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| Dean Joseph E. Flaherty Associate Dean Samuel C. Wait Jr. Institute Professor Ivar Giaever School of Science Home Page http://www.science.rpi.edu The common characteristic of all scientists and mathematicians is curiosity—curiosity about the universe, the macroscopic world around them, the microscopic and submicroscopic structure of atoms and molecules, why and how things work and how to make them work better or faster. Science and mathematics have been at the heart of Rensselaer ever since its founding. All students at Rensselaer take courses in mathematics and science designed to prepare them for careers in their chosen fields. Today, the School of Science educates undergraduate and graduate students in preparation for a wide variety of careers. At Rensselaer, the frontiers of scholarship are being pushed in directions that have major impact on basic science and also on the application of science to technological problems whose solutions advance important societal and industrial issues. The school’s educational goals for its majors are to give a broad background in the particular scientific field, a working knowledge of modern research tools, a strong appreciation of good scientific research in theoretical and experimental areas, preparation for a lifetime of learning and experimenting both alone and as part of a team. Our programs are designed to provide a basis for careers not only in science, but in many diverse areas such as management, technical communication, secondary school teaching, and medicine to mention but a few. Courses for nonscience majors provide the necessary basis for further study in all of Rensselaer’s schools. Rensselaer provides one of the very best settings in which to begin your education. We are recognized as a national leader in interactive learning. Every student has access to sophisticated computer facilities. The science programs using modern software tools have won international acclaim. In many science courses, the workshop/studio format replaces the traditional format with an integrated theory and laboratory approach in which students learn in teams with faculty providing the guidance. All entering students are required to have laptops. In recognition of this, Rensselaer was awarded the Hesburgh Award for “Faculty Development to Enhance Undergraduate Teaching” and the Boeing Outstanding Educator award in 1995. In 1996, Rensselaer received the Pew Leadership Award established for colleges and universities that “have taken bold steps to design their academic environments for the purpose of improving undergraduate education.” Students at all levels are strongly encouraged to participate in the research programs of the faculty and their research associates during the academic year, and summer opportunities for undergraduate research participation are a strong part of Rensselaer’s culture. Our undergraduate program is one that will prepare you for a very wide range of advanced educational or immediate career opportunities. Rensselaer has nationally recognized strength in several areas of scholarship such as applied mathematics, biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, and physics. Undergraduate students can become scholar-apprentices in such important areas as astrophysics; biophysics; the chemistry and physics of electronic, optical, and structural materials; bioorganic and synthetic organic chemistry; environmental science; earth science; mathematical modeling; parallel computation; and other advanced computer science research, such as imaging and databases for computer-aided design and manufacturing. New curricula in bioinformatics and molecular biology, and in information technology have been developed to recognize the high demand for graduates educated in these areas. Students are exposed to state-of-the-art computational and laboratory equipment, including parallel computers for high speed computation, an electron microprobe for surface analysis, molecular beam epitaxy for growing innovative electronic and optical materials, automated X-ray facilities for studying the structure of crystals, and high speed color graphics for visual display of complex data. They have the options of selecting elective courses and of pursuing interdisciplinary careers that combine science with fields like engineering, management, architecture, and various aspects of the humanities and social sciences, such as communications and science and technology studies. Graduates will become members of a highly distinguished alumni group including leading university faculty, corporate executives, National Academy of Science members, and a Nobel laureate. Majoring in science at Rensselaer means that you will be part of a highly productive instructional and research university. Your professors have authored some of the most widely used science and mathematics textbooks in the world, and Rensselaer has a long-standing commitment to undergraduate teaching. The Anderson Center for Innovation in Undergraduate Education is attracting national attention. This center focuses on what should be taught and how best to teach it and involves faculty from all segments of the university. All students have an individual faculty adviser who assists them in course selection and career planning. Extensive help is available through the Advising and Learning Assistance Center and other resources on campus. Many students majoring in one of the sciences are preparing for graduate studies, entrance to medical or dental school, or careers in industry or government. Still others are using a specialization in one area of an interdisciplinary program as preparation for further study in such fields as management, law, or one of the health related professions. Organization The School of Science is comprised of seven departments—Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Computer and Information Science (Rensselaer at Hartford); Earth and Environmental Science; Mathematical Sciences; and Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy. The David M. Darrin ’40 Fresh Water Institute, with laboratories at Lake George as well as in Troy, the Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education, the New York State Center for Polymer Synthesis, the New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life , and a Center for Biophysics are also based in the School of Science. Many students and faculty in science participate in the Institute-wide centers including composite materials, integrated electronics, scientific computation, image processing, robotics, etc. Web pages Each of the departments in the School of Science has its own home page. These may be accessed from the School of Science home page: http://www.science.rpi.edu Admissions Undergraduate students are admitted to the School of Science. Students may select a major at any time during the first year of study or during the admissions process. Some students who are undecided about their major defer a choice of major until the second year of study. With the exception of programs requiring joint admission outside the School of Science, the choice of any approved curriculum within the School of Science is guaranteed. Entering students who have not yet selected a major may choose the department from which their initial adviser should be selected. Advanced placement credit is possible in those areas where examinations are given. Transfer students are welcome; formalized agreements exist with several community colleges so that students who have followed specified curricula in the community college will have met all the standard freshman and sophomore requirements of the science departments at Rensselaer. Students transferring from other colleges will receive credit depending on the courses taken. Accelerated Programs The School also has an accelerated biomedical program with Albany Medical College and an accelerated biodental program with the University of Pennsylvania. There is also an accelerated podiatry program with the Pennsylvania College of Podiatric Medicine. Accelerated programs leading to M.S. or Ph.D. degrees are possible in some areas. Consult the departmental descriptions for details. Through the Lally School of Management and Technology, a student can obtain an MBA in addition to a B.S. in science in five years. Admission to the accelerated B.S./MBA program is highly selective and limited to a small number of outstanding applicants who meet Rensselaer’s admission requirements and the requirements of the Lally School of Management and Technology graduate program. Core Program in Science The course content in Physical, Life, and Engineering Sciences must total a minimum of 24 credit hours, including at least eight credit hours of mathematics. Students must take at least 16 credit hours of their Science core at Rensselaer. To ensure that students have some depth in their Science core, students must take at least two courses within a single area other than Mathematics. For this purpose the course prefixes PHYS (physics) and ASTR(astronomy) are a single discipline, as are MATH (mathematics) and MATP (mathematical programming, probability, and mathematical statistics). No more than one course of the Science core may be taken as Pass/No Credit. The following courses meet the Physical, Life, and Engineering Sciences requirement: Any course with the following prefixes: ASTR, BCBP, BIOL, CHEM, CISH, CSCI, ERTH, MATH, MATP, PHYS The following courses also meet the requirements: IENV-4500 (cross listed as ERTH-4500), IENV-4700 Other courses may be possible and will be reviewed by the associate dean of science on a case-by-case basis. A number of upper level courses in several engineering disciplines would satisfy the requirement, but generally they have enough prerequisites so that the science requirement would already have been satisfied. Transferring Science Core Credit Students entering Rensselaer in their first year may transfer up to two science courses (up to 8 credit hours) toward satisfying their Science core requirement. Students who have Advanced Placement or who have the International Baccalaureate may be granted credit for all such mathematics and science courses depending on their scores. Transfer students from an accredited collegiate program who have completed at least one college year but who come to Rensselaer with first year status may qualify for additional core transfers at the discretion of the Science core curriculum adviser (currently the associate dean of the School of Science). Transfer students entering Rensselaer at the sophomore level or above are not limited in the number of courses they may transfer for Science core credit. Students enrolled at Rensselaer who wish to take a Science course for core credit or other science credit at another accredited institution must obtain prior approval for the course from the science core curriculum adviser. To apply for approval a student must furnish a catalog description of the proposed course and a filled out copy of Rensselaer’s transfer credit approval form to the core curriculum adviser. A maximum of 8 credit hours of transfers is allowed. Undergraduate Curricula Majors in Rensselaer’s School of Science may be chosen in each of the Departments of Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth and Environmental Science; Mathematical Sciences; and Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy. There are interdisciplinary degree programs in biochemistry/biophysics, bioinformatics and molecular biology, and environmental science. For students wishing more breadth in their program, a major in interdisciplinary science is possible. Still other students may wish to major in Information Technology, a degree program that contains a core