Florida State University Materials Science and Engineering Program Graduate Handbook

Contact Information For more information about the Materials Science & Engineering program please contact: Eric Hellstrom Director – MS&E 850 645-7489 hellstrom@asc.magnet.fsu.edu Judy G

Florida State University Materials Science and Engineering Program

Graduate Handbook (Revised Aug 27, 2012)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Contact Information

3 Applying to the Program

4 Program Deadlines

5 Financial Support

6 Information for International Students

7 Health Insurance Requirement

8 Language (English Competency)Requirement

9 Course and Credit Information and Requirements

10 Academic Probation

11 Major Professor and Supervisory Committee

12 Graduation Criteria for M.S in MS&E

13 Graduation Criteria for Ph.D in MS&E

14 Timetable

15 Annual Reviews

16 University Graduate Degree Requirements

17 Steps to Graduation

18 Living in Tallahassee

19 Helpful Links

20 Appendix: MS&E Curric ulum

1 Introduction

Materials Science and Engineering is a broad-reaching, interdisciplinary field, where gigabyte memory sticks, human joint replacements, lightweight and smart prostheses, touch screen cell phones, and advanced composites (more than 50% by weight) in the new generation of commercial jet airliners are all or in part the results of MS&E Materials science involves the relationships between the processing, structure, properties, and performance of materials MS&E graduates develop or synthesize new materials and create new products or systems using existing materials Fundamental to MS&E is the design and simulation of the properties of new and existing materials through advanced computational methods There is an inter-weaving of basic and applied experiences that creates a unique skill set that allows graduates to successfully pursue the frontiers of MS&E research

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2 Contact Information

For more information about the Materials Science & Engineering program please contact:

Eric Hellstrom

Director – MS&E

850 645-7489

hellstrom@asc.magnet.fsu.edu

Judy Gardner Graduate Coordinator – MS&E

850 645-8980

jdgardner@fsu.edu

Website: http://www.materials.fsu.edu/

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3 Applying to the Program

MS&E follows FSU’s admission standards and adds some additional requirements These are:

FSU requirements

 A bachelor's degree earned at a regionally accredited U.S institution, or a comparable degree from an international institution, with a minimum 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average (GPA) in all work attempted while registered as an upper-division undergraduate student working towards a bachelor's degree; or

 A graduate degree from a regionally accredited U.S institution or a comparable degree from an international institution

 Test scores from a nationally standardized graduate admission test which is acceptable for the program to which the applicant is applying

 International students whose first language is not English are required to take an English Language Proficiency test The following are the minimum scores required for admission to FSU:

o Internet based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): 80

o Paper based TOEFL: 550

o Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB): 77

o International English Language Testing System (IELTS): 6.5

 Three (3) letters of recommendation

MS&E specific requirements

 Undergraduate or graduate degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering

or Mathematics) field

 GRE scores – On the old scoring system, must have a minimum combined score

of 1100 on the verbal and quantitative GRE exam On the new scoring system, must score a minimum 55 percentile verbal and a minimum 75 percentile quantitative

 A statement of professional goals

Admissions process

Students will apply to the MS&E program through the FSU Graduate School Admissions Portal: https://admissions.fsu.edu/gradapp/ Each applicant will be evaluated by the admissions committee, which will be made up of MS&E faculty members with tenure homes covering all the departments in the program This committee will decide whether

to admit each student and will also evaluate each student for one of the first-year fellowships

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4 Program Deadlines

Beginning

Semester

Domestic students

International students

Notes

Must submit application package by January 15 to be considered for financial aid

semester

Summer semester

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5 Financial Support

Fellowships

The MS&E program will offer several fellowships for incoming PhD students These awards, which will pay $20,000 for the academic year and include a tuition waiver plus a subsidy for health insurance, will allow the recipients to learn about the wide range of research available in MS&E Recipients will be expected to spend time in three different research labs during the academic year and to join a research group at the end of the academic year

By the Summer term of the first year, fellowship students should have chosen a research area The major source of financial support for graduate students is the research assistantship, paid for by the grant funds of the major professor These assistantships are awarded at the discretion of the major professor, subject only to the University stipulation that reinstated students on academic probation are ineligible for financial support

Tuition Waiver Policies

Out-of-State tuition waivers are available on a very limited basis, and most out-of-state students will need to be funded from fellowships or sponsoring organizations from their home country

University policy limits the number of years a graduate assistant can receive out-of-state tuition waiver support from the University The standard is 6 years for a student who

enters graduate school at FSU without a Master’s degree, or 4 years for a student entering FSU with a Master’s degree

