Materials Science and Engineering (MS)
Program Code: G-MSEG-MS
Degree Designation: Master of Science
Department: Pratt School of Engineering, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Website: dmi.duke.edu/degrees/masters
Program Summary
The University Program in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is a multi-disciplinary graduate program that resides within the Graduate School. This multi-department program is designed to accommodate MS students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and to help create a thriving materials community across campus through shared curricular experiences. Participating departments from Pratt School of Engineering and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences include Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Physics. The research areas of emphasis in the MSE Program include soft matter and biomaterials, computational materials science, metamaterials, energy materials, electronic/photonic/quantum materials, and sustainable materials. In addition, the potential for unique exposure and access to the School of Medicine, the Sanford School of Public Policy, the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative can provide the resources needed for students to chart their paths. Information about the graduate program may be found on the MSE website.
Academic Requirements
At least thirty-course credits are required for students with a bachelor’s degree to receive graduate degrees in the MSE Program. For the MS degree, only a project option is available. Core courses (3 or 4 credits each) are required to cover fundamentals and to prepare for research with MSE affiliated faculty. These core courses should be taken in the first year and must be selected from nine options. MS students must select six courses. In addition to the minimum of 18 course credits from the core courses, a three-semester seminar course (3 credits total) and three elective courses (3 or 4 credits each) are required, all of which should be completed within the second year for a minimum of 30 course credits. The elective courses must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. A maximum of one elective course may be replaced with an independent study to receive course credit for research. Academic Integrity and Responsible Conduct of Research training is required by The Graduate School: 6 hours for MS students.
Core Courses
CHEM 548: Solid State/Materials Chemistry (Fall)
CHEM 544: Statistical Mechanics (Fall) or ECE 521: Quantum Mechanics (Fall)
ME 562: Materials Synthesis & Processing (Fall)
ME 511: Computational Materials Science (Spring)
ME 563: Fundamentals of Soft Matter (Spring), ME 555, Section 7: Fundamentals of Soft Matter (Spring)
ECE 721/ME 711: Nanotechnology Materials Lab (Spring) or PHYS 670: Experimental Methods in Condensed Matter Physics (Spring) or ECE 511/NANO511: Found. of Nanoscale Sci. & Technology (Spring)
Seminar Course
ME 560S: Materials Science and Engineering Seminar (3 semesters)
Elective Courses
Choose three electives. Must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.
MS Project Exam
A project exam is required to complete the MS degree. In the project exam, a poster presentation is reviewed by the Graduate Exam Committee.