College of Science

The College of Science graduate programs are committed to excellence in graduate education and research and contribute, along with other institutions in this country and throughout the world, to the expansion of scientific knowledge. Graduates of our programs are highly trained and educated scientists who will be able to contribute to the economic and social well-being of our state and nation.

Overview

With outstanding departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Psychology, the College of Science offers comprehensive graduate studies with our world class faculty and research programs. In addition to providing our students with strong core training in the physical and life sciences, we have a graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering and offer specialized Masters degrees for educators to expand their core science training. Interdisciplinary programs and Research Centers provide students with opportunities to span disciplines, and student research activities are complemented by excellent research facilities and state-of-the-art instrumentation. The College and Departments host a series of seminars to further expose our students to cutting edge science developments.

Master's degrees are offered in all of our departments, and we award Ph.D. degrees in Quantitative Biology, Applied Chemistry, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Mathematics, Applied Physics, Experimental Psychology, and Materials Science and Engineering. For application and entrance requirements, or more on our graduate programs, please call us or visit our Web site at www.uta.edu/cos.

Scholastic Activity and Research Interests of the Faculty

Biology

The Department of Biology has a wide array of research programs ranging from molecular through ecosystem levels of integration. The program boasts strengths in ecology and systematics, evolution, microbiology, genomics, and molecular biology, and has active funding from a variety of private and public agencies. The department also hosts centers for genomics, biological macrofouling, electron microscopy and a collection of vertebrates. The research program emphasizes quantitative aspects of biology and provides students with strong training in statistics and experimental design.

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Research programs include synthetic work on natural products, medically active agents, novel ligands, new catalysts, luminescent materials, photocatalysts, supramolecular and metallosupramolecular compounds, molecular magnetism, molecular recognition, stabilization of reactive intermediates, solar energy conversion and electrically conducting polymers. Biochemical research includes studies of enzymology and molecular biology of bacterial metabolism, and studies on problems involved in anticancer therapy. Physical, analytical and electrochemical research includes studies of colloids and surfaces, electrode modification through thin film surface deposition, MALDI mass spectrometry and characterization of the electrical properties of polymers and other materials. Theoretical studies involve both a major computational program applying molecular orbital theory to a variety of problems.

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Department research has a strong orientation toward the application of geochemistry, oceanography, geophysics and paleobiology to earth resources and the environment. Current research interests include analysis and modeling of geologic deformational structures, biostratigraphy of accreted terranes of the Pacific Northwest and the middle Permian of West Texas, sedimentology, paleoclimatology, hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, environmental health, and plate tectonics.

Mathematics

Algebra: homological theory of commutative Noetherian rings; noncommutative algebra using geometric methods: symbolic computations.

Differential Equations, Integral Equations and Dynamical Systems: geometric study of integrable Hamiltonian systems; stability and instability of solitary waves; nonlinear dispersive waves; free boundary problems related to phase transition and multi-fluid flow; stochastic differential equations; control theory.

Cooperative Game Theory: semivalues, least square values, properties, potentials and computation; the inverse problem.

Geometry: birational algebraic geometry and Mori theory; differential geometry and inverse spectral geometry; finite geometry related to nonassociative division algebras.

Mathematical Biology: mathematical modeling of microbial populations, biofilms and competition dynamics; population biology and epidermiology; neuronal dynamics.

Mathematical Statistics, Probability Theory and Stochastic Process: multivariate analysis, statistical inference, sample survey and statistical process control; stochastic processes and applications to stochastic differential equations, random graphs, path integrals, quantum mechanics.

Mathematical Education: mathematics program development, impact of reform mathematics learning strategies on mathematics teaching, mathematics problem solving for teaching.

Numerical Analysis: numerical solutions to ordinary and partial differential equations; moving grid, multigrid and multilevel adaptive methods; fluid dynamics (mechanics); numerical simulation and scientific computation; numerical combustion; software development.

Physics

Current research in the department is primarily in the areas of condensed matter physics, materials science and high energy physics. The theoretical condensed matter group is engaged in cluster, electron transport, electronic structure, molecular dynamics and path integral computations having relevance to the chemical, electrical and magnetic properties of surfaces, metals and semiconductors. The experimental condensed matter group is engaged in studies of diamond coatings, magnetic multilayers, metals, semiconductors and surfaces using electron, positron, optical and magnetic resonance spectroscopies. The experimental high energy group is involved in collider experiments at Fermilab, Brookhaven Laboratory and CERN to study QCD and to search for supersymmetry and other physics beyond the standard model. Other active research areas include high energy theory, optics, parallel computing and statistical physics.

Psychology

Expertise and research activity include animal behavior, animal and human learning, cognitive processes, social psychology, psychobiology and developmental psychology. Current research interests include group brainstorming, verbal memory and neuropsychology, applied psychological measurement, pain systems, decision processes, naturalistic social cognition, stress, genetic and hormonal determinants of aggressive and defensive behaviors and parent-offspring interactions, sea turtle behavior, and infant mental representation of objects.

Science Education

The Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Science (MAIS), a 36 credit hour degree program without a thesis requirement, was designed and developed by science teachers for science teachers. The program will help science educators strengthen and update their knowledge of content in two or more of the following cognate areas: biology, chemistry, earth & environmental sciences, mathematics, and physics. In addition to enhancing content knowledge, the courses will help educators develop teaching strategies that lead to improved student learning, implement high quality instructional materials, and develop skills in using various strategies for assessing student learning. The MAIS degree will serve the needs of classroom teachers, content-area and staff development specialists, curriculum developers, program directors, school administrators, college/university faculty, and educators from informal science institutions who have responsibility for designing, delivering, evaluating, and/or continuously improving standards-based science, mathematics, and technology instruction for students, prekindergarten through the undergraduate degree.

While engaging in the coursework, educators will become learners themselves to deepen their own mastery of scientific and/or mathematical content. The laboratory-based learning activities in the program will help science educators see teaching as less a matter of knowledge transfer and more as an activity of facilitation in which knowledge is generated, content is investigated in depth, and meaning is developed from experience. Graduates of the program will take their place as master science educators who are recognized as proven practitioners in delivering rigorous and relevant instruction and are valued as effective coaches, mentors, and teacher trainers.

Programs

Master of Science Degrees

Biology

Chemistry

Earth & Environmental Sciences (Both Thesis and Non-thesis)

Mathematics

Physics

Psychology

Master of Arts Degree

Interdisciplinary Science (Non-thesis)

Doctoral Degrees

Chemistry

Experimental Psychology

Physics and Applied Physics

Quantitative Biology

Mathematics

Environmental and Earth Sciences