Admissions and Applications
The Ph.D. in Nanoscale Science at UNC Charlotte is an interdisciplinary program that addresses the development, manipulation, and use of materials and devices on the scale of roughly 1-100 nanometers in length, and the study of phenomena that occur on this size scale. The program prepares students to become scholarly, practicing scientists who possess the critical thinking, methodological, and communication skills required to advance and disseminate knowledge of fundamental and applied nanoscale science.
The many challenges and opportunities that nanoscale science presents to society require collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to research. Students enrolled in UNC Charlotte’s Ph.D. program in Nanoscale Science learn about the exciting field of nanoscale science from the perspectives of faculty members of a variety of disciplines and develop an advanced knowledge base of a selected science or engineering discipline. NANO courses are team taught and/or co-developed by teams of faculty members from multiple disciplines. This approach provides students trained in a specific science or engineering field at the undergraduate or master’s level with the tools needed to work effectively with scientists and engineers from other disciplines on cutting-edge research projects.
Students in the program acquire the knowledge and skills needed to compete effectively for positions in academic, industrial, or government settings by completing interdisciplinary nanoscale science courses and elective courses, participating in program colloquia and seminars, working as a member of a team on projects and research proposals, and making research contributions independently and as part of a team.
Additional information can be found here from the Graduate School.
You may also apply here.
Thinking about joining our team? Hear what our students have to say!
“For me, the Nanoscale Science PhD program provided as diverse a PhD as you are willing to try. In this program I was able to get outside of my comfort zone and learn how physicists, engineers, chemists, and biologists solve problems and utilize these methods to further develop my research. At the beginning of the program, the students originally from differing fields are placed together in the same classes to learn from each other and accomplish tasks with contributions from all of the scientific backgrounds. As the students, including myself, progressed through the program, specific interests were honed and branching of interests occurred, but the collaborative environment continued and provided more answers to the difficult turns of scientific research I encountered.”
Kate Erickson (Ph.D. 18’)
“The Nanoscale Science PhD program at UNC Charlotte is interdisciplinary in name and in spirit. I have a bachelor’s in Nanotechnology and a master’s in Solid State Technology, and I was interested in creating physical models of biological systems. I was apprehensive that my lack of “traditional training” in biology will prevent me from pursuing my research interests. Most of what I know about biology is self-taught: I took only a few biology courses during my undergrad and none during my master’s. However, once at UNC Charlotte, I got the complete freedom to choose my research topic and research advisor. I am now working at the Nesmelova Lab on better understanding the behavior of intrinsically disordered proteins in solutions. Once you get into this program, you have opened a door to possibilities. You can be a part of almost any STEM research that is being undertaken at UNC Charlotte if you, like me, find something that blends your aspirations and your training in the right proportion. The disciplines do meet at the Nanoscale.”
Venkatesh Ranjan (1st year student)
“My previous degree is a bachelor in physics. While I study physics I was interested in many things which often overlap with a range of disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics and so on. However, when I asked my professors about them they just told me: “You should ask chemists/biologists about this”. At this time I understood that I do want to know how all thing work, I do want to see the picture of the processes in general. My other interest was to understand how different processes in our organisms work, why we have diseases and how we can cure them. The intersection of these two my interests is Nanoscale science. This discipline helps to see the picture from chemist/biologist/physicist view and also, the big part of Nanoscale science is Nanomedicine that can help humanity to cure diseases. So, that’s why I’ve chosen the Nanoscale science program.”
Irina Bukhteeva (1st year student)
“The Nanoscale Science PhD program is a highly interdisciplinary program that forces you to work outside your comfort zone and gain experience in all avenues of the science fields. Because this program is not restrictive to one discipline and often demands knowledge from multiple backgrounds, it encourages collaboration among students and professors alike. Due to its incorporation of all fields, this program is particularly unique and provides for a well-rounded and engaging experience while providing critical problem solving skills for real life challenges that crop up in the real world.”
Madeline Greenier (3rd year)