• Admission Requirements
• Degree Requirements
• Required Credits
• Qualifying Examination
• Formation of Dissertation Committee
• Dissertation and Defense

This is a degree program for superior students who wish to do advanced research in an area of materials science and engineering. Current areas of research include electronic and photonic materials, polymer and biomaterials, and composite and structural materials.

Applicants are expected to have an appropriate master's degree in materials science or related field, physics, chemistry, or engineering from an accredited institution. Students entering with a master's degree must have at least a 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale in previous graduate study. Highly qualified students with bachelor's degrees may be accepted directly into the doctoral program. These students must have at least a 3.5 GPA in undergraduate work.

Students with an appropriate master's degree in materials science or related field, physics, chemistry or engineering, are required to complete a minimum of 60 credits beyond the master's degree: 24 credits of course work, 12 of which must be at the 700 level and none at the 500 level, and no less than 9 are materials science and engineering courses. A minimum of 36 credits of doctoral dissertation research is required. Specific course selection, the area of specialization and dissertation topics are approved by the program advisor on an individual basis.

Students entering with bachelor's degrees are required to complete a minimum of 78 credits: 42 credits of course work and 36 credits of doctoral dissertation research. For the course work, the required courses for the M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering are mandatory; no less than 24 credits must be materials science and engineering courses, and no less than 12 credits must be at the 700 level and none at the 500 level. Specific course selection, the area of specialization, and dissertation topics are approved by the program advisor on an individual basis.

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24 credits of course work beyond the master's degree and 36 credits of MtSE 790 Doctoral Dissertation and every semester of MtSE 791 Graduate Seminar.

42 credits of course work and 36 credits of MtSE 790 Doctoral Dissertation and every semester of MtSE 791 Graduate Seminar. Among the course work the following 12 credits are mandatory.

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The student must pass a written and an oral qualifying examination. The written qualifying exam given every summer is administered to test general academic preparation and competence in the research of materials science and engineering. Within one year after passing the written qualifying exam, the student is required to pass the oral qualifying exam to achieve Ph.D. candidacy, in which the potential Ph.D. candidate presents a preliminary research proposal for approval by the dissertation committee. The student will be allowed two attempts to pass the written or oral qualifying exam.

and one of the following

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Within six months of passing the written qualifying examination, doctoral students must form a five-member dissertation committee that meets the approval of the graduate program director for materials science and engineering. The committee must include the dissertation advisor, three additional faculty members from the program, and at least one member from outside the program or NJIT.

An oral presentation and public defense of the doctoral dissertation is required.

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