MSc Program – Materials Science and Engineering

2018-19 academic year MSc program

 

Regulations for an MSc in the Faculty of Engineering

The program's regulations comply with the regulations for an MSc in the Faculty of Engineering, shown here [1].

 

Name of degree

Master of Science (MSc) in Materials Science and Engineering

 

Target population

The program targets students with a BSc in Materials Science and Engineering, other disciplines of Engineering, Chemistry, Physics or Biology, from recognized academic institutions in Israel and worldwide. Additionally, students with an MSc in other disciplines are encouraged to apply.

 

Admission requirements

The mandatory version of the Registration and Admission Requirements, supplementary to the university's general requirements, is applicable. Up-to-date information may be found on the university's registration website.

• The candidate's weighted grade average in the BSc degree must be 80 or more. In addition, the candidate must present documentation with regard to his final relative ranking in the BSc class. In exceptional cases, the Head of the Department is authorized to approve the admission of a student whose achievements are below the official standard, but not below 75, to the MSc program in a provisional status, for a maximum period of one year. In such cases the Head of the Department will take into consideration factors like substantial professional experience in the field of materials, ranking, warm recommendations from professional experts (from academia and/or industry), etc.
• Candidates with a BSc in Materials Engineering from recognized universities are admitted in either a 'Regular' or 'Accumulative Studies' status. Graduates from other disciplines are admitted to a Supplementary program which requires them to complete 4 core materials courses, and will only be admitted to the MSc program after meeting the supplementary requirements.
• Outstanding graduates of BSc programs in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering at TAU may continue their studies in a direct track to the MSc, completing both the BSc and MSc in five years.

 

Academic coordinator of the MSc program

An academic coordinator has been appointed for the MSc program in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. All questions concerning academic contents, admission requirements, required supplementary studies, approval of supervisors and examiners for theses and final projects etc. should be addressed to the academic coordinator. In some cases, the approval of the Head of the Department is also required.

 

Stages of the MSc program

• Following the successful completion of the supplementary requirements, or if no supplements are needed, the MSc program at the Faculty of Engineering includes two stages: First – Accumulative Studies, and second – Regular Studies. In the first stage students accumulate credit points for the MSc degree, and their annual curriculum is approved by a temporary supervisor. They must take a minimum of three Engineering courses every year and pass at least two of them, completing the whole Accumulative stage in three years at the most. In addition, Accumulative stage students must pass all of the Department's mandatory courses (including repetition following failure, if needed) no later than the end of their fourth semester of studies. Therefore, students are advised to take all mandatory courses in the first year of studies, to allow for repetition, if needed, before the end of the second year.
• In the second stage students completes their MSc requirements, including courses plus a thesis or final project. Fulltime students are admitted to the Regular Studies stage right from the beginning. Prerequisites for advancing to the Regular Stage in the Research Track: 1) Acquiring a permanent supervisor, and 2) 18 credit points in Engineering courses. Accumulated courses must be completed with a minimum average grade of 80 for Fulltime students, and 70 for everyone else. Students must also pass all mandatory departmental courses. A student advancing from Accumulative Studies to Fulltime Studies gains the Regular status.  In every track at least 25% of the curriculum must comprise Engineering courses taken in the Regular status. Students in the Regular stage must complete all requirements for the MSc degree in the chosen track within a maximum of two years.
• All students are required to participate in departmental seminars (see section 1.8), take the mathematics course, and two additional courses from the list (total of 8 credit points, 9 semester hours). Students must also choose elective courses for a minimum of 12 credit points in the thesis track, and 22 credit points in the final project track. Elective courses from BSc programs, defined as 'equivalent level' courses, are approved for graduate studies only if the student did not take a similar or identical course in his BSc studies. Students in both tracks may take up to 2 equivalent level courses, for a total of 6 credit points. In addition to the interdisciplinary nature of the program and the list of instructors, and in order to enable students to expand their knowledge in areas that are important to their theses/projects in industry, courses outside the Department may also be taken if approved by the permanent supervisor – for up to 4 credit points in the thesis track and 6 in the project track. Alternatively, a student may complete the credit points required for the degree by taking more courses from the offered list. MSc students in both tracks must complete all courses with a minimum average grade of 75.

