THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

The Graduate Program in the Chemistry Department focuses on the Ph.D. degree; however, the M.S. degree programs are also available. The general aspects that apply to all students in the Ph.D. program are briefly listed below. Complete details of the requirements for both programs are available from the Department of Chemistry Graduate Office.

Financial Support

Essentially every graduate student is provided with financial support while pursuing the graduate degree. Because undergraduates from many departments take chemistry courses each semester, our need for graduate teaching assistants (TAs) is high. Also, the faculty are very active in pursuing research support, so their students can be paid from research grants as research assistants (RAs). In the Fall of 2000, incoming graduate students received stipends of $1,432/month for 12 months. Also included are health insurance, a tuition waiver of up to nine academic credits for the fall and spring semesters and four credits for the summer semester (the normal full course load for Chemistry graduate students is six credits), and a waiver of the student fees each semester. The fringe benefits are substantial, totaling about $9,200 per year for an out-of-state student. The assistantship stipend is automatically increased in the second year. For 2000-01, the increase is $816 for the year. Students who have consistently high evaluations as teaching assistants are appointed at the "merit level," which carries a still higher stipend. The Department is dedicated to supporting Ph.D. candidates for a period of up to 5 years for completion of their degree requirements.

Most students are appointed as TAs when they first arrive. When they join research groups, the remainder of their program will involve a combination of TA and RA appointments. The distribution depends on individual research groups and available funds.

As a supplement to TA and RA support, several types of fellowships are available. The quality of our graduate students has allowed the Department to compete well in obtaining first-year fellowships from the College and the University. A number of affirmative action and minority recruiting fellow-ships are also available on campus. Fellowships, in particular for summer support, are available in the Department due to contributions from a variety of industrial sources. Also, students and their advisors work together to secure fellowships available nationally from organizations such as the American Chemical Society.

Research Preceptor Selection

Our program is designed to get students involved in research quickly. New graduate students interview faculty and select a Research Preceptor in their first semester, so they can begin their dissertation research project by the beginning of their second semester. By the end of the first year, each student, in consultation with the Research Preceptor, selects three additional Faculty to serve with the Research Preceptor as the student's Guidance Committee for the Ph.D. degree.

Examinations

Entering students take Placement Examinations that test basic concepts at the undergraduate level in Analytical, Inorganic, Organic, and Physical Chemistry. Placement Exams are given to assist in the identification of any weaknesses that may exist in a student’s technical background. With this information, courses or TA assignments can be selected to ensure that students have the tools that they need to pursue a graduate research program.

While Placement Examinations test at the undergraduate level, Cumulative Examinations, which are given six times during the year, test at the advanced level, and frequently cover recently-published work, colloquia, and information at the level presented in graduate courses. Ph.D. candidates must earn a total of 12 points in these examinations, which are graded on a 0,1,2,3 scale. Students usually begin taking these exams in their first year, and are expected to have at least 4 points by the end of their second year.

In addition to Placement and Cumulative Examinations, each student meets with his/her Guidance Committee toward the end of the second year of study to present plans for research and to demonstrate preparedness for pursuing the project. Successful completion of this requirement results in formal admission to the Ph.D. program.

Language Requirement

While the MSU Chemistry Department believes that mastery of a second language is an important aspect of an education, and encourages all students to give serious consideration to the study of an additional language, there is no formal language requirement in the Graduate Program in Chemistry.

Seminar

Each Ph.D. candidate is required to give two seminars—one in the second year, and a second one before graduation. Each week in the department, there are typically four area seminars given by graduate students which are advertised and open to the public. Seminars are a vital component of the program, and provide outstanding opportunities to both the speakers and the audience.

Course Requirements

As part of their graduate program, students are required to take at least six graduate-level courses. Depending on the student’s research interests and prior training, some of these courses may be in other departments such as Chemical Engineering, Physics, or Biochemistry. There are no core course requirements. Each student works in consultation with an Advisor and a Guidance Committee to establish the course work requirement. In this way, each student can decide on the appropriate balance between focused course work in a single area and breadth in their overall graduate education.

