CHEME-MS - Chemical Engineering (MS)

The Department of Chemical Engineering offers opportunities for both undergraduates and graduate students to pursue course work and research in energy sciences and technology, which include the chemical, physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences. 

In addition, both undergraduates and graduate students can pursue work in interdisciplinary biosciences, which include the chemical, biological, physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences. Students are encouraged to review course offerings in all departments of the School of Engineering and to seek academic advising with individual chemical engineering faculty. Students wishing assistance should talk with student services staff in the department.

The University’s requirements, including residency requirements, for the M.S., Engineer, and Ph.D. degrees are summarized in the Graduate Degrees section of this bulletin.

Current research and teaching activities cover a number of advanced topics in chemical engineering, including applied statistical mechanics, biocatalysis, biochemical engineering, bioengineering, biophysics, computational materials science, colloid science, dynamics of complex fluids, energy conversion, functional genomics, hydrodynamic stability, kinetics and catalysis, microrheology, molecular assemblies, nanoscience and technology, Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, polymer physics, protein biotechnology, renewable fuels, semiconductor processing, soft materials science, solar utilization, surface and interface science, and transport mechanics.

Fellowships and Assistantships

Qualified predoctoral applicants are encouraged to apply for nationally competitive fellowships, for example, those from the National Science Foundation. Applicants to the Ph.D. program should consult with their financial aid officers for application information and advice. In the absence of other awards, incoming Ph.D. students normally are awarded departmental fellowships. Matriculated Ph.D. students are supported primarily by fellowship awards and assistantship research or teaching appointments. All students are encouraged to apply for external competitive fellowships and may obtain information about various awarding agencies from faculty advisers and student services. Assistantships are paid positions for graduate students that, in addition to a salary, provide the benefit of a tuition allocation. Individual faculty members appoint students to research assistantships; the department chair appoints doctoral students to teaching assistantships. Contact departmental student services for additional information.

All 45 units for the Chemical Engineering MS Degree must be completed at Stanford.

The Department of Chemical Engineering is committed to providing academic advising in support of our M.S. students’ education and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative engagement by both the adviser and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the adviser and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

At the start of graduate study, normally at the beginning of the Fall quarter, each student is assigned a master’s program adviser: a member of our faculty who will provide guidance in course selection and in exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways. The department’s graduate handbook provides information and suggested timelines for advising meetings. Usually, the same faculty member serves as program adviser for the duration of master’s study, but the handbook does describe a process for formal adviser changes. 

In addition, the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and the Graduate Committee meets with all the master’s students at the start of the first year, and are available during the academic year by email and during office hours. 

Our department’s student services office is also an important part of the master’s advising team. They inform students and advisers about university and department requirements, procedures, and opportunities, and they maintain the official records of advising assignments and approvals.  

Finally, graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the Graduate Advising section of this bulletin.

The purpose of the master’s program is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is done through advanced lecture course work in the fundamentals of the field, including microhydrodynamics, molecular thermodynamics, kinetics, spectroscopy, applied mathematics, and biochemical engineering, in addition to the student’s area of specialization. All students must master the fundamental chemical, physical, and biological concepts that govern molecular behavior.

The Ph.D. is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research. Through course work and guided research, the program prepares students to make original contributions in Chemical Engineering and related fields.