Materials Science and Engineering (PhD)

Program Overview

UCF's Materials Science and Engineering PhD program provides a research-based education for advanced studies, preparing students for careers in industry or academia. The program requires a minimum of 72 credit hours, including assessments such as qualifying exams and dissertation defenses. Financial assistance is available through fellowships and assistantships, and students can choose elective coursework to complement their research interests.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Materials Science and Engineering PhD program at UCF provides students with a fundamental and applied research-based education suitable for seeking employment in industry or academia. The program is designed for students with a master's degree in materials science and engineering or closely related disciplines. The program requires a minimum of 72 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. This includes 27 hours of formal course work exclusive of independent study and a minimum of 15 hours of dissertation research (EMA 7980). A minimum of 12 credit hours of elective coursework is required to be taken at UCF. Details of program requirements are located in the Materials Science and Engineering PhD Handbook.

Assessment:

The program includes several assessments:

• Doctoral Qualifying Exam: This is a multi-part exam consisting of an initial written assessment in the fall term and a second written assessment as well as an oral assessment in the following spring term.
Successful completion qualifies students to continue in the PhD program.
• Candidacy Exam: This exam should be taken in the semester the student completes 57 credit hours of required coursework.
The student must prepare a written description of their proposed dissertation research and present it to their dissertation committee for review prior to the exam. The student may also be questioned orally by the committee on topics relevant to the proposed dissertation research.
• Dissertation Proposal Defense: The dissertation proposal must be successfully defended and accepted by the Dissertation Committee in a meeting convened for that purpose.
The proposal must be a complete dissertation document provided to the committee at least two weeks prior to the date of defense.
• Dissertation Defense: All dissertations in Materials Science and Engineering must represent high-quality scientific work.
Prior to scheduling the dissertation defense, the high quality of the research must be evidenced by: (1) two refereed journal publications with the doctoral candidate as first author that are in print, or formally accepted for publication, or (2) satisfaction of an alternative publication requirement as recommended by the Dissertation Advisory Committee and approved by a majority vote at a meeting of the program faculty. All members of the Dissertation Committee vote on acceptance or rejection of the dissertation proposal and the final dissertation. The dissertation proposal and final dissertation must be approved by a majority of the advisory committee.

Careers:

• Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans.
The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
• Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students.
They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student's graduate study and do not have a work obligation.
• Students entering the Materials Science and Engineering PhD program with a bachelor's degree are required to complete 72 credit hours of graduate coursework, of which 27 hours must be formal coursework, 12 credit hours must be elective courses taken at UCF and a minimum of 15 dissertation credit hours.
• Students entering the Materials Science and Engineering PhD program with a master's degree are required to complete 72 credit hours of graduate coursework including up to 30 hours of credit transfer for formal courses from their master's degree.
These students have to take at least 12 credit hours of formal elective courses as listed below at UCF and 27 credit hours of formal graduate coursework in total.
• The rest of the hours in the PhD program can be chosen by the student in consultation with the adviser and the dissertation committee and with the approval of the program director.
• Full-time students in the Materials Science and Engineering PhD program pay $17 per semester for equipment each semester that they are enrolled.
Part-time students pay $8.50 per semester.