PhD in Materials Science and Engineering

Guaranteed funding: Stipend, paid tuition and fees, plus health and dental coverage

A doctorate (PhD) in Materials Science and Engineering from Duke develops your research skills in close collaboration with our world-renowned engineers and scientists.

As a Duke doctoral student, your tuition and fees will be covered for five years. Over that same period, you'll receive a 12-month stipend plus other benefits.

There will be opportunities to publish with your faculty advisor, present research at professional conferences and explore your field in a uniquely and highly collaborative cross-disciplinary environment.

Click to connect with Duke's University Program in Materials Science & Engineering:

INQUIRE ABOUT PHD

The Sciences + Engineering

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This university program is a joint multidisciplinary effort of four engineering departments and four departments from the natural and formal sciences at Duke.

Students in our PhD program are admitted through one of the participating academic departments. Your tentative PhD advisor should be a faculty member of that department

Importantly, please know that application deadlines vary by department. Be sure your application is submitted before your intended department’s deadline.

Degree SUMMARY

Program Detailed

Participating Departments

Pratt School of Engineering

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Guaranteed Funding

Duke's Graduate School provides a competitive package that provides PhD students with financial support for at least a majority of the time they are registered and working toward their degree.

This support includes:

  • Stipend
  • Health and dental insurance
  • Tuition covered
  • Fees covered

Explore the details of Duke's guaranteed funding package for PhD students at the Graduate School website »

Degree Requirements
  1. In the 1st year, four to six courses* must be selected from eight core courses:
    FALL:
    CHEM 548: Fundamentals of Solid State Materials
    CHEM 544: Statistical Mechanics - OR - ECE 521: Quantum Mechanics
    ME 562: Materials Synthesis and Processing

    SPRING:
    ME 563: Fundamentals of Soft Matter
    ME 511: Computational Materials Science
    ECE/NANOSCI 511: Foundations of Nanoscale Science and Technology - OR -ECE 721/ME 711: Nanotechnology Materials Lab/Advanced Materials Lab - OR - PHYS 670 Experimental Methods in Condensed Matter Physics
    * Up to 2 of the six core courses may be replaced by courses deemed critical by advisors and students for their research projects
  2. For the first three semesters, the Materials Science & Engineering Graduate Seminar is required
  3. In the Second Year, three elective courses are required. (A maximum of one elective course may be replaced with an independent study to receive course credit for PhD research)
  4. A qualifying exam in the third semester, a preliminary exam after three years and a final defense exam are required for the PhD degree
  5. Required Academic Integrity and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training must be completed within the first three semesters
Credit for Master's Degree

In the case of a PhD student matriculating with a master's degree, course credit requirements are reduced to 21 credits total, and the selection of courses must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by department. Click to see a complete list of departmental application deadlines.

 Check Deadlines