The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky offers two graduate degrees-the MS and the PhD (doctoral) degree. In the MS degree program, the student has the option of pursuing the MS Plan A, which involves research and a thesis, or the MS Plan B, a non-thesis or coursework-only option. A Master’s degree is not a prerequisite for the PhD degree.
Admission Requirements
Four years of chemistry covering the areas of general, organic, physical, and analytical constitute the normal minimum requirement for pursuing graduate work within this Department. Additional prerequisite undergraduate work includes one year of college physics, mathematics through calculus, and training in some foreign language. In special cases, exceptions to these rules may be made by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Program Committee.An undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 (based on a 4-point system) normally shall be required for admission as a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry. The Graduate Program Committee shall, however, be authorized to admit students with averages as low as 2.75,based on such evidence of ability as high GRE scores, recommendations, or excellent preparation. No students with undergraduate averages below 2.5 will be admitted.Graduate Students who lack specified prerequisites, or are found to be deficient in the Proficiency Examinations given during the orientation program, may make up their deficiencies by registering in and successfully completing the appropriate (usually undergraduate) courses.
Degree Requirements
Course work for the PhD shall include four core courses, one from each of four of the five areas of chemistry: analytical, biological, inorganic, organic and physical. Students who entered the program prior to the Fall 2014 semester must select one course from each of the two areas where the lowest proficiency examination scores were obtained. The following (three-credit) courses are officially “core” in each area: CHE 626 (Fall Analytical), CHE 623 (Spring Analytical); CHE 550 (Fall Biological), CHE 552 (Spring Biological); CHE 510 (Fall Inorganic), CHE 514 (Spring Inorganic); CHE 538 (Fall Organic), CHE 535 (Spring Organic); CHE 547 (Fall Physical), CHE 548 (Spring Physical). Students will not be making satisfactory progress unless they have completed at least 12 hours of course work other than research and seminar by the end of the first year and 24 hours of course work by the end of the second year. In addition, any time a student’s GPA falls below a 3.0, this is automatically considered to be unsatisfactory performance. Students who are not making satisfactory progress after three semesters will be ineligible to serve as teaching assistants and may be terminated in the graduate program.
A minimum of 8 credits of graduate-level (500-level or above) Chemistry courses in addition to the required core courses. They shall be “regular” courses (that is, seminar, colloquium, practicum, independent study, and research course are excluded); they should generally be in the student’s area of study. The second core course of a pair, if taken, can be considered an advanced or specialty course. A minimum of 3 credits of course work outside of the Department of Chemistry. These credits need not be in graduate-level courses, but must be approved by the advisory committee. Alternatively, these credits can be in graduate-level courses in the Department of Chemistry, selected in an area outside the student’s area of concentration.
Please see the Department of Chemistry Graduate Program Handbook for more information related to the Graduate Program.
Please visit the Department of Chemistry website for more resources and information.
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