Master’s Degree (Non-Thesis)
Master’s Degree (Thesis)
Contact Information
Graduate CoordinatorSimon Phillpot, Ph.D. |
Student Academic Advising108 Rhines Hall |
Program Objectives
The University of Florida’s Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) graduate program offers students a world-class education in a world-class research environment. We offer two graduate degrees: Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
Our MSE graduate program includes more than 40 graduate faculty members across multiple colleges and departments and numerous research institutes. Our faculty routinely conduct multidisciplinary research with researchers in other departments. This provides our graduate students exposure to a broad spectrum of concepts and skills, access to state-of-the-art research instrumentation, and the experience of a vibrant, collaborative culture.
MSE graduate students master a set of core concepts and principles critical to a fundamental understanding of materials science and engineering, but also have tremendous flexibility in designing a sequence of coursework and research.
Master’s Degree (Non-Thesis)
The MSE Department offers a Master of Science (M.S.) degree, which requires 30 credit hours of coursework. The M.S. degree may be thesis or non-thesis. The thesis option requires a minimum of five credits of supervised research (EMA 6971). The coursework for the non-thesis option may include up to five credit hours of supervised research (EMA 6910).
Incoming students must either pass a placement exam on fundamentals of materials science or take the introductory materials science course EMA 6001. EMA 6001 is considered an elective course towards the degree.
The core courses for the MSE program are:
- EMA 6316: Materials Thermodynamics
- EMA 6313: Materials Structure and Mechanical Properties
- EMA 6136: Diffusion, Kinetics, and Transport
- EMA 6114: Functional Properties of Materials
In addition to the four core courses and the MSE electives, up to nine credit hours of 5000-level or higher courses from outside the MSE program can be taken based upon a student’s specific interests. In certain cases, 3000 or 4000-level courses may be taken with the approval of the graduate coordinator.
For the non-thesis degree, the graduate coordinator is designated as the graduate committee chair. For the M.S. thesis degree, the committee consists of the research advisor and two additional faculty members, all of whom must be Graduate Faculty in Materials Science and Engineering.
All graduate students are required to register for “EMA6936: Seminar in Materials Science and Engineering” (1 credit) each semester unless that student has registered for nine credits of graded courses in that semester or is in the final semester before graduation and has received a waiver from the Academic Services Office.
- Transfer credits: Graduate-level courses from another university may be considered for transfer to count towards the M.S. or Ph.D. degree with the approval of your supervisory chair or the graduate coordinator. For the M.S. program, up to nine credits may be transferred. All work transferred must be coursework taken with a grade of B or better.
For Transfer of Credit, students need to contact Academic Services Offices and email the transcript via email to advising@mse.ufl.edu. - Time Limitation: all work, including transferred credits, counted toward the master’s degree must be completed during the seven years immediately preceding the date on which the degree is awarded
- Supervisory Committee: must have one member in the MSE Department by the end of the 2nd semester or after 12 credit hours; if you are not working with an individual faculty member, one of the graduate coordinators will supervise your MS Non–Thesis degree
- MSE Non–Thesis Paper: One (1) month prior to graduation, your adviser must email ASO that your paper is acceptable for partial fulfillment of the Masters Non-Thesis degree. Guidelines for the paper may be found by clicking the following link: Non thesis paper guidelines
Master’s Degree (Thesis)
The MSE Department offers a Master of Science (M.S) degree, which requires 30 credits of coursework. The M.S degree may be thesis or non-thesis. The thesis option requires a minimum of 5 credits of supervised research (EMA 6971). In addition to the four core courses and the MSE electives, up to 9 credit hours of 5000-level or higher courses from outside the MSE program can be taken based upon a student’s specific interests. In certain cases, 3000 or 4000-level courses may be taken with the approval of the graduate coordinator. For the M.S. thesis degree, the committee consists of the research adviser and two additional faculty members, all of whom must be Graduate Faculty in Materials Science and Engineering.
- Transfer credits: Graduate-level courses from another university may be considered for transfer to count towards the M.S. or Ph.D. degree with the approval of your supervisory chair or the graduate coordinator. For the M.S. program, up to nine credits may be transferred. All work transferred must be coursework taken with a grade of B or better.
For Transfer of Credit, students must contact Academic Services Offices and send the transcript by email to advising@mse.ufl.edu. - Supervisory Committee – consultation with your Supervisory Committee as necessary is strongly encouraged
- Must have three members in the MSE department by the end of the second semester or after 12 credit hours; to form the committee, turn in a signed form to ASO
- To change a committee, please complete the Committee Change form.
- Thesis defense: The final Thesis Defense examination for the M.S. (thesis) and Ph.D. degree is in the form of a public defense with open questioning followed by a closed session with private questioning by members of the supervisory committee. At the time of the Thesis Defense, the written dissertation must be completed in all respects and editorially acceptable for final approval, though it may be modified as a result of the exam. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all requirements of the Materials Science and Engineering program and the Graduate School have been successfully completed to be awarded an M.S. or Ph.D. degree.
- Graduation: go through a graduation check with the ASO no later than the term before you expect to graduate.
- Apply for your degree by filling out a degree application online. Click on the degree application on the left side panel. This must be done before the deadline posted by UF for each term. See the UF registrar website.
- Comply with Graduate School rules, thesis/dissertation and final examination deadlines.
- Refer to the ETD website for submission information and current deadline dates.
- Register for a minimum 3 credits EMA 6971, MS Research, in the final term for fall/spring graduation (2 credits EMA 6971 for summer)
- Complete the departmental employment questionnaire and exit interview and return it to the ASO.
Courses
To learn more about the course offerings for master’s and Ph.D. students in Materials Science and Engineering, please see the course descriptions HERE
Summary of the graduate degree requirements
| SCH (Semester Credits Hours) Requirements | Master (Thesis) | Master (Non-thesis) | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Total SCH | 30 | 30 | 90 |
| MSE Core Requirements | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| MSE Electives | ≥6 | ≥6 | ≥6 |
| Specialization Electives | ≤9 | ≤9 | Variable |
| Supervised Teaching | N/A | N/A | 4 |
| Research/Special Project | ≤5 | 0 | Variable |
| Supervisory committee members (minimum number) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Qualifying Exam | None | None | Yes |
| Final Exam | Oral Defense and Written Thesis | Written | Oral Defense and Written Thesis |
| Time limit for completing degree | 7 Years | 7 Years | 5 Years |