Course Requirements
Research Advisor and Supervisory Committee
Qualifying Exam
Supervised Teaching
Thesis Defense
Summary of the graduate degree requirements
Individual Development Plan (IDP)
Contact Information
Graduate CoordinatorSimon Phillpot, Ph.D. |
Student Academic Advising108 Rhines Hall |
Course Requirements
The MSE Department offers a Ph.D. degree, which requires 90 credits of coursework. In addition to the four core courses, a one-credit course, EMA 6920 Professional Development, and four credits of EMA 6940 Supervised Teaching are required, which should be taken in the Fall semester of the second year. A passing grade for Ph.D. students in the core courses and EMA 6001 is B or better in each course.
Research Advisor and Supervisory Committee
Each Ph.D. student has a supervisory committee whose members guide and supervise the student’s research program. This committee is solely responsible for setting specific degree requirements, conducting and reporting on oral examinations, and approving the student’s doctoral dissertation. The student should meet at least annually with their supervisory committee to discuss their progress toward the Ph.D. degree.
The student’s four-person supervisory committee is usually chaired by his/her research advisor, who must be a Graduate Faculty in Materials Science and Engineering but not necessarily a faculty member of the MSE department. Students must affiliate with a research advisor within the first semester. The other three members of the supervisory committee are selected by the student and the committee chair, and typically complement the student’s research interests. One committee member must be from outside the graduate faculty of MSE.
Students must select a research advisor by November 1 of the first semester. Students need to form their Supervisory Committee no later than the end of their second semester of study or after 12 credit hours to be able to register for a third semester. The Appointment of Supervisory Committee form can be found here. Changes in the supervisory committee membership are made via petition to Academic Advising.
Students without a research advisor will be assigned departmental duties such as a teaching assistant (TA).
Qualifying Exam
The purpose of the Qualifying Exam is to certify that a student possesses the fundamental knowledge and the academic and research skills necessary to complete a Ph.D. thesis.
Successful exam completion implies that the coursework is nearly completed and that other requirements are either complete or nearly completed. For the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam, the students write a Ph.D. research proposal and defend it orally in front of their supervisory committee. In addition, the exam will test knowledge of the four core subjects.
The students have a maximum of two years from entry into the graduate program and up to two attempts to pass the Qualifying Exam. It is recommended to take the exam no later than the end of the fifth term (counting the summer term) from the entry to the graduate program. Students converted from the M.S. program have an extra semester to pass the qualifying exam. The Qualifying Exam is graded pass/fail separately for the writing and oral components. An overall passing grade requires passing both the writing and oral component. All work for the doctorate must be completed within five calendar years after the qualifying examination, or this examination must be repeated.
Students should consult with their advisor and supervisory committee to select a proposal topic. The proposal topic – title and abstract – must be submitted to the supervisory committee at least four weeks before the Ph.D. qualifying exam. The abstract should include a brief description of the students’ significant independent intellectual contribution in formulating the proposed research.
Written Proposal
The proposal should be prepared as if it were to be submitted to a federal agency for consideration and follow guidelines for the proposal summary, description and references of the National Science Foundation or other federal agencies (NIH, DOE, DOD, etc.). Example proposals can be made available by the faculty advisor or by other graduate students. Example proposals from some agencies may also be available online, e.g., the NIH or the NSF.
The proposal should present original research is original and lead to new scientific understanding, new properties or economic benefit. The proposal must demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the literature, describe the tools and techniques to be used to answer the questions raised and how the proposed techniques will specifically answer the questions.
The student should discuss the proposal topic and the requirements, expectations and other issues related to the qualifying exam with his/her research advisor and the committee. However, the written proposal should be primarily the work of the student. The research advisor will not review or edit the written proposal before the proposal document is submitted to the entire supervisory committee.
The document is limited to 20 printed pages, including all figures and tables but excluding references. The document should be single-sided with 1-inch margins all around. The proposal text should have 1.5 line spacing and a 12-point font. The following topics should be addressed:
a) Summary of the proposal (1 page)
b) Introduction, motivation, problem statement, and significance
c) Objectives of proposed research
d) Literature background
e) Proposed research – tasks and experiments to be carried out to achieve objectives
f) Description of procedure and methods
g) Description of preliminary work if applicable
h) Anticipated outcomes and broader impact
i) Timeline and required resources
j) References
The information associated with items b-d above should occupy about 25% of the proposal description, items e-g should occupy about 65%, and h-i should occupy about 10% (excluding abstract and references).
The written proposal document must be submitted to the Supervisory Committee at least five business days before the presentation and oral examination take place.
Oral Presentation and Exam
The proposal presentation and oral examination occur in the same session. The exam cannot be held on reading days. The exam may be held during the final exam week if the student does not have any non-research courses that semester or during academic breaks with the approval of the Supervisory Committee. The chair and external member of the committee must be physically present at the exam; others can call in remotely.
