Launch your career. Help change the world.
Integrate your classroom and laboratory experience, finish a MS+BS coursework in 4 years, and finish the MS degree after a PAID 9 month internship.
Accelerated Bachelor’s / Master’s Program: Students admitted to the Accelerated Master’s Program (AMP) will complete both undergraduate and graduate coursework during 4 years on campus, and then complete a three term paid internship as part of the Master’s requirement. Thus, they will graduate after 5 years with a Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree, and have completed their professional paid internship and be prepared for an exciting career in a high impact job market. Some students may wish to pursue an accelerated PhD after AMP completion. The program is based on the existing Electrochemistry Master’s Internship Program, which started in 2020.
Need: Science and engineering undergraduates receive essentially no training in electrochemical science and technology despite its critical importance in clean-energy conversion/storage technologies, semiconductor-device fabrication, bio-electronics interfaces, and materials/chemical production. The prevention of corrosion relies on controlling electrochemical processes. Electroplating is used broadly in industries to conformally coat objects and to purify/isolate metals. Battery, super-capacitor, electrolysis, and fuel cell energy storage/conversion technologies all rely on electrochemical science and engineering. Electrochemical sensors are routinely used in biomedical applications, with the most prominent example being the glucose sensor used by diabetics. Electrochemistry is increasingly being applied in organic synthesis in an effort to eliminate the use of highly reactive, dangerous, and expensive reagents. Electrochemical devices are used to measure and probe signals in neuroscience. There is need in established industries for competent scientists and engineers in the area of electrochemical technology – in fact DOE has recently recognized the need for workforce development specifically in this area as part of Energy Storage Grand Challenge.
Who is AMP for? Passion for team-driven science and technology development in the area of applied electrochemistry is our chief requirement for interested students. This program is for current admitted UO students, most of whom will apply during Junior year and complete course work during Senior year, followed by their 3 term internship following Senior year. Some course work may be completed during Junior year, please inquire regarding your own progress in your current major. Additional program structure and course details are in the Program Overview section below.
The AMP is currently approved for all Chemistry majors, and is open to students in other related majors who wish to add Chemistry as a second major to do the program. Including, but not limited to, Physics, Computer Science, or Mathematics ( all could be appropriate, please discuss special situations with our team). Good academic record (please discuss with us for specifics, we look at your entire record, not just GPA). Research experience beneficial, but not required. GRE scores are not required. Please see Application page for information on the admissions process. There are scholarship opportunities for students admitted to the AMP through the Oregon Center for Electrochemistry Promise Scholarship page.
Program Overview & Outcomes: The core program consists of 180-192 total credit hours. Generally, 180-183 credits will count toward the Bachelor’s degree, 16 of which will also count toward the Master’s degree simultaneously. An additional 8 credits during the Bachelor’s experience will be counted toward the Master’s degree exclusively (Reservation of Graduate Credit process). There is a more detailed explanation in the linked sample Approved Academic Plan Template OCE AMP, plus three terms of CH 695 – Internship (paid) for 10 credits per term, totaling 30 credits of CH 695. All students admitted to the AMP will receive academic advising and support from Oregon Center for Electrochemistry Leadership.
This includes foundational theory, and team-based applied laboratory work, and professional development (leadership, project management, interview skills, team integration) coupled with a 9-month paid internship in industry or national laboratory (Class of 2022 average annualized compensation was $85,000, with all students landing internships). The internships placements can be anywhere in the world, although we currently focusing on US-based partners. Information on industry and national laboratory partners is here with internship host expectations here. OCE Leadership will assist you with the Internship search and placement as part of your academic advising and student support once admitted to the program. Concepts in data analysis and statistical design of experiments (e.g. MatLab, Python, JMP) are incorporated throughout the coursework. Electrochemical content is coupled with professional and communication skills development, as well as elective coursework focused on target career areas (materials science, bio-medicine, energy, etc.).
As a result, AMP graduates are ideal “T-shaped” employees that can tackle complex challenges facing engineered electrochemical systems using rigorous experiments, efficient data analytics, and computer models, while optimally working in team environments. Such graduates provide substantial value to industry as employees compared to the existing candidates who generally have little or incomplete training in electrochemical science and are often not adept at using modern experimental design, data analytics and computation tools.
Class of 2022 Electrochemistry Master’s Internship Students on the program:
Please reach out to us via email if you are interested at electrochemistry@uoregon.edu for information or to schedule a conversation with Oregon Center for Electrochemistry Leadership about the program.