Materials Science

专业详情

Materials Science is an interdisciplinary subject, spanning the physics and chemistry of matter, engineering applications and industrial manufacturing processes. Modern society is heavily dependent on advanced materials, for example, lightweight composites for more efficient vehicles, optical fibres for telecommunications and silicon microchips for the continuing revolution in digital technology. Materials scientists study the relationships between the structure and properties of a material and how it is made. They also develop new materials and devise advanced processes for manufacturing them. Materials Science is vital for developments in nanotechnology, quantum computing, energy storage and nuclear energy, as well as medical technologies such as bone replacement materials and drug delivery.

This diverse programme spans the subject from its foundations in physics and chemistry to the mechanical, electrical, magnetic and optical properties of materials, and the design, manufacture and applications of metals, alloys, ceramics, polymers, composites and biomaterials. This work is supported by excellent laboratory and teaching facilities.

The programme also offers an opportunity to develop an introductory understanding of entrepreneurship (learning how to write a business plan, raise capital and start a company). There are also voluntary options to learn a foreign language with the University’s Language Centre.

The Oxford Materials degree includes in its fourth year the special feature of an eight-month full-time research project, where you will join a research team either here at Oxford in one of the strongest Departments of Materials in the UK or, occasionally, at an overseas university or in an industrial laboratory (additional costs may be associated with a project outside Oxford). You will learn how to break down a complex problem, design an experiment or model, manage a project and communicate your results. These research skills are transferable to many career paths and are valued highly by employers.