Material advancements improve the standard and the quality of living of societies everywhere. They are indeed the underpinning of the development of new technologies with the potential for global impact. In today's sophisticated and complicated world, continued advancements in materials demand intimacy among a variety of disciplines. In recognition of this multidisciplinary need, professors at Vanderbilt University from departments of Chemistry, Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering, and School of Medicine have come together in the Interdisciplinary Materials Science program. Therefore, extensive collaboration in both the teaching of and research in materials science is pervasive, where multidisciplinary study is a hallmark of the educational experience.
The M.S. degree in materials science requires a minimum of 24 semester hours (beyond the baccalaureate) of formal course work plus a thesis of at least 6 semester hours. Nine semester hours are a selection of three of the four Materials Science core program courses. The core courses are Thermodynamics, Materials Chemistry, Atomic Arrangements in Solids, and Solid State Physics of Condensed Matter. Six additional hours are taken from an approved list of Interdisciplinary Materials Science program courses. A minor consisting of 6 semester hours is chosen in a separate but related field. The remaining 3 hours are an elective selected from either Interdisciplinary Materials Science program offerings or a related field.
The Ph.D. degree in materials science requires a total of 72 semester hours (beyond the baccalaureate) plus a dissertation. Within the requirement is a minimum of 24 semester hours of course work that includes 12 hours from the materials science core curriculum and 12 hours from an approved list of Interdisciplinary Materials Science program courses. The intent of these courses is to complement the student's technical interests. The remaining semester hours may be in research dissertation hours or in additional course electives.