DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS UNDERGRADUATE BROCHURE
Why come to Oxford?
Oxford University Department of Materials offers a blend of traditional and modern teaching techniques, with top rated lectures (23 out of a maximum 24 points in the Teaching Quality Assessment), given by lecturers who gained the top materials research rating in the UK (2001). We are regularly judged as the overall best materials department in the country (The Times League Table 2005, The Guardian League Tables 2006 & 2007 and The Good University Guide 2007). Our degree courses are professionally accredited by the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and the Engineering Council of the UK.
Oxford’s highly prized college-based tutorial system offers regular small group teaching (typically one tutor with two or three students), allowing tutors to deal with the specific needs of individual students, as well as encouraging stimulating and exciting discussion of the subject in an informal and friendly atmosphere. Practical work is an important part of a Materials degree course and we have an excellent teaching laboratory which recently underwent a £300,000 upgrade.
The Department of Materials teaches about 120 undergraduates over the four years of the course. This size gives a “family” feel to the department in which staff and students are often on first name terms. We also have an active and respected staff-student liaison committee (the JCCU) which inputs to the management of the Department.
In addition to the tutorial teaching, the residential college system provides superb support, guidance and facilities during your time at Oxford.
There are two distinct courses offered by the Department; the Materials Science (MS) course is aimed at the scientist who envisages beginning their career in research or a technical area of industry, while the Materials, Economics and Management (MEM) course is aimed at the more business-oriented student who is interested in combining technical, financial & management skills at an early stage of their career.
In addition to lectures, tutorials and laboratory classes, there are industrial visits and a team design project. The fourth year involves either solely a research project (MS), which may be carried out in the Department, in industry or occasionally overseas, or a six-month industrial project together with taught courses (MEM).
Both degrees provide the basis for the development of highly competent, well-trained graduates. Whatever your ultimate destination, the key skills developed in numeracy, communication, analysis and in solving a wide array of problems, together with the high academic standards of the courses, make Oxford Materials graduates highly sought after by industry, business and the financial sector.
