Prospective Students

Most questions about the department and PhD program structure can be answered in the Materials Grad Handbook. For questions about applications, see the department's application FAQ.

FAQs

These FAQs are based on student panel questions and answers from previous admitted-student visit weekends. For more information about the materials program, we encourage you to visit the department website.

Academic FAQs

What's the typical 1st-year experience like?

Generally, professors offer positions in their groups after visit weekend, and students (unofficially) decide on a group when they commit to UCSB. Some students join UCSB without an offer from a specific Prof, and most are able to find a professor fairly easily. The first quarter fees and stipend are paid by the department, so a professor's support isn't immediately required. Most students focus their first year (especially the first quarter) on taking classes. Research will likely pick up in subsequent quarters and years. If students TA their first year, it is often for one of the Materials department's classes offered to undergraduate students of different majors. Otherwise, most students TA for Materials graduate classes they have already taken.

What's the average graduation time, and what does the department do to prepare students for careers in and outside of academia?

5-5.5 years on average to graduate from the Materials program. Lots of opportunities through the "Beyond Academia" conference to explore non-academic career options. The MSA Professional Development committee also offers a number of seminars from local industry representatives and networking events. Plenty of support for academic jobs as well, although this can depend on your advisor (and their network). 

What if my background isn't in Materials Science?

Many students come from other backgrounds. The first year is mostly about getting everyone on equal footing, and the department offers several primer courses (basic materials, quantum mechanics, etc.) to help students who didn't receive them in undergrad.

What is co-advising like at UCSB?

Co-advising is quite common in the materials department at UCSB. Some fellowships, like those through the Quantum Foundry, even require having two advisors. Co-advising can mean balancing two PI's groups and expectations, but also gives more resources and more flexibility in pursuing your research interests.

What's the lab/work environment like?

This can vary based on the group but overall the atmosphere is extremely collaborative. Professors don't seem to guard information from each other, but rather openly discuss opportunities to collaborate. This attitude is reflected in the regularity of co-advisement and in the department's interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs).

How do I find support/community on campus?

There are a lot of graduate student organizations around campus that informally support other grads, such as the Materials Student Association (MSA), Graduate Students for Diversity in Science (GSDS), Womxn in Science and Engineering at UCSB (WiSE), Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA). The Graduate Scholars Program provides more formal mentorship.

What opportunities are there for outreach and educational experience?

All students are required to TA at least once, and many graduate students mentor undergraduate interns from other departments, or formally through summer/semester internships (SULI, REUs, etc.). The MSA outreach committee helps organize opportunities for interested students. There are lots of outreach opportunities through the MRL, which you can join or even lead (talk to Dotti Pak or MSA outreach committee if you're interested in getting involved). there are also programs through CNSI, CSEP, and the Quantum Foundry (contact Wendy Ibsen for more info).

How are the research facilities?

Shared facilities (MRL, CNSI) are great and often have dedicated staff members who maintain the equipment and help out with experiments. Students may be involved in maintaining equipment they use heavily if they choose. The research environment tends to be very open, you can usually find a student in another group to help you out if you need!

Non-academic FAQs

What do people do for fun?

Plenty of rock climbing (indoor and outdoor), hiking/trail running, surfing/stand-up-paddle-boarding/kayaking, hanging out at the beach. Wine tasting is big here, and the downtown food/brewery/live-music scene is pretty fun. There are breweries locally in Goleta, like Captain Fatty's and Draughtsman but they tend to close at 8-9pm. It's common for students to go to the downtown Santa Barbara areas near State street for bars, breweries and dancing. O'Malleys closes at 1:30am, and Wildcat Lounge and Sandbar close at 2am. The Cruisery and Dargan's have billiards and other games and close at 2am on Friday and Saturday. The MSA often hosts coffee hours, BBQs, and the occasional bonfire. In pre-Covid times there were many bagel hours (San Clemente on Mondays, GSA bagels on Wednesdays, CNSI Bagels on Fridays). The department sometimes hosts spring or fall retreats, which is often just a nice dinner. The department also hosts a 5k in the fall, with a BBQ after, and at some point an ice cream social at which your professors scoop you ice cream. Clubs can be found on UCSB Shoreline. Fall quarter begins with a few club rush events, where you can sign up for clubs and intramural sports.

What's the weather like?

Awesome! Generally in the 70s (Fahrenheit) though the mornings and evenings are often chilly due to ocean fog and it can get a bit windy. Santa Barbara has a couple of overcast months in early summer ("May Gray" and "June Gloom").

What's campus like?

For busy days when you don't pack a lunch, the Courtyard Cafe in the Eling's Hall courtyard is very convenient. There are several food options on campus near the library. IV is walkable/bikeable in a lunch hour, and has many popular and quick lunch spots, especially for burritos (Freebirds and Super Cucas). The Rec Center is quite nice, there are two gyms. The entrance is at the smaller gym with less equipment, but if you proceed to the newer facility by going on the outdoor walkway there is a much larger gym with exercise equipment, weights, indoor basketball courts, indoor climbing wall, monkey bars, locker rooms, etc. You can even sign up to take pottery classes here in the summer. There are soccer fields and 2 large pools outside too.

How is the food in the area?

There are great Mexican food options. Many options for good food, but not actually a ton of variety of different cultures' foods. Dinner in downtown Santa Barbara is delicious, but it can be pricy.

What are my housing options/what is the cost of living?

Financially, you should stay in San Clemente grad housing/join family housing (if qualified) for as long as possible. More information about housing can be found in the New Students section of the guide.

What resources are available for international students?

Check out the UCSB Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS), which has a lot of information for international students for each point in the process of coming to UCSB. UCSB's Shoreline page has a list of every student group on campus and can help students connect to the group of international students from their home country. 

Will I need a car in Santa Barbara?

You don't need a car, although most students do have cars. Almost everyone who lives in the graduate apartments or family housing bikes or walks to work, and many people who live farther from campus commute by bus or still bike.

What is the department diversity like? How does the department support students of color?

The department has a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) committee consisting of four faculty and seven students who host monthly office hours and town halls and serve as leaders for diversity-related concerns. The DEI committee strives to increase diversity within the department (at the grad student, post doc, and faculty levels) through recruitment and retention of URM, improving departmental climate and mentoring, and increasing communication between faculty and students to bring pressing issues directly to the faculty's attention. Students can send feedback and suggestions to the Materials DEI committee through an anonymous google form, or by directly emailing materials-dei@ucsb.edu. To report specific bias incidents, go to https://studentlife.sa.ucsb.edu/bias. The department fully endorses the College of Engineering statement that: "diversity is indispensable in the College of Engineering, where richly varied perspectives and lived experiences enhance creativity and innovation," and that "solutions that are more meaningful and have a greater positive impact, because they arise from a broader understanding of what constitutes the greater good and from an expanded awareness of who benefits from technological advances." Check out groups such as BGSA, NSBE, SACNAS, WiSE, QTGSU, IASB, APIGSA, and AIGSA!

What's the campus/department attitude towards mental health?

COVID necessitated more conversation around students' mental health, which has seemed to have had a positive and lasting effect on attitudes in the department. Your advisor's attitude towards work/life balance, anxiety, etc. will of course vary (talk to students not in their group to try to gauge this!) but students are generally open to discussing mental health, and counseling/therapy/psychiatry are fully covered by our health insurance.

What's the LGBTQ+ community like?

The Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity puts on awesome events, has great resources, and support for students. Also check out the UCSB Chapter of oSTEM.