Disclaimer
It is the responsibility of the student to seek guidance from his or her major professor regarding course selection and research methods/content for the final master’s thesis. Any questions or problems relating to academic affairs should be addressed to the Director of the Materials Science Program.
Graduation Criteria
A student must demonstrate the ability to apply advanced science and engineering principles to materials systems to be granted a Master of Science degree in Materials Science. The student needs to complete and pass the required coursework and thesis research. In addition to meeting the university requirement (maintaining an overall GPA of 3.0 or above), the student needs 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 course in a related area that will be determined by a Materials Science committee in consultation with the instructor of the core course in which the student did not achieve at least a "B". The student proposed program also requires a thesis, which must be an original work and will serve in part to demonstrate such ability. On completion, the thesis will be defended orally in front of the thesis committee.
Thesis Advisor and Supervisory Committee
The student will choose a major professor (thesis advisor) from the associated faculty by the semester that he/she passes all of the core courses. The supervisory committee for a master's degree candidate must consist of a minimum of three faculty members with graduate faculty status. The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be a faculty member from Materials Science and Engineering. At least one additional member of the committee must be from the MS & E. Additional members may be appointed to the committee if deemed desirable by the major professor.
Thesis Prospectus (Proposal) and Defense
After the advisor is chosen and the supervisory committee is formed, the student will discuss the thesis work plan with his/her advisor. The student will prepare a prospectus (research proposal) that includes preliminary research results and a timeline for completing the research and defending the thesis. The student will prepare a written document for his/her thesis and conduct an oral defense. The committee will make the decision to pass or fail the defense.
Further information
For further information see the FSU Graduate Student Handbook.