Research

Completion and publication of the results of one or more research projects is the heart of the Ph.D. in Chemistry. Examinations, seminars, and course work are all designed to prepare the student for research. Descriptive titles of the research carried out by graduate students in Faculty Research Groups are listed on page 3, and more detailed descriptions of the research are given in a following section. Selection of a Research Preceptor normally includes selection of a research topic.

In addition to the research carried out in the Chemistry Department, there are a number of centers and programs on campus that provide research opportunities and financial support to graduate students in Chemistry. Groups of faculty on campus have created numerous programs to bring together researchers in different departments with common interests. Frequently they secure training grants from which student support is available. In some cases, student participation in such programs is rather informal; while in other cases, students become a part of both the department and the program, satisfying course work and research requirements in each. Some examples of those currently active include the Biotechnology Training Program, the Center for Fundamental Materials Research, the Institute for Environmental Toxicology, the Center for Food Safety and Toxicology, the Center for Microbial Ecology, the Center for Sensor Materials, and the Crop and Food Bioprocessing Center. Such programs allow students in the Chemistry Department to pursue a variety of interdisciplinary research projects that involve scientists in other departments. In addition to formal programs, faculty in Chemistry collaborate on research projects in many other departments and colleges, and some Chemistry Faculty hold joint appointments in other departments.

Dissertation and Final Defense

The independent research and creative component of each student’s research program are described in a written dissertation. This original contribution to knowledge in the Chemical Sciences is defended by the candidate before the student’s Guidance Committee. This examination is, in part, open to the public.

Graduate Courses

We believe that our course offerings are unique, and offer the opportunity for an outstanding education. We offer a number of graduate laboratory courses including CEM 835, Spectrochemical Methods of Analysis, and CEM 838, Computer-Based Instrumentation. Another important aspect of the program is the special topics courses. One way that students can learn about a research area from a faculty member is by joining their research program; a second way is by taking an advanced special topics course given by a faculty member on their research area. By having faculty offer in-depth course opportunities in their area of expertise, students can master the new and exciting areas of chemical research represented in the Department. The following courses are currently offered in the Chemistry Department at the graduate level:

811 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry I    Fall. 3 credits.
Principles of chemical bonding, electronic structure, and reaction mechanisms of main group and transition metal compounds. Concepts of group theory.

812 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry II    Spring. 3 credits.
Descriptive chemistry of inorganic compounds. Emphasis on synthesis, structure, and reactivity patterns of coordination, organometallic, and solid state compounds of transition metals and main group elements.

832 Mass Spectrometry   Fall of odd-numbered years. 3 credits.
Instrumentation of mass spectrometry. Interpreting mass spectra of organic and inorganic molecules. Applications to analysis of large molecules and chromatography.

834 Advanced Analytical Chemistry    Fall. 3 credits.
Principles of equilibria and applications in analytical methodology. Acid-base, complexation, redox reactions. Potentiometry and conductometry. Solute partitioning in extraction and chromatography. Kinetic methods of analysis.

835 Spectrochemical Methods of Analysis    Spring of even-numbered years. 3 credits.
Principles and applications of atomic absorption, emission, fluorescence. Plasma emission spectroscopy. UV, visible, IR spectrophotometry. Reaction-rate methods. Molecular fluorescence and phosphorescence. Principles and applications of lasers.

836 Separation Science    Spring of odd-numbered years. 3 credits.
Physical and chemical principles of separations, column technology, and instrumentation for gas, liquid, and supercritical fluid chromatography.

837 Electroanalytical Chemistry    Fall of even-numbered years. 3 credits.
Modern electroanalytical chemistry. Theory and applications to chemical and biological problems. Coulometry, voltammetry, electrometric titrations, and ion-selective potentiometry in macro, micro, and trace analysis.

838 Computer-Based Scientific Instrumentation    Fall. 3 credits.
Electronic and computer-aided measurement and control in scientific instrumentation and experimentation. Principles and applications of digital computers, operational amplifiers, digital logic devices, analog-to-digital converters, and other electronic instruments.

845 Structure and Spectroscopy of Organic Compounds    Fall. 3 credits.
Structural and stereochemical principles in organic chemistry. Applications of spectroscopic methods, especially nuclear magnetic resonance, static and dynamic aspects of stereochemistry. Spectroscopy in structure determination.

