M.S. in Chemistry

The MS in Chemistry is a nine-month graduate degree program offered by the Department of Chemistry. It is not part of the PhD program. The degree is designed for students with bachelor’s degrees who are interested in pursuing continuing education in chemistry to advance their career opportunities in the field. There are two options for students pursuing the MS in Chemistry degree: a coursework-only curriculum; curriculum with research opportunities. Coursework Only Option: The coursework-only option might be of interest to employees in chemistry-related industries for whom additional research experience is not as important as obtaining the MS degree for job advancements. The non-research option may also be interesting to students who intend to apply to Law or Business programs and who want to demonstrate an advanced technical background, or for students interested in post-baccalaureate courses prior to enrolling in health science degree programs that do not emphasize research in their admission process. Although this is intended as an intensive, 9-month program, we recognize that is may be convenient for students to extend the time according to the needs of their individual life and employment circumstances. Research-based Option: The research-based option might be of interest to employees in chemistry-related industries who wish to diversify their experimental skills; students from abroad; students bridging from their BS to improve their competitiveness for employment or for admission to PhD, MDPhD and other programs where a research background would be useful, including health science professional programs where research experience is used in ranking candidate for admissions. The number of research-based positions is limited by the availability of mentors. Applicants should review carefully the research programs of faculty mentors, and then contact a few faculty members of interest. Before including a lab on their list of prospective research groups in their application materials, applicants should identify one where there are mutual priorities and they have come to an agreement that they can be accepted into their lab if they are accepted into the MS program. Commitment of laboratory space beyond the 9-month period is not guaranteed and completely up to the discretion of the research mentor.