Chemistry | Master's Program

Questions?

  • Chemistry
    202-885-1750
    Fax: 202-885-1752
    afarran@american.edu
    Beeghly, Room 104

    Farran, Arij B.
    Senior Administrative Assistant

Mailing Address

MS in Chemistry


Admission to the Program

Applicants must have earned a degree equivalent to fulfilling the requirements for a BS in Chemistry or Biochemistry with a 3.00 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.00 scale) in chemistry from a college accredited by the American Chemical Society or equivalent. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are required. All applications must be approved by the faculty of the Department of Chemistry. 


Degree Requirements

  • 30 credit hours of approved graduate work. The entire course of study must constitute a unified program. Each student must have a proposed curriculum approved by the department’s academic advisor and the department chair within one semester after entering the program. 
  • Tool of research: an examination in German, French, Russian, or statistics.  
  • One comprehensive examination 
  • Research requirement: CHEM-797 Master’s Thesis Research (6) or CHEM-797 Master’s Thesis Research (3) and CHEM-691 Internship in Chemistry (3) with grades of B or better. A thesis of publishable quality based on original chemical laboratory research must be presented at a public seminar and defended before the students’s committee immediately thereafter. A research proposal must be accepted by the student’s thesis committee at least one semester prior to the oral defense of the thesis. 

Course Requirements

Skills Courses (9 credit hours)

  • CHEM-602 Research Method Design (3) 
  • CHEM-605 Research Seminar (3) 
  • STAT-514 Statistical Methods (3) or speciality skills course approved by advisor 

Concepts Courses (15 credit hours)

  • 15 credit hours from the following: 
  • CHEM-510 Advanced Physical Chemistry (3) 
  • CHEM-520 Advanced Organic Chemistry I (3) 
  • CHEM-540 Advanced Analytical Chemistry (3) 
  • CHEM-561 Biochemistry II (3) 
  • CHEM-635 Topics in Biological and Organic Chemistry (3) (may be taken twice with different topic) 
  • CHEM-655 Topics in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry (3) (may be taken twice with different topic) 
  • CHEM-660 Topics in Environmental Chemistry (3) (may be taken twice with different topic) 

Research Courses (6 credit hours)

  • CHEM-797 Master’s Thesis Research (6) or  CHEM-797 Master’s Thesis Research (3) and CHEM-691 Internship in Chemistry (3)