Program

Qualifying Exam

Every student must take and pass a comprehensive, written qualifying examination at the end of the first year.

Qualifying exams will be offered at a specified time during the summer and prior to the start of fall classes. The outcome of the exam will be “pass,” “conditional pass” or “fail.”

A conditional pass indicates that a student has significant deficiencies in one of the areas tested. This student would be required to take and pass (B or better) designated course(s) in the following year to “pass” the qualifying exam. Students who fail on the first attempt may retake the exam at the next scheduled date. Students who fail twice are released from the Ph.D. program.

By passing the qualifying exam, the students demonstrate that they understand materials and their properties from the atomic to the macroscopic levels and have familiarity with the growing set of materials fabrication, assembly, processing, characterization, and modeling tools and techniques.

Montana Tech

A student loads a sample for examination with a table-top electron microscope.

Montana State

A Raman microscope and high temperature furnace allow researchers at MSU to study materials processes at 800˚C. This assembly is one of only three worldwide capable of studying electrochemical oxidation in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) in situ.

University of Montana

$professor and X-ray diffractometer$

University of Montana Chemistry and Materials Science Assistant Professor Orion Berryman with a new X-ray diffractometer.

Montana Tech

Post-fire assessment with drill resistance testing equipment. This research is making existing post fire assessment methodologies even more accessible to investigators and others.

Montana State

1-on-1 mentoring has long been a hallmark of graduate education at MSU where faculty & students work side by side doing internationally recognized research in Materials Science.

University of Montana

Using hyperspectral analysis to examine nanoparticle interactions with cells.

Montana Tech

Detailed examination of a complex metal microstructure with the HyRox digital microscope system.

Montana State

A final check of a high temperature fuel cell assembly before closing the furnace & beginning a study of conductivity & durability in devices stabilized with new materials that anchor nanoparticle catalysts to ceramic substrates.

Montana Tech

Inserting a specimen for thermogravimetric analysis.

Montana State

Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) is a sensitive means for characterizing the stability of materials & their sensitivity to either reduction or oxidation.

Montana Tech

Aligning a fluorescent sample for interrogation in the GENL Far-field Probing Station.

Montana State

The X-Ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) is used to quantify changes in composition & bonding in new materials developed for use in photonic, magnetic & energy conversion applications.

Montana Tech

Field effect scanning electron microscope.

Montana State

$preparing samples for study in the X-ray Diffractometer at Montana State University$

Preparing samples for study in the X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). Students use the XRD routinely to study crystal structure in new materials developed to prevent high-temperature corrosion, catalysis, & nonlinear optical devices.

Montana Tech

Installing heads on a hydrocylone test stand.

Montana State

Fluorescence decay traces from the ultrafast emission lifetime spectrometer enable graduate students to study new materials for solar cells & photodamage & repair mechanisms in DNA.

Montana Tech

Adjusting flowrates in a continuous aqueous processing system.

Montana State

Optical elements of a time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) instrument capable of measuring fluorescence emission lifetimes as short as 50 ps. This instrument is used to measure charge transfer rates in novel materials designed for advanced photovoltaic applications.

Montana Tech

A dilatometer, which accurately measures the volumetric changes that occur in various substances as a function of temperature.

Montana State

A student adjusts the focus of an Ar+ ion laser into a high temperature solid oxide fuel cell to perform in situ vibrational spectroscopy measurements.

Montana Tech

Viewing the spinnerete from the GENL Electrospinning tool.

Montana State

A student adjusts gas flows into a high temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) used to study mechanisms of electrocatalysis & energy conversion in extreme environments.

Montana Tech

Using the GENL Nanonics Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope.