About

Quick Facts

Department Facts

• Established as Graduate Department of Metallurgy in 1954-1955
• Became first “Department of Materials Science” in the world in 1958
• Highly ranked graduate (#2 in US) and undergraduate programs (#4 in US), according to US News and World Report

Faculty, Students, and Fellows

• 44 faculty members, including:
  • 1 winner of the National Medal of Science
  • 7 members of the National Academy of Engineering
  • 5 members of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 10 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1 member of the Institute of Medicine
  • 2 MacArthur Fellows
  • 16 NSF Presidential Young Investigators, NSF Young Investigators, CAREER awardees
• 215 graduate students
• 83 undergraduate students
• 81 postdoctoral fellows, research associates, and visiting scholars

Undergraduate Study

• Programs in materials science and engineering (McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) and materials science (Weinberg College of Arts and Science)
• Class size is typically between 15-30 students
• Cooperative education program available
• Study abroad and foreign externships available
• Departmental awards for summer research and academic merit
• Undergraduate research opportunities with world-class faculty members

Graduate Study

• Highly interdisciplinary graduate research with world-class faculty members often involving collaborations through interdisciplinary research centers and at Argonne National Laboratory
• Access to cutting-edge research facilities
• Support (fellowships, research assistantships, teaching assistantships) for all doctorate candidate graduate students
• MS degree can be completed in as little as one academic year
• PhD degree completion is typically four or five (beyond BS)