Materials Science and Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies: John Abelson
201 Materials Science and Engineering Building
1304 West Green Street
Urbana, Illinois 61801
(217) 333-1441
Fax: (217) 333-2736
E-mail: mse@illinois.edu
Major: Materials Science and Engineering
Degrees Offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Joint Degree Program: Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering and the Master of Business Administration
Degrees Offered: M.S. and M.B.A. or Ph.D. and M.B.A.
Medical Scholars Program: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Materials Science and Engineering and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) through the Medical Scholars Program
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) offers graduate study leading to master's and doctoral degrees. The department is consistently ranked in the top three programs in the nation (undergraduate and graduate) by U.S. News and World Report. It offers opportunities to specialize in ceramics, electronic materials, metals, polymers, biomaterials, and/or computational materials science, with strong research programs in all of the areas. Opportunity also exists for specializing in computational science and engineering within the department's graduate program via the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Option. The Medical Scholars Program permits highly qualified students to integrate the study of medicine with study for a graduate degree in a second discipline, including Materials Science and Engineering.
Admission
Students with bachelor's or master's degrees in the natural sciences or engineering will be considered for admission if they have a grade point average of at least 3.00 (A = 4.00) for the last two years of undergraduate study. The general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required. Admission is possible for the spring semester, but most admissions are for the fall semester. Full details of admission requirements are on the department's graduate admissions Web site.
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit a minimum TOEFL score of 103 (iBT), 257 (CBT), or 613 (PBT); or minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic exam scores of 7.0 overall and 6.0 in all subsections. Applicants may be exempt from the TOEFL if certain criteria are met. Full admission status is granted for those taking the TOEFL or IELTS since the scores required for admission to MatSE are above the minimum scores demonstrating an acceptable level of English language proficiency.
Applicants to the joint M.B.A.degree program must meet the admissions standards for both programs and be accepted by both programs.
Students may apply to the Medical Scholars Program prior to beginning graduate school or while in the graduate program. Applicants to the Medical Scholars Program must meet the admissions standards for and be accepted into both MatSE and the College of Medicine. An application to the Medical Scholars Program will also serve as the application to the MatSE graduate program. Further information on this program is available by contacting the Medical Scholars Program, 125 Medical Sciences Building, (217) 333-8146 or at www.med.uiuc.edu/msp.
Degree Requirements
*For additional details and requirements, please refer to the department's Graduate Degree Requirements Handbook and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Science
| Required Courses: | Thesis Option - Required Hours | Non-thesis Option - Required Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Advisor group meetings and area seminars: Polymer and Biomaterials area students take MSE 559 every semester; Ceramics area students take MSE 529 for first 4 semesters; others may take MSE 590; all limited to 2 hours max toward the degree< | 2 max | 2 max |
| MSE 595 for 0 or 1 hour required; max of 2 hours can count toward degree. Students must enroll for the first 4 semesters of residence. | 2 | 2 |
| MSE 492 (does not count toward degree) | 0 | 0 |
| Thesis Hours Required (min/max applied toward degree): | 8 | 0 |
| Total Hours | 32 | 36 |
Hours Required Within the Unit: |
8 | 8 |
500-level Hours Required Overall in Program: |
12 | 12 |
Coursework hours-Total Required |
24 | 36 |
| Non-Coursework Requirements:* | ||
| Thesis must be approved by the adviser and the department head | For students who do not hold a research assistantship |
Doctor of Philosophy
| Required Courses: | Required Hours-Entering with approved M.S. degree | Required Hours - Entering with approved B.S. degree* |
|---|---|---|
| Advisor group meetings and area seminars: Polymer and Biomaterials Students take MSE 559 every semester; Ceramics area students take MSE 529 for first 4 semesters; others may take MSE 590 | 2 (max applied to degree) | 4 (max applied to degree) |
| MSE 595 for 0 or 1 hour required. Students must enroll during their first 2 years in residence. | 2 (max applied to degree) | 4 (max applied to degree) |
| MSE 492 but hours do not count toward degree | 0 | 0 |
| MSE 500 or CHEM 544 or PHYS 504, with a B or better | 4 | 4 |
| Thesis Hours Required (min/max applied toward degree): | 44 | 52 |
| Total Hours | 64 | 96 |
Hours Required Within the Unit: |
8 | 16 |
500-level Hours Required Overall in Program: |
8 | 20 |
Coursework Hours-Total Required |
20 | 44 |
| Non-Coursework Requirements:* | ||
| Qualifying Exam Required | Yes | Yes |
| Preliminary Exam Required | Yes | Yes |
| Final Exam/Dissertation Defense Required | Yes | Yes |
| Dissertation Deposit Required | Yes | Yes |
* These students may earn a Master of Science degree during the Ph.D. program.
Joint Degree Program
The joint M.B.A. program requires completion of the M.S. or Ph.D. degree requirements as prescribed above, plus 60 graduate hours for the M.B.A. degree, including 40 hours of M.B.A. core course work; and 20 hours of M.B.A. elective course work to fulfill the requirements of a concentration.
Medical Scholars Program
Students in the Medical Scholars program must meet the specific requirements for both the medical and graduate degrees. On average, students take eight years to complete both degrees The first year of the combined program is typically spent meeting requirements of the Materials Science and Engineering graduate degree.
Faculty Research Interests
The backgrounds of faculty members vary widely within the broad areas of ceramics, electronic materials, metals, polymers, biomaterials, and computational materials science. In addition, research collaborations with other faculty outside the department are frequent. For a detailed list of faculty research interests and publications, view the MatSE department's faculty biographies and the Summary of Engineering Research.
Facilities and Resources
The MatSE department has an outstanding array of facilities available for materials research. These facilities, in addition to laboratories in the department's buildings, include, among others, the Materials Research Laboratory, Center for Microanalysis of Materials, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. The National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the MRL Center for Computation are readily available. Information about these facilities may be found at the MatSE department's facilities information Web site.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is available in the form of research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and partial fellowships. All applicants, regardless of U.S. citizenship, whose native language is not English and who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must demonstrate spoken English language proficiency by achieving a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), 24 on the speaking subsection of the TOEFL iBT, or 8 on the speaking subsection of the IELTS. For students who are unable to take the TSE, iBT, or IELTS, a minimum score of 50 is required on the SPEAK test, offered on campus. All new teaching assistants are required to participate in the Graduate Academy for College Teaching conducted prior to the start of the semester.