MS with Thesis degree requirements, MSE

The master's degree program in MSE is designed to give students the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and necessary skills in a specific area of Materials Science. A thesis option master's degree is made up of two primary aspects; academic course work and research used to support a written document. The requirements for the MS with Thesis degree, as established by the MSE Graduate Studies Committee, are as follows:

Degree requirements effective AU19

For graduate students who entered the graduate program in or after AU19 and for those students admitted before AU19 choosing to follow this curriculum.

MATSCEN MS with Thesis Requirements Worksheet (PDF)

I 30 total graduate credit hours are required for an MS degree

A Of these 30 hours, at least 15 credit hours must be graded graduate level courses.

  1. Of these 15 hours, at least 9 credit hours must be taken in MSE at the 6000-level or greater.
  2. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 6 credit hours of graduate-level courses in addition to the 9 listed in A1 (these 6 credit hours may be taken within the dept. or outside MSE; if taken outside MSE, it is understood that all 6 credit hours are to be related to the student's area of materials study).

B At least 15 credit hours may come from other courses, besides those listed above in A, to bring the total graduate credit hours to 30 or greater.

  1. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 3 and no more than 4 credit hours of MSE 7895 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium, 1 credit hours), all with Satisfactory grade, count towards the requirement.
  2. Of these 15 credit hours, credit for at least two semesters of mandatory Instructional Assistant (IA) service will be earned while assisting in the instruction of the undergraduate studies program.
  3. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 10 credit hours are to be from MSE 6999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering).

II Master’s Thesis Document

A Thesis Draft

A student pursuing the thesis option must submit a complete, thesis draft to the master’s examination committee. The thesis draft must be approved by the master’s examination committee before the student takes the examination. The thesis must conform to Graduate School format requirements as described in the “Graduate School Guidelines for Formatting Theses, Dissertations, and D.M.A. Documents.”

B Approval

If the student satisfactorily completes the master’s examination and if the student presents an acceptable thesis, the master’s examination committee members indicate approval of the thesis by posting their decision on the Report on Final Document by the published deadline for the autumn or spring semester or summer term of graduation.

C Restricted Material

Theses must not include material restricted from publication.

D Submission

The thesis must be submitted to the Graduate School by the published deadline for the autumn or spring semester or summer term of graduation. The final thesis must be submitted electronically as a PDF document to OhioLink.

III Master’s Examination

The master’s examination for the thesis option consists of an oral exam and is a test of the student’s knowledge of the field. It is the final validation of performance for that degree. The master’s examination is taken after submitting the Application to Graduate form and during the autumn or spring semester or summer term in which the student plans to graduate. The oral exam must take place on Campus during announced university business hours, Monday through Friday 8 am – 5 pm. A student is only admitted to the examination after approval of the thesis draft by the master’s examination committee.

A Master’s Examination Committee

The master’s examination is administered under the auspices of the Graduate Studies Committee. The responsibility for the examination rests with the student’s master’s examination committee. The master’s examination committee is composed of at least two Graduate Faculty members including the student’s advisor. The advisor of a master’s student must hold membership at the category M level or higher in the student’s graduate program. Non-Graduate Faculty members may be appointed to the master’s examination committee by approval of the Graduate Studies Committee and by petition to the Graduate School. Non-Graduate Faculty members are in addition to the required two current Ohio State Graduate Faculty members.

B Attendance

The advisor serves as chair in the oral portion of the master’s examination. The student is expected to deliver a public presentation at the beginning of the exam on the topic of their thesis work. The public presentation should be no longer than half an hour and the entire exam is limited to less than 2 hours. Except when video conferencing is involved, all members of the master’s examination committee must be present during the entire examination and are expected to participate fully in questioning during the course of the examination and in the discussion and decision on the result. While the general part of the exam is limited to the student and the committee, others may attend the public presentation part of the examination.

D Video Conferencing

All master’s examinations involving video conferencing must adhere to the Graduate School’s guidelines for video conferencing.

 

Ref: Graduate School Handbook sec 6

 


Semester-based degree requirements, SU12-SU19

For graduate students who entered the graduate program in or after Summer term 2012 through Summer 2019.

I 30 graduate semester credit hours are required for an MS degree.

A Of these 30 credits, at least 15 must come from graded graduate level courses.

  1. Of these 15 credits, at least 9 credit hours MUST be taken in MSE (thus allowing for up to 6 credits of non-MSE study to count toward fulfillment of an MSE Master's degree).
    • Of these 9 credits in MSE, at least 4 credit hours MUST be taken at the 6000 level or greater in MSE.
    • Of these 9 credits in MSE, 5 may be taken at the 5000 level or greater in MSE.
  2. Of these 15 credits, up to 6 credit hours may be taken in MSE or out of MSE--it is understood that any non-MSE credits are to be related to the student's area of materials study (hard sciences and/or engineering) unless previously approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

B At least 15 credit hours may come from other courses, besides those listed in A1 and A2, to bring the total graduate credit hours to 30 or greater.

