Materials Science and Engineering

Master's

Master’s Degree Program

The graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering is an in-depth, hands-on approach to graduate study, centering on the research areas of computational materials, electronic, optical and magnetic materials, microscopies and scattering, materials for energy, materials for health science, structural materials, polymers and soft matter.

Graduate programs at Penn are organized around Graduate Groups rather than traditional departmental divisions. The MSE Graduate Group is a vibrant, multi-disciplinary group and consists of faculty from several departments in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the School of Arts and Sciences. This structure provides an ideal environment for interdisciplinary research and an education tailored to meet the complex technological challenges of this millennium.

The research activities in MSE allow the theses of our students to be co-advised by faculty drawn from diverse disciplines. After graduation, many of our students have assumed leadership roles in industry and academia.

For more information, please see our Graduate Student Resources.

Master’s Degree Requirements
The Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) degree in Materials Science and Engineering requires students to complete ten credits in graduate courses at the 5000 level or higher. Students may choose to earn the degree by pursuing a non-thesis or a thesis option.

  1. Non-thesis course-based option: Students successfully complete ten credits of courses at the 5000 or higher level. All ten courses must carry a letter grade (A, B, C or D).
  2. Non-thesis option with independent study: Students take eight courses credits at the 5000 or higher level earning letter grades and complete two Masters Independent Study (MSE 5990) credits. Students receive a letter grade (A, B, C, D or F) in MSE 5990. Independent Study requires a faculty advisor; see detail below about selecting an advisor.
  3. Thesis option: Students take seven course credits at the 500 or higher level earning letter grades and complete three credits of research with a faculty member by registering for two research credits (MSE 5970 Masters Thesis Research) and one Independent Study (MSE 5990). Students receive a letter grade (A, B, C, D or F) in both MSE 5970 and MSE 5990. Students must have their thesis approved by their thesis advisor and the Graduate Group Chair, as well as submit their thesis to the Graduate Group Coordinator. The thesis option requires a faculty advisor; see details below about selecting an advisor.

Students must complete 10 credits, following the requirements below.

1. Students must secure written approval for all course selections from the Masters Program Advisor. Furthermore, all changes to these course selection must be approved in writing by the Masters Program Advisor. Students wishing to take courses not listed below should get written approval from the Masters Program Advisor. All nonelective courses should have technical/scientific content relevant to the student’s M.S.E. degree program.

2. Six MSE courses (5000 level or higher) requiring a letter grade are compulsory. Up to seven MSE courses are highly recommended for obtaining a solid background in materials science. Three MSE courses are compulsory in the first semester of study. Sample MSE courses include:

MSE 5000 Experimental Methods in Materials Science
MSE 5050 Mechanical Properties
MSE 5070 Fundamentals of Materials
MSE 5150 Math for Materials Science
MSE 5180 Biological Materials
MSE 5200 Structure of Materials
MSE 5250 Nanoscale Science and Engineering
MSE 5300 Thermodynamics and Phase Equilibria
MSE 5360 Electronic Properties of Materials
MSE 5370 Nanotribology
MSE 5400 Phase Transformations
MSE 5450 Materials for Energy and Environmental Susceptibility
MSE 5500 Elasticity & Micromechanics
MSE 5550 Electrochemical Engineering of Materials
MSE 5610 Atomistic Modeling in Materials Science
MSE 5650 Fabrication & Characterization of Micro & Nanostructured Materials
MSE 5700 Physics of Solids I
MSE 5750 Statistical Mechanics
MSE 5800 Polymers and Biomaterials
MSE 6100 TEM and Crystalline Imperfections
MSE 6400 Optical Materials
MSE 6500 Mechanics of Soft and Biomaterials
MSE 7900 Special topics

3. A maximum of two SEAS courses relevant to materials science are permitted. Note that only one Engineering Entrepreneurship course will count as a MSE related SEAS-course. A second entrepreneurship course will be counted as a free elective in addition. Sample courses include:

CBE 5350 Interfacial Phenomena
CIT 5900 Programming Lang. & Tech.
EAS 5100 Tech. Comm. & Acad. Writing
EAS 5450 Engineering Entrepreneurship I
EAS 5460 Engineering Entrepreneurship II
ENM 5110 Foundations of Eng. Math
ESE 5210 Semiconductor Devices
ESE 5360 Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterization
In addition, PHYS 5180 Condensed Matter Physics is allowed.

4. A maximum of two free electives (5000 level or higher) are permitted. Free electives can be selected from across the university, including SEAS, SAS and Wharton. Also, free electives are not permitted for students pursuing a dual degree at Penn.

5. During the first semester, Masters degree students are not permitted to take Independent Study and are required to enroll in only MSE courses.

6. All Masters degree students must maintain a GPA of 2.7 or higher to be in good standing and for graduation. Students are required to attend weekly MSE seminars organized by the department as part of their education and exposure to latest scientific advances.

7. Transfer of credits:

  • A maximum of two graduate-level course units may be transferred from another school to apply toward the M.S.E. degree if approved by the Masters Program Advisor. These two courses cannot have been used in the fulfillment of an undergraduate degree.
  • Sub-matriculants may count up to three 5000 or higher level courses for both degrees

Required Courses

NOTES:

  1. Thesis Option ‐ Students who would like to complete a thesis may take two (2) units of MSE 5970 (Thesis Research).
  2. A maximum of two course units of Independent Study (MSE 5990) is allowed.
  3. A maximum of two graduate‐level course units may be transferred from another school to apply toward the M.S.E. degree if approved by the Masters Program Advisor. These two courses should not have been used in the fulfillment of an undergraduate degree. Sub-matriculants can count up to three 5000 or higher level courses for both degrees.
  4. “All Master’s students are required to register for MSE 6990 (Seminar) during their time in the program. While this is a non-credit, non-tuition course, it is a mandatory requirement for graduation.”

Process for Selecting Advisors for Research and Independent Study
Students interested in pursuing the non-thesis option with independent study or the thesis option are encouraged to attend Faculty Research Presentations in the late August and September . Students can also meet with individual faculty and the Master’s Program Advisor to discuss their research interests.

At the end of the first academic year, the Masters Program Advisor will conduct a graduation audit for each student. The courses already completed and the courses needed to fulfill graduation requirement will be reviewed.