Goals and Mission of the Program
The basic aim of the Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program is to develop human resources through instruction, scientific research and other scholarship and service based on chemical physics and related interdisciplinary fields. The Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program builds on the research excellence in the area of liquid crystals at 91²Ö¿â, and its goal is to continue to excel as a leading academic program in this area in the nation in association with the Liquid Crystal Institute (LCI).
Liquid crystal research at 91²Ö¿â centers on chemical physics, but involves the disciplines of physics, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, computer science, materials science and engineering. The research is an interdisciplinary effort which has achieved national and international prominence. The objective of the Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program is to make this expertise available by providing training at the graduate level in this area. This effort is aimed at attracting top scholars--students, faculty, and others--to our campus.
An essential mission of the Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program is to expose students to the methodology and thought processes of science, as exemplified by the fundamental point of view of physicists; to expose students to excellent and innovative faculty who themselves are practitioners at the forefront of the discipline, and to provide a curriculum of professional courses to students concentrating in chemical physics and other sciences.
Instructional objectives are to develop and provide appropriate curricula for professional graduate training in chemical physics and related interdisciplinary areas (e.g., materials science, display engineering, polymer science and biophysics).
The objectives in research and scholarship are:
(1) to enrich the knowledge and experience of both students and faculty through research and other scholarship;
(2) to engage in basic and applied scientific research in chemical physics and related interdisciplinary fields; and
(3) to contribute new knowledge which may be useful to the scientific community and to the general public.
In the area of service, the objectives are:
(1) to work closely with the LCI to ensure that common goals of the CPIP and LCI are effectively met
(2) to provide understanding and interpretation of the role of chemical physics and related interdisciplinary fields to the community;
3) to serve the University and professional communities; and
(4) to apply knowledge of chemical physics and related interdisciplinary fields to the service of the community, the state, the nation, and the world.
Two inseparable goals of the Ph.D. program are (1) to train personnel for creative research and teaching careers at the University level and for productive research and development careers at the most advanced levels in industry and government, and (2) to contribute new knowledge at the frontiers of chemical physics.
The goal of the Master's degree program is primarily to extend the student's professional knowledge beyond that expected for the baccalaureate degree. The Master's degree program offers students an opportunity for research experience.