program in information technology coupled with eight courses in a second discipline that may be chosen from any of the mathematics or science disciplines as well as others on campus. All programs offer a large number of electives so that students can emphasize their areas of interest, select one or more minors, or study a wide range of topics in addition to obtaining a strong background in their major field of study. General Science Requirements All Bachelor of Science curricula require 124 credit hours. No Bachelor of Science curriculum requires more than 64 credit hours of science courses, nor more than 72 hours of total specified courses, including courses designated by name or those to be chosen from a list. A maximum of 40 credit hours may be specified in a single discipline or course prefix number. A minimum of 46 credit hours in science is required for any Bachelor of Science curriculum. Eight of these credit hours must be in mathematics (course prefixes MATH and MATP), including Calculus I. Each curriculum must include courses in at least four science disciplines. For this purpose the course prefixes PHYS (physics) and ASTR (astronomy) are a single discipline, as are MATH (mathematics) and MATP (mathematical programming, probability, and mathematical statistics). Each curriculum includes an option whereby a student can receive up to four hours of course credit for an out-of-classroom experience. Students may exercise this option more than once. This outof- classroom experience should have intellectual content relevant to the student’s educational or career goals. Appropriate experiences might include an individual or group research project (on or off campus), an independent study project, a co-op assignment, a public service internship or study abroad. A written proposal and a final written report should be submitted for evaluation to the faculty member designated by each curriculum. This course option may be included in the courses required for the major. Baccalaureate Programs Students entering as freshmen may pursue bachelor’s degrees in applied physics, bioinformatics and molecular biology, biology, biophysics/biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, geology, hydrogeology, interdisciplinary science, mathematics, and physics. The interdisciplinary degree program in Information Technology is also available to students who wish to pursue this while concentrating in mathematics or science. Options are available in such areas as astronomy, biochemistry, biophysics, computing in chemistry, engineering chemistry, geophysics, and operations research, to mention but a few. Some students wish to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree following their bachelor’s degree. The MBA degree requires 60 credits. By taking four recommended electives, undergraduates may reduce the subsequent graduate requirement to 48 hours. Dual Majors New flexible curricula make possible dual majors between all science majors; science and humanities or social science; and science and management. It is more difficult with architecture and engineering because of their more structured curricula. However, students with advanced placement or advanced standing may be able to satisfy the requirements for dual degrees in these areas. See requirements for dual majors. Minors Frequently students take minors in one of the departments in science or in areas outside the School of Science ranging from philosophy to management or engineering. Minor programs are available in each of the sciences and mathematics as well as in environmental science and biochemistry/biophysics. Consult the descriptions for each department for details of minor programs. Graduate Programs The university has a commitment to be in the forefront of research and education in the sciences. The major involvement of science in the total program of the university is a special feature of Rensselaer that capitalizes on Rensselaer’s greatest strength-the interface between science and engineering. Science is pursued not only in its own right, but also in terms of its applications to meet the needs of society. Rensselaer’s graduate students receive considerable personal attention and have a wide variety of research areas available. The School of Science offers master’s programs in applied mathematics, applied science, biology, biochemistry/biophysics, chemistry, computer science, geology, hydrogeology, mathematics, multidisciplinary science, natural sciences, and physics. Rensselaer at Hartford also offers a master’s degree in computer science. Doctoral programs are offered in biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, mathematics, multidisciplinary science, and physics. In addition, options are available in such areas as astrophysics, surface science, mathematical programming, operations research, and polymer science. The divisions between the basic disciplines in the sciences and between specializations within particular areas of science are no longer as distinct as they once were. As a result, many of Rensselaer’s programs are interdisciplinary, with research in one area serving advanced degree requirements in another. Nowhere is this more evident than in applied mathematics with particular emphasis on modeling and analysis; bioinformatics, materials science stressing electronic, optical, polymeric, and structural materials in the New York Center for Polymer Synthesis; the New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life, advanced computation in the areas of software, databases, and parallel computation; and natural processes including a Center for Biophysics as well as bioorganic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Each student is guided by a graduate adviser who can assist in establishing a suitable program to meet particular needs of the individual student. Courses may be pursued for special purposes as well as