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PhD in Materials Science & Engineering

The Division of Materials Science & Engineering offers post-bachelor's and post-master's PhDs. Doctoral studies may be pursued in areas actively researched by division faculty.

Students admitted to the post-bachelor's PhD program must complete the course requirements for the MS in Materials Science & Engineering. They are required to take a minimum of 64 units during their program of study. The remaining required PhD unit hours remain unstructured, provided they have some engineering, science, or engineering management content.

Post-bachelor's doctoral students will be awarded the MS degree upon completion of MS degree requirements and the PhD Prospectus Exam.

There are no structured course requirements for post-master's PhD students, but such students are required to complete 32 units applicable to the degree, all of which must be at the 500 level or higher. It is, however, strongly suggested that the post-master's PhD student take appropriate core courses to pass the PhD qualifying examination.

Post-bachelor's PhD students are required to take four core and two concentration courses (see MSE master's degree description for a list of these courses), and a minimum of 16 units of ENG MS 900 PhD Research/ENG MS 991 PhD Dissertation coursework. Post-master's PhD students are required to take a minimum of 8 units of ENG MS 900 PhD Research/ENG MS 991 PhD Dissertation coursework.

Doctoral students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. All graduate courses are counted in the GPA. Only grades of B? or better fulfill PhD curricular requirements. This requirement applies to post-bachelor's or post-master's PhD students.

Doctoral students must satisfy a residency requirement of at least two consecutive academic-year terms of full-time graduate study at Boston University. For further information, email mse@bu.edu.

Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the PhD in Materials Science & Engineering program will be able to:

Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to identify, formulate, and solve materials science and engineering problems.

Use modern engineering tools and techniques to successfully practice the engineering profession in a variety of settings.

Use oral and written communication to convey technical concepts to engineers and non-engineers.

Carry out independent research in the area of materials science and engineering, and effectively communicate the results.

Lead technical innovation and train future generations of engineers.

Advisors

Upon entry into the Materials Science & Engineering program, each student will be appointed an academic advisor from the MSE faculty. The advisor will act as the student's primary academic advisor until the student selects a research advisor(s).

Finding a Research Home

Students are expected to find a research home by the end of their second term. A student can either join a research group directly on their arrival, or can go through a rotation program through different laboratories. If a student does not find a research home after two rotations (at least three months each) by the end of the second term, division support over the summer may be available on a case-by-case basis. A lack of adequate effort to secure a research home by the end of the second term, or the inability to find a faculty research supervisor willing to support the student with RA funding by the end of 12 months, is interpreted as the student making insufficient progress toward the PhD and the student may be subject to removal from the program.

Subject Qualifying Examination