The IGERT program includes the following combination of education and training components:

»Core Materials Science Courses
»Research Rotations
»Undergraduate Teaching
»Modular Courses/Materials Science Electives
»Professional Development Workshops
»Internships (Industrial, National Lab, or International)
»Optional Training for Students Aspiring to be Future Faculty
»Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Research
»Joint Fisk (M.S.) Vanderbilt (Ph.D.) Program

IGERT Specimen Curriculum

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4,5
Fall	2 core courses + 1 elective (IMS 320) 1½ Research Rotations Laboratory Instructor	9 course credits - combinations of electives and modular courses Half-time Research Assistant	Internship	Research Assistant
Spring	2 core courses 1½ Research Rotations Laboratory Instructor	9 course credits - combinations of electives and modular courses Half-time Research Assistant	Research Assistant	Research Assistant

The following summarizes the integrated Fisk/Vanderbilt (MS) degree path for the Ph.D.

Year 1
Vanderbilt	12 hours core courses, 3 research rotations, laboratory instructor
Fisk	12 hours courses, 3 research rotations
Year 2
Vanderbilt	18 hours modular/elective courses, research assistant
Fisk	18 hours modular/elective courses, complete masters thesis
Year 3
Vanderbilt	Internship, research assistant
Fisk	Laboratory instructor, research
Year 4
Vanderbilt	Research assistant
Fisk	Internship, research assistant
Year 5
Vanderbilt	Research assistant
Fisk	Research assistant

»Completion of 4 core courses
»One or more electives
»Completion of 3 research rotations
»Completion of teaching assignment
»Selection of thesis advisor and PhD Project

MSE 310 - Atomic Arrangements of Solids
Atomic arrangements in metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and polymers; lattice geometry and crystal symmetry; non-crystalline and glassy materials, defects in crystals

CHEM 350 - Materials Chemistry
A survey of modern materials chemistry with an emphasis on the chemistry related to the preparation, processing, identification, analysis, and applications of materials.

CHEM 335- Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Inorganic and Organic Materials
Equilibrium in chemical and physical processes of ideal and real systems, reaction rates for elementary mechanisms.

PHYS 254 - Physics of Condensed Matter
Crystal structure and diffraction; phonons and lattice vibrations; free-electron theory of metals; elementary band theory of solids; semiconductors; optical properties of insulators; applications to solid state devices, magnetism, and superconductivity.

Undergraduate Laboratory Instruction.
All IGERT fellows will be required to serve as laboratory instructors for one academic year.

Selection of a Thesis Advisor.
At the end of the three research rotations, the IGERT fellows are expected to select an interdisciplinary research project that will continue during the summer and subsequent semesters ultimately culminating in the Ph.D. dissertation. All students will select two Co-Advisors from two different departments.

»Completion of all formal course work
»Completion of Profession Ethics and Information Retrieval modules
»Continue progress on research project
»Selection of PhD committee
»Successful completion of PhD qualifying exam

Graduate Research Assistantship.
In addition to taking the 18 credits of course work in the second year to complete the 36 course credits required for the Ph.D., IGERT fellows will serve as half-time research assistants. A suitable research project must have at least two Co-Principal Advisors from at least two different departments.

Completion of Preliminary Exam.
At the end of the second year, IGERT fellow can choose to write a Masters Thesis and/or submit a paper for publication as part of the Ph.D. preliminary examination. The paper or thesis will be presented to a committee and the student will be quizzed on the Materials Science Fundamentals of that project.

»Completion of Internship (Fisk student will complete in Year 4)
»Completion of Seminar to Vanderbilt Community
»Completion of Qualifying Examination
»Annual meeting with PhD committee

Internships.
A fall semester will be devoted to the IGERT fellow's professional development through a one to six month internship. We will provide several options in order to meet the students' individual needs and interests.

Industrial Internships.
For students interested in industry, there are numerous and diverse opportunities. We have strong ties to a number of industrial partners for internship opportunities at their facilities including, Agere Systems, Bayer, Motorola Inc., Physitron Inc., Seagate Inc., and Quantum Dot Corp. These partners provide a wide variety of research opportunities for our IGERT students. Students will be immersed in the interdisciplinary culture prevalent in these organizations, enhancing their teamwork, communication, and time management skills. The internships offered by our partners provide a diversity of working environments and locations. Industrial internships will be available at a wide range of companies, from the start-up company of Quantum Dot Corp., to the long established organizations of Agere Systems, Bayer, Motorola Inc., and Proctor and Gamble. Quantum Dot interns will experience the entrepreneurial ideals of this young company in addition to its exciting research area. Interns with Agere Systems (formerly Lucent, Bell Labs) and Motorola Inc. will have the opportunity to work with large research programs targeted at extending the state-of-the-art in microelectronic devices. These internships will introduce the IGERT students to the competitive nature of industrial research and the concepts of tying research programs to company time-lines and strategic plans. For each laboratory, the students will have mentors to guide them.

National Laboratory Internships.
Internships at the national labs will provide a more academically focused experience compared to the industrial internships where the emphasis is a more applied research experience. We have extensive collaboration and significant overlap of research interests at both Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory. Opportunities to use the state-of-the-art infrastructure and interact with world-class staff scientists at the national labs will enhance the professional development of IGERT fellows who are interested in pursuing a more research-oriented career.

International Internships.
Opportunities for IGERT fellows to participate in our international Research Experiences Abroad Program (REAP). We have assembled an outstanding array of commitments for international internships from thirteen international partners in eight different countries and three different continents. The research topics include nanoparticles, nanomachines, and nanostructured magnetic and optical materials. With the increasing globalization of our world, an international perspective is critical for our future scientists and engineers. We expect that the majority of the IGERT fellows will take advantage of this international internship opportunity.

Optional Training for Future Faculty
IGERT fellows interested in a future academic career will be encouraged to complete Vanderbilt University's Future Faculty Preparation Program (F2P2). This program introduces participants to the wide range of faculty roles and responsibilities by acquainting them with the operations of various types of academic institutions and the day-to-day life of faculty members in those institutions. F2P2 offers workshops, mentoring, hands-on experience, field trips to partner institutions, and technological initiatives in each of three fundamental aspects of university life: (1) professional development, (2) teaching and learning, and (3) university system and administration. The program is flexible, participant-driven, and cross-disciplinary. Participants complete activities at their own pace during their entire tenure at Vanderbilt so that progress in their research programs is not hindered. Interacting with colleagues from a variety of disciplines encourages participants to be actively involved in the academic community, as will be expected of them as faculty.

The IGERT training program will provide such professional enhancement for the Ph.D. students seeking future academic positions. IGERT fellows will enroll in seminars and workshops organized by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching that are aimed at improving pedagogy and learning within the classroom. The Center for Teaching regularly conducts GradSTEP (Graduate Student Teaching Event for Professional Development), an interactive day of workshops for graduate students, which focuses on a broad spectrum of pedagogical issues. It offers an opportunity to broaden any participant's understanding of students and of many other issues in the classroom and the university. Finally, our highly qualified graduate students have a history of teaching undergraduate courses at Belmont University (a four year institution). A commitment of support from Belmont for faculty training of the IGERT fellows is included in the supporting document section. Up to one IGERT student a year will be able to teach an undergraduate course at Belmont. This is an excellent opportunity for IGERT fellows to experience the academic career as well as to provide an outreach service to Belmont University.