OpenFieldReed College · Portland, Oregon, United States
Reed College is an internationally distinguished private undergraduate liberal arts and sciences college located on a 116-acre campus in southeastern Portland, Oregon. Globally famous for the mandatory freshman Humanities 110 course, the student-run Reed Research Reactor (the only TRIGA nuclear reactor operated primarily by undergraduates in the world), and ranking among the highest per-capita producers of future Ph.D. recipients in the United States.
Reed features the historic Eliot Hall, the Vollum College Center, the Reed Research Reactor, and the 28-acre Reed Canyon nature preserve. All graduating seniors must complete and orally defend a yearlong scholarly senior thesis.
Admissions are highly selective with a holistic review emphasizing intellectual curiosity, academic rigor, analytical writing, and self-directed scholarly motivation. Reed is test-blind/test-optional. International students must submit TOEFL (100+), IELTS (7.0+), or Duolingo (120+). Reed meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.
Legendary physics curriculum offering student training and NRC operator licensing at the on-campus 250 kW TRIGA nuclear research reactor, alongside quantum mechanics, thermal physics, and electrodynamics.
Rigorous pure and applied mathematics program covering abstract algebra, real analysis, topology, combinatorics, differential geometry, and a mandatory yearlong thesis.
Hands-on research utilizing the 28-acre Reed Canyon urban watershed, investigating native salmon habitat, riparian vegetation dynamics, microbial genomics, and cellular physiology.
ACS-certified curriculum providing undergraduate access to 400 MHz NMR spectrometers, mass spectrometry, HPLC, and X-ray diffraction equipment in the Arthur F. Scott Chemistry Building.
Deep scholarly examination of epistemology, metaphysics, symbolic logic, ethics, philosophy of language, and ancient Greek thought culminating in an original senior thesis.
Competitive summer fellowship supporting independent undergraduate thesis research in nuclear engineering, neurobiology, quantum optics, or organic chemical synthesis.
President & Professor of Literature
Office of the President
Dr. Bilger is a renowned scholar of 18th-century British women novelists, feminist literature, and progressive liberal arts pedagogy, leading Reed's academic mi...
View researcher profile ↗Director of the Reed Research Reactor
Department of Physics
Dr. Krahenbuhl oversees the world's only undergraduate-run nuclear reactor, researching neutron activation analysis, nuclear reactor safety physics, and nuclear...
View researcher profile ↗Professor of Biology
Department of Biology
Dr. Renn investigates the genomic basis of maternal behavior, neural plasticity, and social hierarchy evolution in African cichlid fishes using high-throughput ...
View researcher profile ↗OpenField is an independent research platform not officially affiliated with Reed College. Information reflects public documentation reviewed on 2026-10-16. Students must verify application deadlines, fee structures, and prerequisite details directly with official university admissions departments before applying.
Updated 2026-10-16 · Editorial policy · Submit corrections