Doctoral Program
PhD in Materials Science and Engineering
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is concerned with designing, making, and characterizing new materials that will have societal impact. Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the relationships between structure and properties of materials and how to take advantage of them in applications. Our students and faculty do research down to the infinitesimally small to achieve breakthroughs of global significance, working at the atomic and molecular levels to engineer matter that will enable the materials, devices, and systems essential for cutting-edge solar energy production, energy storage, information technology, medicine, and more.
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program is designed to give students a broad and deep understanding of materials science and engineering so that they will have long and fruitful careers as researchers or teachers at the university level.
Students who graduate from our program will be among the world’s leading experts in the areas of their dissertation research. They also will have the intellectual tools to move into new research areas as the field grows and develops. Applicants should have a commitment to learning and a passion for research.
Program Overview
Along the way to the PhD degree, students have clear and defined milestones that help guide them to the successful completion of their dissertation and oral defense. More information regarding our PhD degree requirements and milestones can be found in the Stanford Bulletin. The university’s basic requirements are outlined in the Graduate Degrees section.
On average, the program is completed in five to six years, depending on the student’s research and progress. During the first year of the PhD program, students are also required to take five courses from our core curriculum, attend the weekly colloquium lectures to learn about cutting-edge materials science research, attend a 1-unit seminar focused on the advising model, take an ethics course, and optionally enroll in some technical elective coursework.
Students are expected to find a research group to join before the start of the spring quarter in their first year. First-year students conduct supervised rotation experiences with various lab groups before formally declaring a Doctoral Dissertation Research Advisor. Many students choose to join labs in the Materials Science and Engineering department, but we also have several students who join labs within Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, Chemistry, Photon Science (SLAC), Bioengineering, and others. Students with a primary advisor outside of the department are required to also declare an in-department co-advisor. During the summer after the first academic year, students typically work intensely on research under the guidance of their advisor.
In the second year, students continue to take technical elective coursework and delve deeper into research. By winter of their second year, students take the department’s qualifying examination, which they must pass to be formally admitted to PhD candidacy. The qualifying exam has two parts focused on (1) a research proposal and (2) knowledge of the core fundamentals of materials science topics relevant to their research area. After the exam, students submit the application for doctoral candidacy. Once approved, the PhD candidacy eligibility period is granted for five years.
In the second, third, and fourth years, students continue to take classes towards fulfillment of program requirements and continue to conduct their dissertation research. PhD students are required to apply for and have conferred the MS degree (“on-the-way” to the PhD) normally by the end of their third year of studies. As their research progresses, they form a three-member Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee. The final stage of the PhD program is to write a dissertation and pass the university oral examination, which involves giving a public seminar defending the dissertation and answering questions from a private panel of five professors. These final milestones are typically completed in a student’s fifth or sixth year.
More detailed information regarding our PhD degree requirements and milestones can be found in the Stanford Bulletin.
Prospective Students
Our PhD students come from a wide variety of personal, academic, and professional backgrounds. We welcome applicants with previous degrees in diverse STEM disciplines outside of Materials Science and Engineering including Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and others. There are no specific course requirements for applicants. Any engineering discipline or related science discipline is a good base for graduate study in materials science and engineering.
We welcome students entering directly from undergraduate programs, as well as applicants with MS degrees and/or substantial work experience. Our admissions committee will look for evidence that an applicant has demonstrated qualities of successful PhD students such as creativity, self-initiative, dedication, and perseverance. We also aim to admit materials science and engineering students who can thrive at Stanford because their specific interests and aspirations are well-matched with the research of our faculty and the educational environment of our department.
Our department does not have a "formula" for admissions. We perform an individualized, holistic review of each applicant. We are particularly interested in learning about your experiences and personal strengths that have prepared you for graduate school. Because of our "whole view" approach, we do not keep statistics of test scores, GPAs, etc. of those admitted in past years.
Please visit our PhD admissions pages to learn more. Applications are accepted annually through Stanford Graduate Admissions.
PhD minor in Materials Science and Engineering
The university’s basic requirements for the PhD minor are outlined in the Graduate Degrees section of the Stanford Bulletin. A minor requires 20 units of graduate work of quality and depth at the 200-level or higher in the Materials Science and Engineering course offering. Courses must be taken for a letter grade. The proposed list of courses must be approved by the department’s advanced degree committee. Individual programs must be submitted to the student services manager at least one quarter prior to the quarter of the degree conferral. None of the units taken for the PhD minor may overlap with any MS degree units.