Materials Science & Engineering PhD Program

Baylor offers a Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering, allowing students to work with faculty across departmental boundaries. Materials Science and Engineering is multidisciplinary in nature, crossing traditional departmental specializations. Students, along with their interdisciplinary dissertation committee, will select from a wide variety of courses and research areas allowing students to establish expertise crossing traditional disciplinary lines. Baylor’s Materials Science and Engineering program specializes in two pillars of national need: Advanced Structural and Multifunctional Materials and Optical and Quantum Materials. The program is research-intensive and designed to prepare students for future careers in industry, federal laboratories, and academia.

Application Deadlines

Fall: January 15
Spring: November 1
Summer: January 15

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Admission Requirements

Students applying to the MSE program must have an exceptional academic record, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Master of Science (M.S.) from an engineering or science degree program, and evidence of research experience. It is not necessary that students with the B.S. degree obtain an M.S. degree before pursuing the doctorate. Tuition waivers and stipends will be available on a competitive basis. Student applications will be reviewed by the graduate program committee for Materials Science and Engineering program.

Program Requirements

The program requirements include a minimum of sixty (60) semester hours of approved course work and research hours. As the Materials Science and Engineering program is inherently cross-disciplinary, there is considerable latitude given to the student, their academic advisor, and their dissertation committee in selecting a course of study combining both coursework and research hours. However, all courses must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee. The semester hours for the Ph.D. must meet the following criteria: six (6) hours of core competency courses selected from one of two tracks, a minimum of fifteen (15) hours of electives selected from the MSE elective listing beyond the six hours of core competency courses, a minimum of twelve (12) hours of MSE doctoral research MSE 6V99, and a minimum of four (4) hours of MSE 5101 (colloquium) two of which must be taken during the student’s first year at Baylor.

Track Options

To satisfy the core competency requirements, students select a single track and complete at least two courses from one of the two sub-areas. Students must receive a B (GPA 3.0) or better for a course to satisfy the core competency requirement.

Structural and Multifunctional Materials Track

Sub-Area	Pre-approved Courses
Solid Mechanics/Materials	PHY 5342, ME 5344, ME 5352, ME 5353, ME 5383, ME 5385
Manufacturing	ME 5364, ME 5365
Advanced Mathematics	ME/ELC/EGR 5302, ME 5351, PHY 5340

Quantum and Optical Materials Track

Sub-Area	Pre-approved Courses
Quantum Materials	PHY 5370, CHE 5325
Solid-State	PHY 5342, CHE 536X
Electromagnetism	PHY 5330, ELC 5336
Spectroscopy and Microscopy	CHE 536X, CHE5345, BIO 5420, BIO 5421

Elective Options

At least fifteen hours of electives must be taken from the following list (descriptions found in Catalog).

PHY 5320 Classical Mechanics I	CHE 536X
PHY 5321 Classical Mechanics II	CHE 5320 Thermodynamics and Statistical Thermodynamics
PHY 5330 Electromagnetic Theory I	CHE 5322 Chemical Kinetics and Mechanisms
PHY 5331 Electromagnetic Theory II	CHE 5323 Structural Studies by X-ray Crystallography
PHY 5340 Statistical Mechanics	CHE 5325 Quantum Chemistry
PHY 5342 Solid State Physics	CHE 5304 Special Topics in Inorganic Chemistry
PHY 5360 Mathematical Physics I	ELC 5302 Engineering Analysis
PHY 5361 Mathematical Physics II	ELC 5336 Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics
PHY 5370 Quantum Mechanics I	ELC 5337 Principles of Microwave Sensing and Measurement
PHY 5371 Quantum Mechanics II	ELC 5396 Special Topics in Engineering¹

ME 5302 Engineering Analysis	ME 5382 Mechanical Behavior of Polymers and Polymeric Composites
ME 5344 Viscoelasticity	ME 5383 Deformation and Fracture in Metals
ME 5351 Intermediate Numerical Methods	ME 5385 Failure Analysis: Theory and Practice
ME 5352 Theory of Elasticity	ME 5396 Special Topics in Engineering²
ME 5353 Continuum Mechanics	BIO 5420 Transmission Electron Microscopy
ME 5364 Introduction to Additive Manufacturing	BIO 5421 Scanning Electron Microscopy
ME 5365 Properties and Processing of Electronic Materials

¹ELC 5396 Special Topics in Engineering advanced courses including: Optoelectronics, Microfabrication, Solid-State Materials, Semiconductor Devices, Fundamentals of Lasers, Integrated Photonics, Computational Photonics, Computational Materials Science, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics for Engineers, Introduction to Quantum Computing
² ME 5396 Special Topics in Engineering advanced courses including: Metal AM Process Selection, Composite Materials, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Fracture Mechanics, Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Advanced Mech. Of Materials

Additional courses may be considered by the graduate program committee based upon the recommendation of the student’s dissertation committee.

Preliminary Examination and Research Proposal

Students must pass a preliminary exam within the first two years of their studies. The preliminary exam format will contain a formal proposal of research along with an oral presentation providing the committee an opportunity to ask questions about the scope and nature of the proposed research. Students who fail the exam are afforded the opportunity to petition the MSE program to retake the exam in the following semester.

Dissertation

The Dissertation Committee shall consist of at least five members of the Baylor graduate faculty, with at least three members from the active MSE faculty and at least one member from outside of the committee chair’s home department.

All students must complete a dissertation. The student's research topic must be in the cross-disciplinary area of Materials Science and Engineering. The dissertation must provide evidence that the candidate has pursued a program of scholarly competence and a significant contribution to the broader scientific knowledge.

Foreign Language Requirements

Program Timeline

Year 1: Balance of coursework and research and establish dissertation committee

Year 2: Preliminary exam and finishing up coursework

Year 3-5: Research, annual reviews, dissertation writing, and dissertation presentation