Masters candidates in chemical engineering are required to complete a master's thesis of depth and creativity appropriate to the degree. Students are also asked to complete a program of coursework in order to both deepen and broaden their technical expertise in chemical engineering plus acquire the knowledge outside of chemical engineering necessary to complete the masters thesis research.

All our M.S. with thesis students receive financial support of at least $25,000 per year plus tuition waiver long as they remain in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward their degree.

Course Requirements

The coursework requirements include a nine-credit hour core program in chemical engineering. Students select three out of the following four core courses:

• CHEN 7100 - Transport
• CHEN 7110 - Chemical Engineering Analysis/Advanced Transport
• CHEN 7200 - ChE Graduate Thermodynamics
• CHEN 7250 - Graduate Reaction Engineering
• Additional nine credit hours of graded electives (A, B, C, etc.)

Six hours of these graded electives should be in chemical engineering. Each Master's of Science thesis option student must complete a total of at least 30 semester hours of which at least 27 semester hours must be in chemical engineering. Each student may include six credit hours of research and thesis in his or her plan of study. Each master's student must enroll in graduate seminar during each semester of each academic year. In addition to the core courses, electives and research and thesis, graduate students may include a combination of S-U graded courses (independent study, directed reading, research orientation, seminar, or S-U option 6000, 7000 or 8000 courses) or regular 6000, 7000 or 8000 courses in his or her program.

Plan of Study

The faculty research advisor and student jointly prepare the graduate course plan, called the plan of study. The plan of study must receive the comprehensive approval of the faculty research advisor. In addition, the plan of study must have the approval of the department chair, and dean of the Graduate School. This plan of study (forms on the Graduate School site) should be prepared during the student's second semester of graduate work with adjustments and amendments later to reflect approved changes during the student's course of study. For students receiving financial support, all courses taken must correspond to those on the approved plan of study. Students on financial assistance but who do not yet have a plan of study must have their course schedules and registration approved by their faculty advisor and the department chair.

Residency Requirement

A student must maintain residency until course requirements are completed and a satisfactory master's thesis, containing the full details and the experimental and/or computational results has been submitted and approved by the research advisor and the master's examining committee. Completion of the thesis research project requires the masters' candidate to demonstrate a high level of mastery of the scientific and engineering concepts relevant to the topic. These matters are judged by the faculty research advisor and by the faculty members composing the thesis committee.

Seminar Requirement

Each student is expected to register for CHEN 7950 - Graduate Seminar (1 credit hour) during each fall and spring semester that you are enrolled in chemical engineering unless you have a conflict with a course or graduate teaching assignment. This seminar course also features invited speakers from industry, academia and government agencies as well as final year Auburn Ph.D. students.