Materials Science and Engineering Major, PhD

Concentrations (Optional)

Automotive Materials
Energy Science and Engineering
Nanomaterials

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• The materials science and engineering program is flexible and interdisciplinary in nature. Students may be admitted from a wide range of disciplines. These include physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering, nuclear engineering and engineering science programs.
• Applicants for admission to the PhD program in materials science and engineering are expected to have completed a bachelor’s degree in an area of engineering or science with a grade-point-average of at least 2.70 out of 4.00 (or 3.00 during the senior year of undergraduate study).
• All applicants must submit scores from the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
• Applicants whose native language is not English must have a minimum TOEFL score of 550 on the written exam or 80 on the Internet-based Test to be considered for admission to the programs.
• After one year in residence and with the approval of the faculty, a student may proceed directly to the doctoral program without completion of a master’s degree.

Credit Hours Required

Minimum of 72 graduate credit hours after the bachelor’s degree, 42 graduate credit hours after the master’s degree

Required Courses

• A minimum 36 graduate course credit hours are required.

• Completion of all four of the “core” graduate curriculum courses (total 12 credit hours):

• MSE 511 - Crystallography, Crystal Chemistry and Diffraction
• MSE 512 - Mechanics of Materials
• MSE 513 - Thermodynamics of Materials
• MSE 514 - Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of Materials
• At least 6 credit hours of 600-level courses taken at UT are required.
• MSE 503 - Graduate Seminar in Materials Science and Engineering (Up to 6 credit hours may be counted toward the graduate course credit hours requirement.)
• A minimum of 24 graduate course credit hours must be MSE courses taken at UT.
• MSE 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation (minimum of 24 credit hours is required)
• A maximum of 24 graduate course credit hours earned at another institute may be used to satisfy the total (72) credit hour requirement for the PhD degree in MSE at UT (non-UT graduate course credit hours must be approved by the PhD committee and may not include thesis credit hours earned at another institute)

Additional Concentration Requirements

• Automotive Materials Concentration at least 12 credit hours of coursework must be from the approved automotive materials specialization list.
• Energy Science and Engineering Concentration, all 18 graduate credit hours of coursework must be from the curriculum jointly approved by the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education and the MSE graduate affairs committee.
• Nanomaterials Concentration at least 12 credit hours of coursework must be from the approved nanomaterials specialization list.

Non-Course Requirements

• Satisfactory performance on the Comprehensive Examination. In MSE, this comprehensive examination consists of three parts:
  • the Qualifying Examination;
  • the Dissertation Proposal (this proposal satisfies the Graduate School written requirement for the comprehensive examination);
  • the Dissertation Proposal Oral Examination (this oral portion of the comprehensive examination is encouraged by the Graduate School).

Additional Information — Concentration Course Lists