Materials Science and Engineering (PhD)

Please see the Program Policy Document for more information.

Requirements For The Degree:

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree requires 33 total credits (24 credit hours of course work and 9 credits of doctoral dissertation work on a research topic approved by the student’s advisor). Students already holding a Masters degree from another program or university accepted to the Ph.D. program are required to complete 9 credits of doctoral dissertation and will have their previous coursework evaluated by the faculty to determine if additional courses are required. All students must pass a qualifying examination, a data defense, and a defense. The dissertation must be of publishable quality as judged by the materials faculty.

All graduate students must maintain a cumulative grade-point index of 3.0.
Part-time graduate education is available through the Engineering Outreach Program.
Student must earn a grade of B- or higher in all courses counting towards the degree requirement.

Core Courses:

The following courses (9 credits) are required. Equivalent courses may be substituted when approved by the faculty advisor and Department Chairperson.

MSEG 608 - Structure and Properties Of Materials I Credit(s): 3
MSEG 803 - Equilibria in Material Systems Credit(s): 3
MSEG 804 - Kinetics in Material Systems Credit(s): 3

Restricted Electives:

Students may choose two course (6 credits*) from the following. Any student taking more than the required two courses may count those additional courses as technical electives.

MSEG 640 - Applied Quantum Mechanics I Credit(s): 3
MSEG 832 - Principles of Polymerization Credit(s): 3
MSEG 835 - Principles to Polymer Physics Credit(s): 3
MSEG 841 - Solid State Materials I Credit(s): 3

Note:

*Any beyond the two chosen can count as technical electives.

Technical Electives:

Three courses - 9 credits total required. These courses should be chosen with a student’s advisor and will usually be related to the student’s area of research. These can be any graduate level (600-800 level) courses, except MSEG868-Research, from any of the Departments in the College of Engineering, Chemistry, or Physics.

Dissertation:

A student can take 9 credits of MSEG 964 - Pre-Candidacy Study in the semester they plan to take their Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. If they pass, and are admitted to Doctoral Candidacy, these 9 credits can be switched to 9 of the required MSEG 969 . If they do not take Pre-Candidacy credits, after admission to Doctoral Candidacy, the student must complete 9 credit hours of MSEG 969 - Doctoral Dissertation .

MSEG 969 - Doctoral Dissertation Credit(s): 1-12

Other Requirements:

Pass their Ph.D. Qualifying Exam
Data Defense
Defense