851 Advanced Organic Chemistry    Fall. 3 credits.
Structure, reactivity, and methods. Acid-base reactions, substitution, addition, elimination, and pericyclic processes. Major organic intermediates related to simple bonding theory, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

852 Methods of Organic Synthesis    Spring. 3 credits
Principal reactions leading to carbon-carbon bond formation and functional group transformations. Strategies and methods of organic synthesis.

881 Atomic and Molecular Structure    Fall. 3 credits.
Postulates of quantum mechanics, analytical solutions of the Schroedinger equation, theoretical descriptions of chemical bonding, spectroscopy, statistical mechanics, and statistical thermodynamics.

882 Kinetics and Spectroscopic Methods    Spring. 3 credits.
Rate equations and mechanisms of chemical reactions: reaction rate theory, kinetic theory of gases, photochemistry. Spectroscopic methods, and applications of spectroscopy in reaction kinetics.

883 Computational Quantum Chemistry    Fall. 3 credits.
Computational methods in determining electronic energy levels, equilibrium nuclear configurations, and other molecular properties.

890 Chemical Problems and Reports    Fall, Spring, Summer. 1 to 6 credits.
Investigation and report of a nonthesis problem in chemistry.

899 Master’s Thesis Research    Fall, Spring, Summer. 1 to 20 credits.

913 Selected Topics in Inorganic Chemistry    Fall, Spring. 1 to 3 credits.
Chemistry of metal-metal bonds and clusters, organometallic chemistry, layered oxides, and complex layered oxides. Photochemistry. Solid state chemistry and applications of quantum mechanics.

918 Inorganic Chemistry Seminar    Fall, Spring. 1 credit.
Advances in inorganic chemistry reported by graduate students.

924 Selected Topics in Analytical Chemistry    Fall, Spring. 2 to 3 credits.
Advanced computer techniques, surface chemistry, analytical chemistry of polymers, or statistics for chemists.

938 Analytical Chemistry Seminar    Fall, Spring. 1 credit.
Advances in analytical chemistry reported by graduate students, faculty and guest lecturers.

956 Selected Topics in Organic Chemistry    Fall, Spring. 1 to 3 credits.
Heterocyclic and organometallic chemistry, natural products, photochemistry, free radicals, or reaction mechanisms.

958 Organic Chemistry Seminar    Fall, Spring. 1 credit.
Advances in organic chemistry reported by graduate students.

971 Emerging Topics in Chemistry    Fall, Spring. 1 to 3 credits.
Discussion of a research topic of emerging interest in chemistry. Preparation of a proposal for funding of research.

987 Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry I    Fall. 1 to 3 credits.
Topics such as kinetics and photochemistry, macromolecular and surface chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, electric and magnetic properties of matter, or applications of statistical mechanics to chemical problems.

988 Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry II    Spring. 1 to 3 credits.
Topics such as analysis and interpretation of molecular spectra, advanced molecular structure theory, magnetic resonance, X-rays and crystal structure, scientific analysis of vacuum systems, or problems in statistical mechanics.

991 Quantum Mechanics    Fall. 3 credits.
Principles and applications of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger Equation, Matrix formulation of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum theory of angular momentum, Perturbation theory, Interaction of radiation with matter, Systems of identical particles.

992 Statistical Mechanics    Spring. 3 credits.
Principles and applications of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Partition functions and ensembles, ideal gas properties, quantum statistics, distribution function theory of non-ideal gases and liquids, linear response theory and its application to spectroscopy and chemical reactions.

993 Advanced Topics in Quantum Chemistry    Spring of odd-numbered years. 3 credits.
Spectroscopic theory, properties, of atoms and molecules in electric and magnetic fields, intermolecular forces. Many-body theory, molecular electronic structure, solid state chemistry, or molecular reaction dynamics.

994 Advanced Topics in Statistical Mechanics    Spring of even-numbered years. 3 credits.
Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. Correlation functions and spectroscopy, light scattering, magnetic relaxation, transport properties of fluids and gases, or statistical mechanics of chemical reactions.

998 Physical Chemistry Seminar    Fall, Spring. 1 credit.
Advances in physical chemistry reported by graduate students.

999 Doctoral Dissertation Research    Fall, Spring, Summer. 1 to 20 credits.