glacial geology, stratigraphy/sedimentation, vulcanology
  • Oceanography
  • Physics (except biophysics) – Acoustics, applied physics, chemical and atomic/molecular physics, condensed matter physics, electromagnetism, electron physics, elementary particle physics, fluids, high energy/particle physics, mechanics, medical physics, nuclear physics, optics, other/general physics, plasma/high-temperature physics, polymer physics, quantum physics, solid state/low-temperature physics, theoretical/mathematical physics, thermal physics
  • Other geological sciences – Fuel technology/petroleum engineering, geochemistry, geological and related sciences, geophysics (seismology, solid earth, etc.), geospacial sciences, paleontology

Psychology & Social Sciences

  • Clinical psychology
  • Counseling psychology
  • Educational psychology
  • Experimental psychology
  • Industrial/organizational psychology
  • Psychology (general)
  • Social psychology
  • Other psychology – Cognitive psychology/psycholinguistics, comparative psychology, developmental/child psychology, experimental/comparative psychology/physiology, family/marriage counseling, human engineering, human/individual and family development, personality, physiological/psychobiology, other psychology, psychometrics, quantitative psychology, school psychology
  • Agriculture (economics) – Agricultural business/management, agricultural economics
  • Anthropology/archeology
  • Area/ethnic studies
  • Criminology
  • Economics – Econometrics, economics
  • Geography
  • History of Science – History/philosophy of science/technology
  • International relations – International relations/affairs
  • Linguistics
  • Political science/government – Political science/government, political science/public administration
  • Public policy studies – Public policy analysis
  • Sociology
  • Other social sciences – Demography/population studies, other/general social sciences, urban affairs/studies

Humanities (Note: student/postdoc abstracts not accepted in humanities)

  • History (except history of science) – History (American), history (Asian), history (European), history (Latin America), Middle/Near East studies, other/general history
  • Letters (except linguistics) – Classics, comparative literature, folklore, literature, English language, speech & rhetorical studies, letters
  • Foreign languages & literature – French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Slavic (other than Russian), Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Other languages & literature
  • Other humanities – American studies, art history/art criticism/conservation, music, philosophy, religion/religious studies, drama/theater arts, other/general humanities

Education

  • Education research/administration (except educational/school psychology) – Curriculum & instruction, educational administration & supervision, educational leadership, educational/instructional media design, educational statistics/research methods, educational assessment/testing/measure, social/philosophical foundations of education, special education, counseling education/counseling & guidance, higher education/evaluation & research
  • Teacher education – Pre-elementary/early childhood teacher education, elementary teacher education, secondary teacher education, adult & continuing education
  • Teaching fields – Agricultural education, art education, business education, English education, foreign languages education, health education, family and consumer science/home economics, mathematics education, music education, nursing education, physical education & coaching, reading education, science education, social science education, trade & industrial education, teach education & professional development
  • Other education

Professional Fields (Note: student/postdoc abstracts not accepted in professional fields)

  • Business management/administrative services (except economics) – Accounting, banking/financial support services, business administration & management, international business/trade/commerce, management information systems/business data, marketing management & research, human resources development, organizational behavior
  • Communications – Communications research, other/general communications, communications theory, film, radio, tv, and digital communications, mass communications/media studies
  • Nonprofit & program management – Advocacy, community relations, development/fundraising, nonprofit/program management, outreach and recruitment
  • Other professional fields – Architecture, family/consumer science/human science, law, library science, parks/sports/recreation/leisure/fitness, social work, theology/religious education, other profession fields

Traditional Knowledge

  • Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), traditional health, other/general traditional knowledge