  1. Autumn and Spring enrollment in MSE 7895 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium, 1 credit) are required of all MSE graduate students. Credits earned while enrolled in 7895 will apply towards the 30 credit hour total for the Master's degree.
  2. Instructional Assistant service. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 4 credit hours are to be from MSE 6193.01 earned while assisting faculty with instruction of MSE courses. Students earn 2 credits per term of service as an Instructional Assistant. Students will attend a university training workshop in support of this curricular requirement. [More about IA service credits]
  3. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 10 credit hours are to be from MSE 6999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering).

II   Presentation and defense of an acceptable thesis.

 

Courses that apply toward the degree:

  • MSE courses at the 5000 level or above that may be taken for graduate credit.
  • Non-MSE courses at the 5000 level or greater in the hard-sciences, math, and engineering that may be taken for graduate credit.

Updated SU12 & AU13

I 30 graduate semester credit hours are required for an MS degree.

A Of these 30 credits, at least 15 must come from graded graduate level courses.

  1. Of these 15 credits, at least 9 credit hours MUST be taken in MSE (thus allowing for up to 6 credits of non-MSE study to count toward fulfillment of an MSE Master's degree).
    • Of these 9 credits in MSE, at least 6 credit hours MUST be taken at the 6000 level or greater in MSE.
    • Of these 9 credits in MSE, 3 may be taken at the 5000 level or greater in MSE.
  2. Of these 15 credits, up to 6 credit hours may be taken in MSE or out of MSE--it is understood that any non-MSE credits are to be related to the student's area of materials study (hard sciences and/or engineering) unless previously approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

B At least 15 credit hours may come from other courses, besides those listed in A1 and A2, to bring the total graduate credit hours to 30 or greater.

  1. Autumn and Spring enrollment in MSE 7895 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium, 1 credit) are required of all MSE graduate students. Credits earned while enrolled in 7895 will apply towards the 30 credit hour total for the Master's degree.
  2. Instructional Assistant service. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 2 credit hours are to be from MSE 6193.01 earned while assisting faculty with instruction of MSE courses. Students earn 1 credit per term of service as an Instructional Assistant. Students will attend a university training workshop in support of this curricular requirement.
  3. Of these 15 credit hours, at least 10 credit hours are to be from MSE 6999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering).

II   Presentation and defense of an acceptable thesis.

 

Courses that apply toward the degree:

  • MSE courses at the 5000 level or above that may be taken for graduate credit.
  • Non-MSE courses at the 5000 level or greater in the hard-sciences, math, and engineering that may be taken for graduate credit.
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Quarter-based degree requirements

For graduate students who entered the graduate program prior to Summer term 2012.

I 45 total graduate credit hours are required for an MS degree.

A Of these 45 hours, at least 21 must be graded graduate level courses.

  1. Of these 21 hours, at least 15 credit hours MUST be taken in MSE (thus allowing for up to 6 hours of non-MSE study to count toward fulfillment of an MSE Master's degree--it is understood that all 6 hours are to be related to the student's area of materials study unless previously approved by the Graduate Studies Committee).
  2. Of these 15 hours in MSE, at least 6 credit hours MUST be taken at the 700 level or greater in MSE.

B At least 24 credit hours may come from other courses, besides those listed in A1&2, to bring the total graduate credit hours to 45 or greater.

  1. Of these 24 hours, no more than 6 credit hours of MSE 795 (Graduate Seminar and Colloquium) may apply towards this 24 hour total (though registration in MSE 795 is required for AU, WI, & SP quarters, regardless of the total number of 795 credits a student has earned).
  2. Instructional Assistant service. Of these 24 hours, at least 4 credit hours are to be from MSE 894 earned while assisting faculty with instruction of MSE courses. Students earn two credits per term of service as an Instructional Assistant. Students will attend a university training workshop in support of this curricular requirement.
  3. Of these 24 hours, at least 15 credit hours are to be from MSE 999 (Research in Materials Science and Engineering).

II   Presentation and defense of an acceptable thesis.

 

Courses that apply toward the degree:

  • MSE courses at the 600 level or above that may be taken for graduate credit.
  • Non-MSE courses at the 500 level or greater in the hard-sciences, math, and engineering that may be taken for graduate credit.

Updated 9/08
rev 4/98