Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Graduate Degree Requirements (2007-2009)

MS Requirements

Students are required to maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all their coursework.

They must also complete and submit a “Graduate Student CV Update” form by the last day of classes in each academic semester of enrollment (Fall, Spring, and Summer). These reports will be reviewed periodically by the Graduate Program Committee.

Coursework

The MS Program of Study must include at least 30 total credits

Graduate Research Proposal

Every student in the MSE Graduate Program is required to submit a 4000-word (maximum) Graduate research proposal (GRP). As a minimum, the GRP will include the following sections:

  • Cover page giving the title and author’s name, major professor, degree sought and anticipated graduation date.
  • Relevance of Contribution
  • Introduction describing the background, motivation, objectives of the research program
  • Proposed Research Program
  • Expected Results

The GRP will normally be submitted to the student’s POS Committee during the second semester of enrollment. Students may submit the GRP during a later semester, but students will not be permitted to accumulate more than 12 credits of MSE 699 (research) until the GRP has been approved.

Thesis Document

The thesis document must be prepared in accord with the guidelines and formatting requirements of the Graduate College. A complete draft of the thesis must be presented to each POS Committee member and the MSE Graduate Program Coordinator (for public display) at least two weeks before the oral examination.

Final Thesis Presentation/Oral Examination

The final oral examination consists of two parts:

  1. Presentation of the thesis work in the form of a formal seminar that is open to the public
  2. Oral examination by the POS Committee, which will immediately follow the seminar and may include thesis topics and other topics, at the discretion of the POS Committee and Graduate Studies Committee delegate. (See also: Request for Oral Examination.)

For more information about the requirements, see the 2007-2009 graduate handbook.

PhD Requirements

Students are required to maintain a cumulative 3.3 GPA in all their coursework.

They must also complete and submit a “Graduate Student CV Update” form by the last day of classes in each academic semester of enrollment (Fall, Spring, and Summer). These reports will be reviewed periodically by the Graduate Program Committee.

Coursework

As a minimum, every Ph.D. Program of Study in MSE must include:

  • 72 total credits
  • A minimum of 26 coursework credits, including:
    • 2 credits of MSE 610 – Academic Practices achieving a “P” grade
  • A minimum of 36 credits of MSE 699 (Research – graded as A,B,C,D,F)

Beginning in the semester that the student accrues 15 hours of MSE 699 credit, the student is required to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 for all MSE 699 credits taken (including the original 15).

Graduate Research Proposal

Every student in the MSE Graduate Program is required to submit a 4000-word (maximum) Graduate research proposal (GRP). As a minimum, the GRP will include the following sections:

  • Cover page giving the title and author’s name, major professor, degree sought and anticipated graduation date.
  • Relevance of Contribution
  • Introduction describing the background, motivation, objectives of the research program
  • Proposed Research Program
  • Expected Results

The GRP will normally be submitted to the student’s POS Committee during the second semester of enrollment. Students may submit the GRP during a later semester, but students will not be permitted to accumulate more than 12 credits of MSE 699 (research) until the GRP has been approved. Submission deadlines for each semester are listed below:

Ph.D. Qualifying Examination (Written Exam)

Students wishing to become eligible for the Preliminary Ph.D. Oral Exam must pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam (QE). This will generally be taken during the second year of enrollment. A student may defer this exam until a later year, but may not accumulate more than 18 credits of MSE 699 prior to taking the QE. The QE will be focused on the fundamentals of Materials Science and will be based largely on the following “core” subjects:

  • The Structure and Chemistry of Materials
  • Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Materials Systems
  • Physical Properties of Materials
  • Mechanical Behavior and Structure-Property Relations in Materials

The exam will consist of two four-hour written examinations, held on separate days, typically separated by an open day. The first four-hour exam will cover the first two core subjects, and the second exam will cover the last two core subjects. The QE will be offered during the Spring semester of each academic year, typically on or about April 1. Any student wishing to take the QE must submit to the GPC a QE Request Form by February 1 of that year.

PhD Preliminary Examination (Oral Exam)

The PhD Preliminary Examination consists of a written research proposal and a two-part oral examination. The Preliminary Examination must be competed by the end of the fifth semester of
enrollment or the third semester after receiving the MS degree.

The preliminary exam must be a public event with all students and faculty members invited to participate in the discussion.

The exam has two parts.

The first part is devoted to public presentation and discussion of the research topic, literature review, preliminary results, and proposed research plan.

The second part will include an examination and discussion period
conducted by the members of the POS committee. This part will be focused on the fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering in Thermodynamics, Structure, and Properties of materials, as related to the research field of the candidate. The examination questions will be derived largely from the student’s written proposal and oral presentation.

For more information about the requirements, see the 2007-2009 graduate handbook.

For more information on the previous catalog, see the 2005-2007 Degree requirements page