Taxes on Stipends

The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that student assistantships are not tax exempt However, some foreign countries have treaties with the U.S., and individuals from those countries may be tax-exempt Questions about taxes (especially prior returns) should be directed to the Internal Revenue Service

Second Job While Working as a Research Assistant

The research assistant stipend provided to graduate students is intended to facilitate study, educational progress and research Additional, unrelated, outside employment reduces a student's role in contributing to the departmental graduate program, and also might be construed as indicative of a lack of commitment to a student's training If a student finds it necessary to obtain supplementary, outside employment, he/she must provide justification and obtain signature-approval from his/her major professor and other supervisory committee members

Without the necessary approvals, it is inappropriate to be a full-time student on a research assistantship or fellowship and also receive outside employment Unapproved dual employment could jeopardize eligibility for continued (a) departmental support and/or (b) grant support, and/or work with the major professor of choice Approval of supplemental work and compensation does not excuse a student from meeting the time lines specified for graduation

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6 Information for International Students

International students are responsible for contacting the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) regarding the pre-arrival process The Center for Global Engagement can be

CGE-NewStudents@admin.fsu.edu Also, information can be obtained on the CGE website at

http://cge.fsu.edu/newstudents/applyingtofsu.cfm

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7 Health Insurance Requirement

ALL new graduate students are required to show proof of adequate health insurance, either purchased through FSU or show comparable coverage as determined by Thagard Student Health Center For insurance information including coverage and cost, go to the Thagard Student Health Insurance website at http://www.tshc.fsu.edu or call

850/644-6230

The Graduate School offers qualifying graduate assistants a subsidy towards the purchase of the university-sponsored health insurance The subsidy will be disbursed approximately 30 days after the drop/add period through payroll For more information visit www.gradschool.fsu.edu/Funding-Awards/Health-Insurance

For more information about the insurance plans, please start at

http://www.tshc.fsu.edu Click on the INSURANCE navigation bar towards the lower

right of the page then click READ MORE When you have been directed to READ MORE,

click on STUDENTS on the left hand navigation tabs (http://www.tshc.fsu.edu/insurance/student.html ) Of particular interest after Clicking STUDENTS are “1st time at FSU?” in the center and the following left-hand navigation

bars: MUST READ: PLAN COMPARISONS 12/13, PREMIUM MATRIX; PRIVATE INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS: DOMESTIC; PLAN BROCHURE: DOMESTIC 2012-2013.

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8 Language (English Competency) Requirement

Occasionally, a student in the MS&E program will have an opportunity to work as a Teaching Assistant for his/her major professor A requirement for international students working in TA positions is to pass the SPEAK test, administered by the Center for Intensive English Studies (CIES), with a minimum score of 50

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9 Course and Credit Information and Requirements

MS&E has an integrated Ph.D curriculum that consists of the following components:

 Core courses (minimum 12 credits)

o Fundamental Core Courses: - Three required

o Elective Core Courses: - One required

 Five elective, specialization courses (minimum 15 credits)

 Interdisciplinary Seminar Series – taken every semester (0 credits)

24 credits (minimum) of dissertation research

Minimum of 54 credits for graduation

The courses will be offered by the participating departments Students who wish to take

a specific course in this program need to have met the prerequisite(s) prior to taking the course or get the consent of the instructor

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10 Academic Probation

A graduate student whose cumulative grade point average for courses taken at Florida State University falls below 3.0 at the end of a term (not counting courses for which “S”

or “U” grades may be given) will be considered not in good standing by the University and will be placed on academic probation If a 3.0 cumulative grade point average is not attained by the end of the next full term of enrollment, the student will not be permitted to register for graduate study, including registering as a non-degree seeking student However, at the time of dismissal, the major professor may petition the academic dean for consideration of special circumstances that the professor thinks constitute justification for an exception to this regulation, but under no circumstances will a student be allowed more than one additional term of probation Owing to the differential uses of the designation, “academic probation” shall not appear on permanent records of regular graduate students After one probationary period, however, a student whose average falls within the probationary range will receive automatic dismissal Statuses of “academic warning,” “probation,” or “reinstated from dismissal” do not specifically prohibit a student from participating in extracurricular activities unless otherwise specified by University policy, rules, or by-laws governing the activity or organization Consideration of the academic dismissal takes priority over any readmission application and must be resolved first Students on dismissal are not eligible for readmission or the readmission appeal process unless they have first been reinstated by the academic dean The academic dean is the final authority for reinstatement considerations The University does not allow reinstated students to be paid a stipend

For more information, please see the FSU Graduate Bulletin 2011/2012 under Academic Regulations & Procedures: http://registrar.fsu.edu/bulletin/grad/info/acad_regs.htm

