Courses & Degree Requirements
Degree Requirements
Non-Thesis Track (36 credits)
To earn your degree on the 36-credit non-thesis track, you must complete at least 24 credits in graded course work. The graded credits will be a combination of core and elective courses. Students must take at least 2 but no more than 4 elective courses, and 3 credits in departmental seminars (CHEM 590C). Additionally, students must take 3 courses designated with “RL” (for Research/Laboratory in the course guide) or 9 credits in CHEM 600 research.
Thesis Track (48 credits)
To earn your degree on the 48-credit thesis track, you must complete the requirements above, plus:
- Complete at least 12 credits of graduate research with thesis (CHEM 700B)
- Write a thesis that is approved by your thesis committee
- Successfully defend the thesis before your thesis committee
- Submit the approved thesis to the graduate school
To help you plan your course schedule, check out our Sample Course Plan. If you would like to deviate from the sample, please discuss your plan with your MSACST advisor to ensure that you will be on track to complete your degree on your schedule.
Core Courses
Visit the Course Descriptions page for more details.
Courses labeled "RL" have been determined to have a research and/or laboratory component in recent years. Note that the research and/or laboratory component of courses are reevaluated each year.
Autumn Quarter
- CHEM 521: Analytical Electrochemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 522: Atomic & Molecular Analytical Spectroscopy (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 534: Polymer Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 541: Data Science and Materials Informatics (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 590C: Departmental Seminar (1 credit)
Winter Quarter
- CHEM 526: Instrumental Analysis (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 529: Chemical Separation Techniques (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 565: Computational Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 590C: Departmental Seminar (1 credit)
Spring Quarter
- CHEM 524: Analytical Mass Spectrometry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 525: Meso & Microfluidics in Chemical Analysis (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 528: Biomolecular Analysis (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 543: Big Data for Materials Science (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 567: Computers in Data Acquisition & Analysis (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 590C: Departmental Seminar (1 credit)
Elective Courses
Visit the College of Arts & Sciences Chemistry Course Description page for more details. The degree requirement for elective courses can also be fulfilled by completing additional core courses from the list above.
Autumn Quarter
- CHEM 508: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 516: Transition Metals (3 credits)
- CHEM 530: Advanced Physical Organic Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 550: Introduction to Quantum Chemistry (3 credits)
- CHEM 554: Introduction to Biomolecular Spectroscopy (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 566: Energy Materials, Devices, and Systems (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 584: Electronic and Optoelectronic Polymers (3 credits, RL)
Winter Quarter
- CHEM 517: Organometallics (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 531: Advanced Synthetic Organic Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 536: Chemical Biology (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 551: Introduction to Quantum Chemistry (3 credits)
- CHEM 566: Energy Materials, Devices, and Systems (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 585: Electronic Structure and Application of Materials (3 credits, RL)
Spring Quarter
- CHEM 532: Advanced Bio-Organic Chemistry (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 552: Statistical Mechanics (3 credits)
- CHEM 564: Organic Electronic and Photonic Materials/Polymers (3 credits, RL)
- CHEM 586: Electronic Dynamics in Organic and Inorganic Materials (3 credits)
- CHEM 587: Nanomaterials Chemistry and Engineering (3 credits, RL)
Seminars
The following seminar course is offered in the autumn, winter and spring quarters. The content will be different each quarter.
- CHEM 590C: Seminar in General Chemistry (1 credit/quarter)
Independent Research
All students are required to complete 9 credits of the following. Although the number of credits in a given quarter is not fixed, most students will complete 3 credits each during autumn, winter and spring quarters.
- CHEM 600B: Graduate Research (9 credits)
In order to complete the thesis track, students must also complete 12 credits of CHEM 700B.
- CHEM 700: Graduate Research with Thesis
