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Master of Science Degree Requirements

Chemical Engineering

The Master of Science in Chemical Engineering is normally pursued by students with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering or a closely allied field. Students wishing to pursue the Master Degree with undergraduate educational backgrounds other than Chemical Engineering may be required to complete supplementary undergraduate work. These courses are in addition to the minimum course requirements. The Departmental Graduate Committee will specify any additional requirements during the admission process.

Students originally admitted to the ChE M.S. Program may petition the ChE Graduate Committee for admission to the Ph.D. Program.  Doctoral candidacy will be effective once the student has successfully completed all four core ChE courses with a QPA of 3.5 or higher and has successfully presented and defended a Ph.D. dissertation proposal. 

Course Requirements

A minimum of 30 semester hours (SH) of academic work is required of all full-time students (continuous and cooperative full-time students) to qualify for the Masters in Chemical Engineering (see Table 1).  IF PURSUING A THESIS OPTION, at least six semester hours of thesis credit must be included as part of these 30 credits.  In addition, each student pursuing a thesis option must enroll in the Department’s seminar course for each semester they are matriculating toward their degree.  The faculty adviser and student establish the sequence of courses that students take to pursue the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. Full-time Master of Science students who complete the required 6SH Thesis work (CHME 7990) are required to register for CHME 7996 Thesis Continuation (0SH) until the thesis is completed.  Note that although no credits are associated with CHME 7996 (Thesis Continuation), a student registered for this course is considered full-time.  IF PURSUING A NON-THESIS OPTION, students must complete a minimum of 32 SH of course work, and no enrollment in Seminar is required.  Required Core Courses and example elective courses for all graduate students are provided in Table 2.

Table 1:  Course Requirements for Master of Science Degree (Thesis and Non-Thesis)

* students may complete a maximum of 8 SH (Thesis Option) or 12 SH (Non-Thesis Option) of course work for credit outside of the Chemical Engineering Department under guidance of their adviser and approval of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator.
** exclusive of any preparatory undergraduate courses.

Table 2: Chemical Engineering Course Offerings

* Any CHME or ENGR course at level 5000 or higher is automatically counted toward degree requirements.  Any student wishing to take a 5000 level or higher course in another engineering discipline or in another College must get permission from their adviser and a petition form signed by the Graduate Coordinator and approved by the Graduate School of Engineering for the course to count toward their degree.

Thesis Requirements

Students pursuing a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering with thesis must submit to the Graduate School of Engineering a written thesis that is approved by the thesis committee and department head.  The graduate school requirements and electronic submittal instructions can be found at  http://www.coe.neu.edu/gse.  Full-time MS students must also complete an oral Master’s Thesis Defense in order to successfully complete the program.  The student will be expected to form a Master’s Thesis Committee, composed of a minimum of three members, one being the adviser, one being a faculty member from the Chemical Engineering Department, and one being a member from outside of the department of chemical engineering. The oral presentation will be open to the public, including students, faculty, and the candidate’s committee. 

Part-time Students

Part-time students may progress according to their abilities within the seven-year time limit.   A minimum of 32 semester hours of academic course work is required for part-time students.  The thesis and seminar course are not required for part-time students pursuing a course master’s.

Master of Science students wishing to switch their status from part-time to full-time must notify the Chemical Engineering Department and make a formal petition to the Graduate School of Engineering.  Refer to the regulations of the Graduate School of Engineering for further information on academic administrative policies.

Departure Prior to Thesis Completion

Occasionally, students have left the Chemical Engineering department prior to completion of all degree requirements. In such instances, long time intervals have often elapsed before Thesis or manuscript submission. Accordingly, the department has adopted the guideline that a student cannot submit a Thesis for credit beyond three years after s/he stops actively pursuing the research. Exceptions may be granted upon petition to the departmental Graduate Committee. Petitions must demonstrate extenuating circumstances and prove that the research is still of value to the profession.