	Thesis	Project
Credit points from courses, minimum	24 credits	36 credits
Weight of thesis/project	12 semester hrs.*	3 credits**
Supplementary courses (if needed)	No credits	No credits
Departmental seminars	No credits	No credits
Mandatory courses, minimum	8 credits	8 credits
Elective courses, minimum	12 credits	22 credits
Other courses approved by permanent supervisor, maximum	1 credits	6 credits

Structure of MSc requirements

* Thesis supervision (for determining tuition fee)

** Without semester hours (for determining tuition fee)

      

Thesis or Final Project

• A thesis and a final project differ mainly in their scope. In both a scientific/technological problem is defined, followed by a survey of current literature, and a work plan for attaining the preset goals. After the study has been completed, its results are presented, discussed and analyzed, leading to conclusions, in compliance with the scientific standards relevant to the field of research. As a rule of thumb, a thesis takes nine full months (100%) to complete, while a project takes about 25% of the time. The thesis or project is submitted in Hebrew or English, as agreed with the supervisor. The final project track is intended for external students only (mainly students who work in industry while they study).
• The purpose of an MSc thesis is training the student in methods of research, including: a critical survey of literature, conducting research of the scope customary at the Faculty, and at an appropriate academic level, and submitting an essay on the relevant topic to the Departmental Committee. The study can be either theoretical or experimental, on basic science or application-oriented, and must emphasize the analytic scientific approach and the contribution to furthering scientific understanding and/or updating existing scientific knowledge. It can also be interdisciplinary, involving collaboration between research groups from different faculties.
• When a student is admitted to the program, he is matched with an appointed temporary supervisor. When he advances to the Regular stage, he must find a permanent supervisor. A Fulltime student, who is in the Regular status right from the start, must apply for a permanent thesis supervisor as early as possible, and no later than the end of his first semester of studies.
• Work for the thesis is conducted under the permanent supervisor, for a total of 12 credit points. The supervisor is a faculty member who instructs the student throughout his research and studies, serving as the link between the student, the program's academic Coordinator, the Head of the Department, the Faculty Committees and other Faculty institutions – in all issues related to the MSc program. In the case of interdisciplinary research, a supervisor from each discipline is not required automatically, but in some cases the Head of the Department and/or Academic Coordinator do set such a requirement. The permanent thesis supervisor is a faculty member chosen from these lists [2], who has agreed to the student's request to serve as his permanent supervisor, and received the approval of the program's Academic Coordinator, as well as the Faculty's MSc Committee - all this under the provisions of TAU's General MSc Committee. The student must submit his application for approving a permanent supervisor, signed by the intended supervisor, to the Academic Coordinator. The application must include a brief description (up to one page) of the topic of the thesis.
• In special cases, a secondary supervisor may be appointed for an MSc thesis. The secondary supervisor must have a PhD degree, and must receive the approval of the University's MSc Committee, based on a recommendation from the Faculty Committee.  He may come from either academia or industry.
• A student who wishes to change the subject of his research, but remain under the supervision of the same supervisor, must submit a request, including a well-outlined explanation and the supervisor's recommendation, to the Program Coordinator. A student wishes to change the subject and also transfer to a new supervisor, must submit a request that includes a well-outlined explanation together with recommendations from both supervisors.
• The purpose of a final project (for 3 credit points) is training the student in methods of engineering design and/or research, including: a critical survey of literature of the scope customary at the Faculty, and at an appropriate academic level, and an essay on the relevant topic submitted to the project's supervisor. The project can be either theoretical or experimental, with a focus on either engineering design or investigation of a hypothesis, and must emphasize the analytic scientific approach and the contribution to furthering scientific understanding and/or updating existing scientific knowledge. Supervision is on a personal basis. A graduate with an MSc in the project track from the Faculty of Engineering, who wishes to go on to the PhD program, is required to meet the requirements set by the University for students with an MSc from other universities, without a final project. In particular, such a student is required to complete an MSc thesis, as customary at the Faculty of Engineering.
• A project supervisor may be a senior faculty member from an Israeli institution of higher education, or a suitable person from industry, who is an engineer with an MSc degree. The appointment must be approved by the Academic Coordinator. When the project supervisor is not a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering, an additional accompanying supervisor must also be appointed.
• A student may request permission to transfer from the project track to the thesis track, or vice versa, under the same supervisor. The request must be approved by the supervisor, the Academic Coordinator, and the Faculty's MSc Committee. Also, a supervisor may ask the Departmental Committee, after informing the student, to reduce the scope of the work from a thesis to a final project, if the student has not shown sufficient initiative, progress or innovation in his research. When the scope is reduced to a final project, the student must complete the quota of credit points, as required in the final project track. A student in the thesis track who was admitted directly to the Regular Stage, but has not presented an approval from a permanent supervisor and a description of the topic of his thesis by the end of the first semester, will be transferred to a track without a thesis.