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11 Major Professor and Supervisory Committee

Each student will choose a major professor (dissertation advisor) from the MS&E faculty

by the end of his/her second semester The Ph.D supervisory committee consists of a minimum of five faculty members with Ph.D directive status The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be an MS&E faculty member The student

and the major professor will select the supervisory committee A maximum of 2 members of the supervisory committee can be from the advisor’s department, a maximum of 3 can be from the advisor’s college, and the committee must have members from at least 3 different departments In addition at least 4 of the 5 committee members must be from MS&E Additional members may be appointed to the committee if deemed desirable by the major professor The supervisory committee must be selected by the end of the semester in which the student passes the Ph.D qualifying exam

FSU faculty members who participate in the MS&E Ph.D program must be approved for graduate faculty status in MS&E The university representative on the committee will be

a faculty member who does not have graduate faculty status in MS&E

After passing the qualifying exam, and following existing Graduate School policy, the student will submit a summary of his/her research results and plans for ongoing research in August of each year and will discuss this in a meeting with all of his/her supervisory committee in September of each year The committee will write a short evaluation of the student’s progress This evaluation procedure is done yearly until the student graduates

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12 Graduation Criteria for M.S in MS&E

All students must pass all of the required coursework (18 credit hours of graded course work) with a minimum 3.0 GPA In addition to meeting the university requirement to maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or above, MS&E students need to achieve a grade of "B"

or better in each core course Students not achieving a "B" must either retake the course or take another core course in a different topic area that will be selected by MS&E in consultation with the instructor of the core course in which the student did not achieve at least a "B."

All M.S students must write, present, and successfully defend a thesis on their proposed research

For more information, please see the FSU Graduate Student Handbook :

http://gradschool.fsu.edu/Information-For/New-Current-Students/Graduate-Student-Handbook/University-Graduate-Degree-Requirements/Master-s-Degree-Programs Return to Table of Contents

13 Graduation Criteria for Ph.D in MS&E

All students must pass all of the required coursework (27 credit hours of graded course work) with a minimum 3.0 GPA In addition to meeting the university requirement to maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or above, MS&E students need to achieve a grade of "B"

or better in each core course Students not achieving a "B" must either retake the course or take another core course in a different topic area that will be selected by MS&E in consultation with the instructor of the core course in which the student did not achieve at least a "B."

Qualifying Exam

All MS&E Ph.D students must take a written qualifying exam after the first year that is based on the content of the four core courses completed by the candidates Students must pass the exam to be in the Ph.D program Students will have two chances to pass the qualifying exam

Preliminary Examination and Prospectus

After passing the Ph.D qualifying exam and finishing all the elective specialization courses, the student will prepare a prospectus This is a written document that includes preliminary research results and a plan and timeline to complete the research The student will submit the written prospectus to his/her supervisory committee and will also present the prospectus orally As part of the oral prospectus presentation, the student will have oral questions from the supervisory committee based on the student’s elective specialization courses to gauge the student’s understanding of the breadth and depth of materials science This oral examination and presentation of the prospectus will constitute the preliminary examination

Ph.D Dissertation Defense

Upon satisfactorily completing the preliminary examination and prospectus, the student will finish his/her research and then prepare a written document for his/her dissertation and defend the dissertation orally

For more information, please see the FSU Graduate Student Handbook :

http://gradschool.fsu.edu/Information-For/New-Current-Students/Graduate-Student-Handbook/University-Graduate-Degree-Requirements/Doctoral-Degree-Programs Return to Table of Contents

14 Timetable

Timetable – Note: timetable only counts academic semesters (Fall and Spring)

Requirement Deadline

PhD students

Fellowship students – at end of 2nd semester

Written PhD qualifying exam Beginning of 3rd semester

PhD prospectus and preliminary

th semester

MS Students

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15 Annual Reviews

All graduate assistants must be reviewed each semester This is done by their major professor if they are a research assistant and by the course instructor if they are a teaching assistant

All doctoral candidates must have a yearly written review of their progress This is done

in the August-September time frame each year The student will present 15 minute summary of their current research and research plans to their entire research committee The major professor should meet with the student following the review for discussion A copy of the annual review will be provided to the student and will also be provided to the MS&E Graduate Coordinator and to the Dean of the Graduate School Doctoral candidate evaluation form is being developed

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16 University Graduate Degree Requirements

For a review of FSU’s graduate degree requirements, please see this link to the Graduate Student Handbook: http://gradschool.fsu.edu/Information-For/New-Current-Students/ Graduate-Student-Handbook/University-Graduate-Degree-Requirements

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