Science of Advanced Materials

Ph.D.

Why This Program & What You'll Learn

The CMU science of advanced materials Ph.D. program takes a holistic approach that bridges relevant disciplines to explore new materials and tackle obstacles to improvements.

You’ll thrive in an environment that trains you to be an effective researcher by breaking down artificial barriers between disciplines. You’ll combine studies of the science of materials with elements of chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics.

Coursework is limited and flexible to allow you to focus immediately on the scientific framework for studying materials with your research group. Projects emphasize key themes of modeling, characterization, and synthesis. These are the methodologies employed in materials research and the SAM program encompasses the synergy among them.

• Core research training in the science of materials.
• Elective courses in specialized areas.
• A seminar course focusing on the current literature to help develop essential skills in scientific communication.
• A dissertation illustrating your own original research.

Students may enter the program with diverse backgrounds, but a master's degree in a relevant field is required.

Program Highlights

Examples of the work of our science of advanced materials graduate students:

• Discover the structural and electronic properties of a new class of nonporous organic nanocrystal for gas separation membrane applications.
• Combine machine learning methods and inverse problem theory to challenge problems in material science and solid state physics.
• Learn state-of-the-art computational methods to predict the properties of molecules and materials with applications ranging from organic chemistry to quantum information sciences.
• Devise computational and experimental strategies to improve the performance of battery components.