 

Mandatory participation in seminars

Students are required to participate in seminars on Materials Science and Engineering organized by the Department or by other academic units at Tel Aviv University. During their MSc studies, students in the final project track must take part in 8 seminars, and students in the thesis track must participate in 14 seminars. Students are required to fill a seminar participation form (download here ([3], and ask the Academic Coordinator or another faculty member present at the seminar, to sign it at the end of the seminar. Participation, as a lecturer or poster presenter, in a Materials conference of at least one day, is equal to 4 seminar hours. This credit is given only once during the student's MSc studies. To receive it the student must submit an application to the Department's Seminar Coordinator, together with his permanent supervisor's recommendation, the program of the conference indicating the student's presentation, and proof of participation in the conference. A student who has completed the requirement for seminar participation will submit the record to the Students' Office, where it will be added to his personal file, as a fulfilled requirement for the degree.

MSc Program – Materials Science and Engineering

Academic Coordinator – Dr. Ariel Ismach

 

Mandatory courses

All students must take 3 of the following courses (total of 8 credits, 9 semester hours) and participate in departmental seminars as specified.

• One of the mathematic courses
• One course from the category: “Physics and Interfaces of Materials”
• One course from the category: “Material Characterization”

 

Elective courses

Students must choose at least 12 credit points in the thesis track and 22 credit points in the project track.

 

All courses are given in English, unless the lecturer decides to give it in Hebrew.

Course No.	Course name	Credit pts.	Hrs.	Prerequisites	Semester
Mandatory
0581.5002	Seminar	-	1		1,2
One of the following:
0510.5001	Differential and Integral Equations	3	3		1,2
0510.5002	Functional Analysis	3	3		2
0540.5001	Mathematical Methods in Engineering	3	3	Complex Functions	1

Course No.	Course name	Credit pts.	Hrs.	Prerequisites	Semester
Physics and Interfaces of Materials:
0581.4321	Magnetic Materials5,7,8	3	3		2
0581.5121	Introduction to Surfaces	3	3		2
0581.5221	Atomistic Simulation of Materials5	3	3		1
0581.5222	Phenomena in Single-Crystal Surfaces5	3	3	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering	1
Materials Engineering:
0540.6201	Theory of Composite Materials	3	3	Introduction to Theory of Elasticity	2
0581.5211	Optical Materials5	3	3		2
0581.5212	Composite Structures and Functions	3	3	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering; Composite Materials	1
0581.5312	Smart Materials 5,7	3	3	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering; Physics 2	*
0581.5313	Materials for High Temperatures 5,7	3	3	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanical Behavior of Materials	2
0581.5381	Investigating Structural Failures	3	3	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanics of Solids	1
Material Characterization
0581.5131	X-Ray Crystallography5	3	3		2
0351.4611	Advanced Methods in Optical Microscopy	2	2		*
0510.7705	Nanometric Characterization of Electronic Materials and Devices	2	2		*
0581.4231	Transmission Electron Microscopy in Materials Science	3	3		18
0581.5332	Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) 5,7	2	2		*
0581.5232	Laboratory in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)9	1	1	Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)	*
0581.5233	Analytic Transmission Electron Microscopy for Material Characterization5	2	2		*
0581.5234	Laboratory in Analytic Transmission Electron Microscopy for Material Characterization	1	1	Analytic Transmission Electron Microscopy for Material Characterization	*
0581.5235	Auger Electron Microscopy (AES) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)5	2	2		2
0581.5236	Laboratory in Auger Electron Microscopy (AES) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) 9	1	1	Auger Electron Microscopy (AES) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)	2
Processes and Devices
0510.6610	Photonic Devices: Principles and Applications	3	3	Classical Optics	2
0510.6701	Advanced Semiconductor Physics	3	3	Electronic Devices	1
0512.4700	Microelectronics 8	3	3	Electronic Devices (recommended)	1
0512.4702	Introduction to Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems8	3	4	Introduction to Semiconductor Physics	2
0512.4704	Solid State Devices8	3	4	Electronic Devices	2
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
0321.4813	Mesoscopic Physics and Nanoelectronics	3	3		2
0351.4034	Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology	3	3		*
0510.7703	Nanometric Devices – Properties and Applications 5	2	2		*
0581.5251	Synthesis, Characterization and Applications of Low-Dimensional Materials 5	3	3		1
0581.5255	Motion at the Nanoscale: Principles, Materials and Devices 5	2	2	Introduction to Material Science and Technology	*
Materials in Biology and Medicine
0321.4824	Physics of Bio-Polymers	3	3		*
0453.4105	Physical Methods in Biology: Principles and Applications	3	3		2
0553.5332	Medication Releasing Biomedical Devices	3	3	Biomaterials or Introduction to Material Science and Technology	*
0553.5335	Natural-Based Polymers for Biomedical Applications	3	3	Biomaterials or Introduction to Material Science and Technology	2
0581.5361	Biomaterials 5,7	3	3	Introduction to Material Science and Technology	*
Materials in Energy Systems
0510.7701	Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion	2	2	Advanced Semiconductor Physics	2
0581.4371	Materials for Energy Systems 8,10	3	3		1
General Courses
0510.7003	Scientific writing (English)	2	2	Advanced Semiconductor Physics	2
0553.7000	Practical Ethics for engineering and science students	3	3		2

