Graduate School Bulletin

Requirements for the M.S. Degree in Materials Science and Engineering

A minimum of 30 graduate credits is required to earn the Master of Science in ESM (Non-Thesis option) or (Thesis option).

A. The following courses must be taken by all ESM MS students: 

• Three core courses (ESM 511 Thermodynamics of Solids; ESM 513 Strength of Materials; and ESM 521 Kinetic of Materials) for a total of 9 credits. 
• Additional five elective courses within the ESM program for a total of 15 credits are required. 
• Only six credits of ESM 696 Special Topics in Materials Science are allowed. Additional ESM 696 credits require permission of the Graduate Program Director.
• All students must enroll in ESM 697 Materials Science Colloquium course every semester until graduation for 0 credits.
•  All courses taken outside the Department require permission from the Graduate Program Director.  
• A grade point average of B or better must be attained for the core ESM courses taken and an overall grade point average of 3.0 out of 4.0 must be maintained overall.

M.S. Non-Thesis Option

The election of this option must be made by the student by the end of the second semester of admission to the program and will be considered a terminal degree. For students who opt for the Non-thesis option, the culmination of the degree is earned by completing an appropriate project. A project must be a written proposal that summarizes the goals and objectives of a capstone project intended to demonstrate a student's readiness for their field. This project proposal document must be submitted by the student to a committee of three members, at least two of whom are core faculty members in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, including the project advisor and/or the graduate program director. The project option is recommended for students who wish to pursue a career in industry that does not involve Research & Development (R&D). Students pursing the project option must enroll in ESM 595 for up to 6 credits to document completion of the project. If enrolled in less than 6 credits for this course, the student must then complete the rest of the required credits by completing additional coursework as elective.

M.S. Thesis Option

The election of this option must be made by the student by the end of the second semester of admission to the program and is normally considered part of the Ph.D. sequence. Students may not transfer to the Non-Thesis Option while registered for a Thesis Master’s or a Ph.D. degree. For students who opted for the thesis option, the culmination of the degree is earned through appropriate research completed under the supervision of a research advisor. The thesis option is recommended for students who will be continuing on for their doctoral degree or for students who wish to pursue an industrial career that involve Research & Development (R&D) focus. The thesis must be approved by three faculty members, at least two of whom are core faculty members in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, including the research advisor. Students must enroll in ESM 599 for 6 credits under the research advisor within the department or the graduate program director to complete and submit a thesis on their research submitted digitally through Stony Brook University's ProQuest/UMI ETD administrator site following guidelines provided by Grad School and the department.

B. Final Recommendation

Upon fulfillment of the above requirements, the Graduate Program Committee will recommend to the Dean of the Graduate School that the Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering with a Non-Thesis or Thesis degree be conferred or will stipulate further requirements that the student must fulfill. C. Transfer to Other Options
Transfer to another degree option in the Department can be made only with the written permission of the Graduate Program Director.
 
Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in Materials Science and Engineering

A. Plan of Work

Before completion of one year of full-time residency, with the help of the department’s process of selection, the student must have selected a research advisor who agrees to serve in that capacity. The student will then prepare a plan of further coursework. This must receive the approval of the student’s advisor and of the Graduate Program Committee.

B. Coursework
 
1. An average grade of B or higher is required for all courses.

2. A minimum of 60 graduate credits are required to graduate with a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering: Of which a minimum of 24 graduate course credits are required to be completed (excluding ESM 501: Teaching and Mentoring Techniques, ESM 514: Technical Writing for Scientists, ESM 599: Research, ESM 697: Materials Science and Engineering Colloquium, ESM 698: Practicum in Teaching, and ESM 699: Dissertation Research on Campus). 

• Three core courses (ESM 511 Thermodynamics of Solids; ESM 513 Strength of Materials; and ESM 521 Kinetic of Materials) for a total of 9 credits. 
• Additional five elective courses within the ESM program for a total of 15 credits are required. 
• All courses taken outside the Department require permission from the Graduate Program Director.
• All students must complete ESM 501: Teaching and Mentoring Techniques, ESM 514: Technical Writing for Scientists for 1 credit each, and CME 697: Chemical and Molecular Engineering Colloquium for the duration of their coursework until graduation for 0 credit. These courses do not count towards the 24 graduate coursework credits but are required courses.
• All full -time PhD students must act as teaching assistants for five semesters (regardless of support), and they must register for ESM 698 Practicum in Teaching- in all five semesters for 0 credits.
• All students must complete ESM 599: Research, for at least a total of 16 credits  

C. Preliminary Examination

A preliminary examination must be taken during the student’s fifth semester as a Ph.D. student once all of the above requirements are completed. This is an oral examination designed to test the student’s ability to utilize his or her materials science and engineering background to carry out research in a chosen field of study, and to make clear written and oral presentations of research. At least ten days prior to the examination, the candidate should submit a research proposal (10-15 pages) to the examiners that places the research in context and outlines a scenario for its completion.    
 
The Preliminary examination committee must consist of a minimum of three (3) committee members, two (2) of whom must be core faculty members in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering 

D. Advancement to Candidacy

The preliminary examination committee approves the student upon completion of their written and oral presentation. The department processes the student’s Advancement to Candidacy to confirm that the student has passed their prelims. Upon “Advancement to Candidacy” the student must complete at least 18 credits (two semesters) of ESM 699: Dissertation Research, to fulfill the 60 credits minimum requirement to earn a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering 

Note: 
• It is important to note, that a student must have no “I” or “U” grades for all courses that count towards the degree to advance to candidacy.
• The student must have completed all coursework listed above for the PhD program prior to taking the Preliminary oral exam.
• If a second examination is required, it must be completed by the student’s seventh semester as a Ph.D.  student in the program or else the student is unable to continue in the program.

