Masters of Science Program

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates there were 93,500 chemists and materials scientists employed across the United States in 2025. On average, about 6,500 openings for chemists and materials scientists are projected each year. There is great demand for chemists and materials scientists, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 7% increase from 2025-2035, much faster than average for all occupations.

Admission Requirements

In addition to meeting the College of Graduate Studies requirements for admission, applicants for graduate study (Master’s and Ph.D.) in chemistry must have had one year of general, organic, analytical, and physical chemistry; a year of physics; and mathematics through partial derivatives and multiple integrals. Applicants lacking any of these requirements may be admitted, but any deficiency must be made up as soon as possible. Credits earned in remedial courses do not count toward degree requirements.

Typically, chemistry applicants are required to submit to the University an official report of their performance on both the aptitude and chemistry subject area tests from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). However, it is waived for applicants with outstanding records (chemistry undergraduate degree with grade-point average above 3.0).  Students with a GPA 2.75-3.0 and undergraduate degree in chemistry should submit a GRE. The GRE requirement cannot be waived for international students. International students who do not have a degree from an institution in the United States must also arrange to have the results of their performance on the TOEFL sent to the University by ETS.

Degree Requirements

The MS degree requires the completion of at least 32 credit hours of core and elective courses. The formal course work for the MS degree is structured around a core of courses that includes nine to twelve credit hours of advanced chemistry courses from three chemistry categories and two credit hours of chemistry seminar. The remaining credit requirements may be fulfilled with any combination of elective courses suitable to a desired concentration and approved by the student's advisor. 

MS students in the clinical chemistry program fulfill the departmental thirty-two-credit-hour requirement by completing the sequence of courses specified by the program.

See the Graduate Student Handbook for more details

Non-Thesis Track

Non-thesis MS students usually complete the credit requirement by taking appropriate courses as arranged by their advisor.

Thesis Track

Thesis MS students in all areas ordinarily complete their program by taking appropriate courses for a total of at least sixteen credits (excluding credit for CHM 600) and then at least sixteen credits in experimental research (CHM 699) under the direction of a faculty advisor selected by the student. Upon completion of the research, each student is required to produce and defend a thesis accepted by a thesis committee. The committee consists of the student's advisor and at least two other graduate faculty members

Exit Requirements

MS students must either complete at least thirty-two credit hours of approved course work with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher or complete at least sixteen credit hours of approved course work with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, at least 16 credit hours of CHM 699 MS Thesis, and successfully defend a master's thesis.

Learn more about the M.S. in Chemistry program and admission requirements

Advisor

Xue-Long Sun, Ph.D.

Graduate Program Director
Email: X.SUN55@csuohio.edu

The Chemistry Department is housed in the Basic Science Building and the Science and Research Center. In addition to well-equipped research laboratories, there are special function rooms, such as a cold room, and a darkroom. Generally, graduate students occupy research space near their research advisors, which leads to frequent interaction. State-of-the-art facilities and advanced bioanalytical technologies are available to students in the program, including (but not limited to):

• LC-mass spectrometry (including AB SCIEX QTRAP® 5500 LC MS/MS and Agilent 6545 LC/Q-TOF
• Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
• High performance liquid chromatography
• Conventional and capillary electrophoresis
• Immunoassays
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Electron parametric resonance spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry
• Photo diode array UV-visible and fluorometric spectrometry
• Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy
• Molecular biology techniques
• Computational chemistry and chemical imaging techniques.

Teaching assistantships are not available to MS students. Research assistantships may be available through individual faculty, depending on external funding. For more information, please contact the graduate director at x.sun55@csuohio.edu.

Learn more by requesting information or contacting a program staff member directly.

Program Director

Xue-Long Sun, Ph.D.

Graduate Program Director
Email: X.SUN55@csuohio.edu