Supplementary studies

• BSc graduates from university Engineering Faculties who are changing their field of study, BSc graduates from university Faculties of Exact Sciences and Life Science, and graduates of 4-year Engineering Colleges are required to complete a supplementary studies program as a prerequisite for admission to the MSc program in Materials Science and Engineering (both the Accumulation and Regular stages).
• These courses do not grant credit points. The program's Academic Coordinator requires each student to take 4 of the courses listed in the table below, taking into consideration the area in which the student attained his BSc, and the potential contribution of the supplementary courses to the student's research or workplace.
• The Academic Coordinator is authorized to reduce the number of required courses for outstanding students, graduates of prestigious programs (e.g. Talpiot), or in other special circumstances.
• Students must complete the supplementary courses with a minimum grade of 70 per course, and a minimum weighted average of 80 (the course with the lowest grade is weighted at half its weight in the catalogue). Final failure in a supplementary course in two consecutive registrations leads to termination of studies.
• If a candidate has not successfully completed his supplementary studies within a period of two years, or has failed twice (final failure) in at least one of the supplementary courses – his studies at the Faculty are terminated. A candidate who has successfully completed his supplementary program may apply for admission to the Faculty.    

Course No.	Course Name	Hrs.	Semester
0351.2202	Thermodynamics	6	1
0381.4132	Crystallographic Introduction to Structural Chemistry	3	2
0581.3111	Physical Metallurgy	4	1
0581.2111       0581.1111	Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering (for Materials) or Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering	4     4	1     2
0581.3123	Diffusion in Solids	3	2
0581.3121	Physics of Materials	4	2
0581.3181	Mechanical Behavior of Materials	4	2
0581.4121	Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer (for Materials Engineers)	4	1

http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=92&language=he-IL

² Members of the core faculty may supervise research on any topic. Members with secondary affiliation may supervise research on any topic from their own fields of activity with a distinct connection to Materials, without explicit approval beyond the authorization required by this clause. Other faculty members may supervise research on any topic from their fields of activity with a distinct connection to Materials, but must first consult with the program's Academic Coordinator.

³ http://www6.tau.ac.il/matnano/images/stories/docs/attendance_form.pdf

⁵ The course will be given in English, unless the lecturer decides to give it in Hebrew.

⁷ MSc course open to BSc students

⁸ 'Equivalent level' course – also open to graduate students. A student may take an 'equivalent level' course only if he did not take this or a similar course during his BSc studies. 'Equivalent level' courses are recognized for a maximum of 6 credit points in the thesis track and 9 credit points in the final project track.

⁹ The theoretical course is a prerequisite for the lab. The number of participants is limited, and participation must be approved by the lecturer based on considerations such as the student's study program, whether he is a fulltime student, how essential the equipment is for his thesis (based on a statement from the permanent supervisor), the number of vacancies in the lab, etc.

¹⁰ Students who have taken courses 0351.3311 or 0581.5271 may not register for this course.