Materials Informatics Graduate Certificate Program (MI GCP)

The Materials Informatics (MI) Graduate Certificate Program (GCP) is designed for interdisciplinary graduate education at the intersection of materials science, engineering, and data science with the aim of preparing the next generation of materials engineers given the growing demand for data-science skills and knowledge of artificial intelligence. The skills and knowledge obtained will serve as a foundation for the understanding of materials informatics and high throughput materials discovery that will improve career prospects.

Why Study Materials Informatics?

As the use of data science tools matures and spreads to different industries and domains, the demand for professionals with domain knowledge and the ability to handle heterogeneous data is increasing.

UP to 34% More56% Increase96 % Increase
Median salary for data scientists and engineers compared to other analysts1.Job postings on LinkedIn for data scientists in 20192.Job postings on LinkedIn for machine learning engineers in 20192.
1 Linda Burtch, “The Burtch Works Study Salaries of Data Scientists & Predictive Analytics Professionals,” 2019.
2 Kumaresh Pattabiraman, “LinkedIn’s Most Promising Jobs of 2019,” 2019.

Certificate Completion Requirements

A total of four classes (12 credit hours) is required, including the core course MSE 723 (3 credit hours) and three MSE and ST or MA elective courses (9 credit hours). At least one course must be taken from each elective category. The fourth course will be taken from outside of the student’s degree department. For example, an MSE student’s fourth course must be from the ST or MA list (below), whereas a ST or MA student’s fourth course must be from the MSE list (below).

By judicious selection of elective courses, in consultation with the MI GCP Coordinator, students can customize their GCP to focus on areas of interest to them.

* signifies courses that are offered online

The MSE 723 course aims to introduce the emergent field of materials informatics and current approaches that employ informatics and experimental and computational data to accelerate the process of materials optimization, discovery and development. An emphasis will be placed on practical implementation of machine-learning techniques to various materials science problems.

  • MSE 710* Elements of Crystallography and Diffraction
  • MSE 721* Nanoscale Simulations and Modeling
  • MSE 791* Quantitative Materials Characterization Techniques
  • MSE 791* Density Functional Theory in MSE

  • ST 517* Statistical Methods I (or equivalent introductory to statistics course). ST grad students are not permitted to use it for certificate credit.
  • ST 540 Applied Bayesian Analysis
  • ST 533 Applied Spatial Statistics
  • MA 540* Uncertainty Quantification for Physical and Biological Models

Learn More and Apply

Admission Requirements

  • BS degree in the sciences or engineering from an accredited four-year college or university
  • Overall (or major) GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale
  • Potential applicants without the prior background in Materials Science and Engineering are advised to complete MSE 500 prior to applying, although success in that course does not guarantee admission into the certificate program.
  • Distance education students enrolled through Engineering Online (EOL) are eligible to apply for the MI GCP.  With many online MSE and Statistics (ST)/Mathematics (MA) courses to choose from, students can customize their particular certificate programs to focus on specific areas of materials science that interest them.

Application Deadlines

  • Spring Admission: October 1
  • Fall Admission: March 1

How to Apply

  • New students must complete the Graduate School application, found at http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/applygrad.htm. Academic success might have a strong bearing on admission to a degree program but completion of a certificate program in no way guarantees entry into a graduate degree program, which is done through a separate application process.
  • Current NC State graduate students must complete the data entry form and Plan of Work Form (download PDF here) and email them to Ms. Hillary Stone at hmstone2@ncsu.edu and Dr. Yara Yingling at yara_yingling@ncsu.edu. Current NC State students should not complete the Graduate School application in Slate.

Course Registration

Academic Performance Requirements

  • A minimum of a 3.000 grade point average (GPA) on all coursework taken at NC State must be maintained.
  • All courses taken for certificate credit must be letter-graded and completed with a grade of “B” or better. Credit-only courses cannot be used for certificate credit. 
  • All grades on courses taken towards the GCP in courses at the 500-level and above are included in the GPA. Any courses taken at the 400 level and below are not eligible for certificate credit and subsequently do not affect the graduate GPA.
  • Transfer credit from other institutions is not allowed for the GCP. All coursework must be registered through NC State.
  • Up to two courses of post-baccalaureate coursework taken at NC State, if not already used in another graduate program, may be transferred into the GCP.  All transfer credit must carry a grade of B or better.
  • All GCP requirements must be completed within four (4) calendar years, beginning with the date the student commences courses applicable to the GCP.
  • Graduate certificate courses taken while enrolled in a degree program may be double-counted with the degree courses to the extent that the courses unique to the degree remains eighteen hours for a master’s or thirty-six hours for a doctorate. Courses cannot be triple-counted (certificate, MMSE, and PhD).

Contact

MI GCP Director

Yaroslava Yingling, Distinguished Professor,

MSE Director of Undergraduate Programs

yara_yingling@ncsu.edu

919-513-2624

MI GCP Student Coordinator

Hillary Stone

Student Coordinator

hmstone2@ncsu.edu

919-515-4683