The Masters Degree in Chemistry

The Program and Facilities
The requirements for the Master's Degree Program in Chemistry have been designed with a flexibility that accommodates not only students interested in the usual areas of concentration in chemistry, but also those with interests in other, interdisciplinary, chemistry-related fields. As many as nine of the required thirty-three graduate credits may be earned in a related area of study. Candidates may work in such areas as chemical physics and chemical biology, or in such divergent fields as chemical economics, and chemical writing or editing.

All candidates for the master of science degree take required courses in each of three core areas: organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. A group of elected courses allows the student to specialize in a field of his or her choice. For students hoping to continue their studies in a research-oriented Ph.D. program, the curriculum offers the opportunity for both extensive course work and a research project.

This flexible program is designed for recent graduates as well as for people who hold positions in high schools, community colleges, and industry and are seeking advancement through further professional training. Attempts will be made to arrange schedules for those who must study part time.

The Department of Chemistry is housed in the University's Science Building. Facilities include laboratory space for faculty and graduate student research; glass blowing, machine and electronic shops; and access to the Healey Library's science collection.

Research facilities currently available include:

• Numerous UV-VIS, IR, and FT-IR spectrophotometers
• laser-Raman spectrophotometer
• NMR spectrometer
• electron spin resonance equipment
• a fully equipped laboratory for X-ray crystallographic studies
• CW, pulsed, and tunable dye lasers
• electroanalytical equipment
• analytical and preparative gas chromatographs
• high pressure liquid chromatograph
• extensive computing facilities
• atomic absorption spectrometers
• mass spectrometers
• ORD/CD instrumentation

A complete listing of the faculty and their research interests is available elsewhere on this site.

Degree Requirements

For the MS in Chemistry, 33 credits are required from courses, seminars (CHEM 691 & 692), and Thesis Research (CHEM 699), distributed as follows:

• Three Fundamental Graduate Courses in Chemistry, one from each of the areas of physical chemistry (CHEM 601 - Thermodynamics and Kinetics, CHEM 602 - Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy), inorganic chemistry (CHEM 611 - Inorganic Chemistry: Synthesis and Analysis, CHEM 612 - Inorganic Chemistry: Structure and Reactivity), and organic chemistry (CHEM 621 - Synthetic Organic Chemistry, CHEM 622 - Physical Organic Chemistry). These courses must be passed with grades of B or better.
• Three elective courses selected from either the list of Fundamental Graduate Courses in Chemistry, the list of Elective Graduate Courses in Chemistry (CHEM 651, CHEM 653, CHEM 658, CHEM 666, CHEM 671, CHEM 687, CHEM 688, CHEM 689, CHEM 690, CHEM 696), or a list of Approved Elective Courses Outside of Chemistry (available from the Department) given by Biology or EEOS. Other graduate courses outside of Chemistry may be taken to fulfill this requirement, with the approval of the Graduate Program Director, if particularly relevant to the student’s research.  Beyond this requirement, students are encouraged to take additional elective courses relevant to their programmatic focus.
• Literature seminar presentation, based on review of the scientific literature related to a selected topic of current chemical interest.  The literature seminar must be completed within the first two years of matriculation.
• Thesis and defense based on original research in chemistry.
• All students must acquire at least one semester of teaching or work experience in chemistry, subject to approval by the Graduate Program Director.

Admission Requirements
The Chemistry Program will recommend admission for those applicants who present evidence of their ability to do graduate work with distinction. Applicants should present:

1. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (aptitude and advanced tests). Graduates of American colleges or universities are not required to present these scores, but are strongly urged to do so. The GRE is required of all candidates with degrees from foreign institutions.
2. Three letters of recommendation.

For more information, contact the Graduate Program Director of the Chemistry Department, Prof. Michelle Foster.