being chosen for a program leading to a Master of Science or a Doctor of Philosophy degree with specialization in any of these areas. Formal degree requirements are kept as flexible as possible. Many students and faculty in science participate in the Institutewide centers including composite materials, integrated electronics, design, manufacturing productivity, robotics, etc. Still others undertake co-op programs with industry. Details of graduate cooperative education programs are found elsewhere in the catalog. Extensive research laboratories with modern equipment and major computing facilities are available for conducting graduate research programs. Many teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships are available for graduate students pursuing degree programs. Individuals leaving Rensselaer with an advanced degree in mathematics or science are eagerly sought by corporations and government facilities and obtain postdoctoral and faculty positions at the most prestigious universities. Master of Science in Applied Science The working environment that college graduates face today and will face in the future is one in which their jobs increasingly bridge more than one area of specialization. Biochemistry/biophysics is one such area that spans two or three disciplines and is of major importance in society today. At the bachelor’s level, students are increasingly opting for minors in disciplines other than their major, or even trying to achieve dual majors. The Master of Science in Applied Science, a professional, non-thesis, degree, prepares graduates who have traditional discipline oriented backgrounds to function more effectively in industrial, governmental, or other occupations that are interdisciplinary in nature. It is intended to help working professionals upgrade their technical expertise and cross boundaries among disciplines. In addition to extensive science offerings, students may take applicable courses in other schools such as Management, Engineering, or Humanities and Social Sciences. Students wishing to enter the Master of Science in Applied Science program will be subject to Rensselaer’s general graduate admissions requirements. The Master of Science in Applied Science has a number of possible concentrations. All programs require 30 credit hours (10 courses of 3 credits each or their equivalent) to fulfill the requirements for the Master of Applied Science degree. At least half of those courses must be 6000-level courses. A typical curriculum consists of:
The concentrations below are illustrative of programs that focus in specific areas: analytical and environmental chemistry, applied groundwater science, biochemistry/biophysics, bioinformatics, chemistry and entrepreneurship, database management systems, microelectronics manufacturing, optimization and statistics, parallel and scientific computation, photonics, polymer science and engineering, and software engineering. These programs are illustrative and not exhaustive. As other areas of need for interdisciplinary education are identified, further combinations of courses will be developed that lead to the Master of Science in Applied Science degree. Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Multidisciplinary Science The School of Science offers graduate programs leading to a Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degree in Multidisciplinary Science. Doctoral degrees traditionally have been in a single subject matter, e.g. chemistry, physics, or mathematics. However, the working environment that college graduates face today—and will increasingly face in the future—is one in which their jobs bridge more than one area of specialization. Biochemistry is one such area that spans two or three disciplines and is of major importance in society today. Practitioners must have a thorough knowledge of several areas of chemistry and biology. Bioinformatics, a new multidisciplinary field of importance in molecular biology and genetics and drug design, depends on expertise in biology and computational sciences. Students working in integrated electronics require knowledge from chemistry, materials engineering, electrical engineering, and physics. Similarly, specialists in astronomy or polymer science are required to have backgrounds spanning several disciplines. The Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Multidisciplinary Science meet the need of graduates, who have traditional discipline oriented backgrounds, to function more effectively in industrial or governmental occupations that are multidisciplinary in nature. Rensselaer has a very strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research programs that bridge disciplines within the School of Science and between Science and Engineering. The George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation was specifically constructed to house research centers such as the Center for Integrated Electronics and Electronic Manufacturing, the Center for Composite Materials and Structures, Center for Automation Technologies, the Center for Multiphase Research, and the Scientific Computation Research Center to mention a few, all of which involve Science faculty and have doctoral students having multidisciplinary research projects. The student will be under the tutelage of faculty from more than one discipline. These faculty will be knowledgeable in the field, will determine which courses the student needs, set appropriate examinations, and supervise the doctoral research. The dean of science will be responsible for appointing the doctoral committee and having overall cognizance of the student’s progress. Admission to these programs will follow Rensselaer’s standard graduate admission guidelines. In addition, faculty from the multidisciplinary area being sought by the student have to give their approval to the program.
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