Formal Structure within our Department:

The formal structure of the proposed Materials Chemistry Program is a "Ph.D. Major Option". It has equal standing with the other 4 Major Options in Analytical, Inorganic, Organic, and Physical Chemistry and is, in effect, a "5 th major". It is worthwhile noting that graduate student degrees awarded by our university typically only state a major in "Chemistry", unless a student both majors and minors in a field of chemistry; only in the latter case are specific major options formally listed on the degree. 

Students in the Materials Chemistry program can have any member of the chemistry department as their major adviser. Unlike a formal "Division", the Materials Chemistry Program is exclusively a graduate program that has no undergraduate courses associate with it. It also has no faculty who are assigned exclusively to it; all "materials" faculty also have appointments in one of the traditional divisons (analytical, inorganic, organic, physical).  Most administrative aspects of the program done with a steering committee of faculty members, in consultation with any and all faculty members expressing interest in and/or having students in the program. The current steering committee consists of:

• Professor Robert Hamers (chair)
• Professor Robert Corn
• Professor Art Ellis
• Professor Robert McMahon
• Professor Gilbert Nathanson
• Professor Hyuk Yu

The Materials Chemistry Ph.D. program curriculum consists of:

1) A set of major courses.

2) A minor (required by the Graduate School)

2) A set of seminars and discussions, aimed at increasing the students' breadth of knowledge and helping to make contact with the scientific literature.

3) A thesis background exam, to be given during the spring of the student's second year year.

4) An independent research proposal, to be done some time in the student's third year of graduate study.

Coursework Requirements:

The Ph.D. degree requires fulfilling both a major requirement (determined by the department) and a minor requirement (determined by the Graduate School).

Courses in the major :

Students are required to take 3 material-oriented courses. At the present time, there are three specially-designed courses "core" courses in materials chemistry offered by the department.  These are:

• Chemistry of Inorganic Materials (3 credits, currently listed as Chemistry 630, Special Topics in Analytical Chemistry, taught by R.J. Hamers)
• Chemistry of Organic Materials (3 credits, currently listed as Chemistry 842, taught by R. McMahon)
• Materials Chemistry of Polymers (3 credits, listed as Chemistry 642, taught by H. Yu and M. Ediger)

These three courses are designed to provide a broad overview of the materials field.  In addition, there are a number of other materials-related courses offered within the department. 

The present coursework requirement is for students to choose at least three graduate-level courses from an "approved list" of materials-related courses.  In almost all cases, two of these should be the core courses in inorganic and organic materials (Chem 630 from R. Hamers and Chem 842 from R. McMahon), leaving one additional course to be chosen depending on the student's research interests.  Students with an interest in polymers should take Chem 642 as their third "required" course.   Students with interest in other areas might choose another graduate-level course such as 

• Chemistry 777 (Physical Chemistry of Surfaces), 
• Chemistry 613 (Chemical Crystallography), 
• Chemistry 624 (Electrochemistry), 
• Chemistry Engineering 544 (Electronic Materials Processing) 
• Physics 551 (Solid-State Physics),
• Materials Science and Engineering 530 (Thermodynamics of Solids)
• Materials Science and Engineering 770 (Methods of Surface and Interface Characterization)

Students need to  be aware that many of these courses, including the three core courses , are not offered every year.  Most are offered only every other year.  So, students need to sure to take the courses when the opportunity arises. 

Courses in the minor:

In addition to the major course requirement, students must also fulfill the normal minor requirement mandated by the graduate school.  The graduate school defines two types of minor: a focused minor ("option A") and a distributed minor ("option B").  The focused minor involves taking classes in a specific field outside of materials chemistry. This can be another field of chemistry (physical chemistry, organic chemistry, etc.) or can be a different field (physics, etc.). The distributed minor requires taking classes from several different departments for greater breadth.  Students need to fulfill the requirements for either option A or option B, but not both.  Each one requires 10 credits of graduate-level classes (normally 500-level or above).. Since the minor requirements are set by the graduate school and not by the department, students should consult the Graduate School for more information .  

Seminars/Cumes:

The Materials Chemistry Program does not have "cumulative exams".  However, there is required attendance at Materials Chemistry seminars, which will be held 1-2 times per month, Mondays at 4:30 P.M.   For many seminars, students will be given ~2 papers by the speaker to read in advance.  Approximately 1 week before the seminar the students will meet with a faculty member to go over the papers. On the day of the seminar, Materials Chem students will meet (as a group) with the speakers for approximately 1 hour. Reading of the papers, participation in group discussions, and meeting with the speakers is required of all materials chemistry students, in all years of graduate study.

Thesis background exam:

This multi-part exam consists of preparing a detailed document (typical length is ~15 pages, single-spaced) describing your research project, an oral presentation (open to all) of background and progress to date, and a closed-door examination by 3 faculty members in addition to your adviser.  It is intended to test your ability to design experiments, interpret data, and connect your planned research to the coursework you have taken.  It is not intended to be a test of your adviser's ideas, but to test how well you are are prepared to carry out your Ph.D. research project.  The thesis background document should be modeled after a standard research proposal to the NSF or NIH. It should include motivation for the project, any background information needed for a non-specialist to understand the area of research, identification of the scientific questions to be answered, a discussion of how those questions will be answered (types of experiments, their interpretation, etc.), and a brief discussion of the impact your research will have if it is successful.  If you're not sure of the format, please ask.  The Thesis Background Exam should be taken during your second year of graduate study. 

Independent Research Proposal:

An independent research proposal must be written, presented, and defended.  Normally this would be done during the student's third year of graduate study. The RP includes a written document and an oral presentation, followed by a closed-door exam. The format is similar to that of the Thesis Background Exam, except that the independent RP must be in an area significantly different from your area of thesis research.

Timing:

Fall semester, first year:  Attend seminars and participate in seminar discussions.  You must choose a research adviser by the end of the first semester. 

Spring semester, first year: attend materials chem seminars and participate in discussions.  In most cases, you should be starting to do some research.

Second year: Complete Thesis Background exam, attend materials chem seminars and participate in discussions.  During the second year you should be actively engaged in doing research, and obtaining preliminary data for your thesis background exam.  The thesis background exam should be completed by the end of the second year. 

Third year: Complete Research Proposal, attend materials chem seminars and participate in discussions. Under normal circumstances most students will be done taking classes.  In the third year your primary responsibility should normally be on doing your research. 

Fourth and later years: Thesis research.  Attendance at materials chemistry seminars and participating in discussions  is highly recommended. 

Further Information:

Students desiring more information on the materials chemistry program should contact Professor Robert Hamers.