The proposal presentation should be about 30 minutes long and complement the written proposal. The presentation should demonstrate to the committee the value of the proposed research and the ability of the student to identify a scientific problem and determine a plan to resolve it. The audience and the committee may ask questions during or at the end of the presentation. Afterwards, the general audience will be excused.
After the audience is excused, the committee will ask relevant questions to evaluate the student’s competency in the chosen field of research and the proposal (presentation and written proposal). In addition, the committee will evaluate the student’s competency in the core subjects and graduate-level materials science and engineering topics.
Following the oral examination, the student will be excused from the room, and the committee will deliberate on the student’s performance. A pass-or-fail decision will be made at this time. The written and oral components of the exam will be graded separately. Passing both components is required to pass the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. The student will be informed of the committee’s decision after deliberation. If a student receives a failing grade in either the written or the oral component or both, the student can defend the failed component(s) in the next academic term.
If a student in the M.S. program applies to the Ph.D. program and is accepted, the student may elect to take the Qualifying Exam and, upon successful completion, satisfy the Master’s Non-Thesis and the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam simultaneously.
Ph.D. students may qualify to apply for a M.S. degree (non-thesis). Application for an M.S. degree should be made at least one semester before the semester of anticipated graduation from the Ph.D. program.
Supervised Teaching
In their second or third year, every Ph.D. student will also take four credits of EMA 6940 Supervised Teaching and engage in supervised teaching of students (STS) for two separate courses as part of the course requirement for EMA 6940. The expected workload is five hours per week per course. Teaching assignments will be given before the beginning of the semester. As soon as the assignment is made, it is the student’s responsibility to meet with the assigned faculty instructor to discuss duties and expectations. Possible duties may include but are not limited to hosting office hours and review sessions, grading homework and exams, helping create homework and exam problems, preparing homework and exam solutions, proctoring exams, preparing, copying and distributing classroom materials, and attending the lectures and labs. Under special circumstances and agreed upon by the student and instructor, the student can give a lecture.
The TA’s performance will be evaluated by both the faculty instructor and the students enrolled in the course. Those who do not receive satisfactory evaluations by the instructor must repeat the TA assignment in a future semester. The instructor evaluation will also be forwarded to the TA’s research advisor. The TA should communicate regularly and promptly with the instructor to resolve issues related to students’ work in the course as well as the performance and duties of the TA. An official grievance process is in place if the TA feels they are being treated unfairly by the students in the course and/or the faculty instructor. The complaint goes to the MSE Graduate Coordinator first, then to the Associate Chair for Academics, and then to the Department Chair.
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 in order to be awarded an M.S. or Ph.D. degree.
The Thesis Defense must be announced online at least two weeks prior to the defense. Fill out the Oral Examination Announcement form found here and return it to ASO. If you have any internal substitutes (maximum of two), then indicate the substitution on the form. For example, “Dr. Phillpot will substitute for Dr. Perry.” The entire Supervisory Committee must attend and examine the student. External and chair must be physically present at the exam; others can call in remotely. Two internal MSE members may be substituted if necessary. Final examination forms must be returned within five business days of the defense, or ASO will process it as a failed examination.
The student must submit the completed Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (ETD) signature page to ASO no later than three business days prior to the Graduate School Editorial Office’s deadline. If the ETD signature page is not completed at the final examination, then the student will be given
the ETD page for completion. The defense should be no more than six months before the Ph.D. degree is awarded.
The successful completion of the Final Examination must be updated into GIMS by the deadline defined by the UF Graduate School, which is posted on the UF Academic Calendar for each semester. Note that this deadline is typically several weeks prior to the end of classes for that semester. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their Final Examination Report is submitted to their Supervisory Chair with sufficient lead-time to permit review, feedback, modification, assignment of final grade, submission of Final Examination Report Form, and uploading of this form by the GAO.
If the student receives a U grade in the Final Examination, he/she must retake the exam in the next semester. The Final Examination may be retaken only once. If a second U grade is awarded, the student will be released from the program
Summary of the graduate degree requirements
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SCH (Semester Credits Hours) Requirements
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Master (Thesis)
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Master (Non-thesis)
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Doctor of Philosophy
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Total SCH
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30
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30
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90
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MSE Core Requirements
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12
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12
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13
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MSE Electives
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≥6
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≥6
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≥6
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Specialization Electives
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≤9
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≤9
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Variable
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Supervised Teaching
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N/A
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N/A
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4
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Research/Special Project
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≤5
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0
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Variable
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Supervisory committee members (minimum number)
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3
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1
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4
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Qualifying Exam
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None
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None
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Yes
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Final Exam
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Oral Defense and Written Thesis
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Written
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Oral Defense and Written Thesis
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Time limit for completing degree
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7 Years
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7 Years
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5 Years
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