E. Dissertation

The most important requirement of the Ph.D. degree is the completion of a dissertation, which must be an original scholarly investigation. The dissertation shall represent a significant contribution to the scientific literature, and its quality shall be compatible with the publication standards of appropriate and reputable scholarly journals. At least two academic semesters should elapse between the preliminary exam and digital submission of the dissertation through Stony Brook University's ProQuest/UMI ETD administrator site. 

F. Defense

The candidate shall defend the dissertation before an examining committee appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the student’s graduate program director. The committee must consist of a minimum of four members:
• a chairperson of the defense-a core faculty member in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering;
• the dissertation advisor(s) (at least one who is a faculty member in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering);
• a member with no conflict of interest in relationship to the student (often, but not always, someone external to the program or university). 
• one additional member – either external to the department or a core faculty member in the department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering 

G. Time Limit

All requirements for the Ph.D. degree must be completed within seven years after completing 24 graduate course credits and other requirements as needed to complete the program.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree/Master of Science Degree Accelerated Program

The Accelerated BE/MS program allows undergraduate students in Engineering Science (ESG) or Engineering Chemistry (ECM), with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in their major to apply at the end of their junior year. This program enables students to earn both a Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Science degree at the end of their fourth year and a Master of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the end of their fifth year. 

Students in the program can take up to two graduate courses as technical electives during their undergraduate studies, which count toward both their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Per Graduate School policy, up to 6 credits taken during the undergraduate senior year may be applied to both degrees, allowing students to complete the program within five years (i.e., one additional year or two semesters for the MS). Curriculum Highlights:

• Junior-year Engineering Science students take ESM 455 in place of ESM 335.
• Senior-year students take ESM 513 in the fall as a substitute for ESM 335, along with another graduate course in the spring.

Students who have already taken ESM 335 are not eligible to take ESM 513 and must replace it with another graduate-level ESM course to fulfill the Master's program requirements.  

The admissions requirements for students entering the accelerated degree program are as follows:

1.  Applicant must be an Engineering Science (ESG) or Engineering Chemistry (ECM) major with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 in the major at the time of application in their junior year. 
2.  Students are encouraged to apply to the five-year program by the end of the spring semester of their junior year. 
3.  A 3.0 GPA in the major must be maintained to transition into the graduate program during the fifth year.
4.  Please contact the department at ESMandCME_GradAdmissions@stonybrook.edu to apply to the program. 

Declaration to Accelerated Program Process:
• Interested students in ESG and ECM program request to declare the BE/MS or BS/MS accelerated program. 
• The ESM graduate committee reviews the student’s request, offer admission, and processes the student’s declaration to the BE-BS/MS sequential accelerated degree program.

Additional Notes:
• Students in the accelerated program are encouraged to complete at least 6 credits of graduate coursework before matriculating into the graduate program.
• Students generally matriculate into the graduate program at the start of their third semester in the accelerated program.
• To matriculate into the Graduate School, students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in their major.

The Master's in Materials Science and Engineering is a 30-credit program, with at least 24 credits required to be completed as a matriculated graduate student. For additional details about the program, students are encouraged to consult the department’s graduate program coordinator.

Applicants interested in a graduate degree who do not meet these criteria are encouraged to apply directly to the M.S. program in their senior year. 

As an undergraduate, students will be charged tuition at the undergraduate rate for both graduate and undergraduate courses. Once the graduate career begins in the 5th year of the program, the student will be subject to graduate tuition, fees and Graduate School regulations. Students will be permitted to live in Graduate Housing however they will no longer be eligible for Undergraduate Financial Aid. 

Students who transfer to Stony Brook must complete at least one semester at Stony Brook before they will be considered for admission to the five-year BE-BS/MS program and decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis to ensure they meet all other requirements to qualify for the combined degree program.   

Transfer of credits into M.S. or Ph.D. programs

Students may transfer up to 9 credits of graduate courses obtained from another US accredited university. The following conditions and procedure is required to transfer any credits.

In order to be counted towards graduation, the credits must be evaluated by Materials Science Graduate Program committee and faculty. The evaluation must establish equivalence between a course being transferred from another institution and an ESM course in Stony Brook, which is accepted as part of the graduation requirements. The faculty member must be one of those who are teaching the corresponding graduate course on a regular basis. The professor typically evaluates the course materials/contents, student transcripts, etc. The approval is not automatic and we generally take a very careful look at such transfer requests.
Graduate courses that do not meet the previous requirement can be transferred without being counted towards graduation. This can sometimes be useful because students who have earned 24 graduate credits of any kind need to be registered for only 9 credits (instead of 12) in order to have full status. Therefore, gaining this status early might reduce tuition liability.

M.S. to Ph.D

A student in the M.S. program from ESM or any related field at Stony Brook can subsequently apply for admission into the Ph.D. program, only if the student can be supported by an advisor to complete the PhD program in ESM at Stony Brook. Student will require to complete a change of level/program form before graduating from their MS program to change level of program from MS to PhD  as a G-4 student.

The ESM Ph.D. program accepts M.S. degrees from accredited U.S. institutions. Students admitted to the Ph.D. program with an M.S. degree in ESM or related fields (from Stony Brook or other institutions) must complete 24 coursework credits and fulfill all other Ph.D. curriculum requirements. These students will be admitted at the G4 level and must complete a total of 60 credits to earn the Ph.D. degree.