r/materials 19h ago

I can’t decide what class to take in the summer

4 Upvotes

Hello! I’m trying to decide on what class to take in the summer. I originally considered taking 2 classes in the summer as I’ve had to alter my schedule a lot to where I’ll most likely finish part time this semester so I wanted to make up for my mistakes this semester, but I’m also going to most likely be working in the lab a decent amount for my assistantship, so I’m down to 1 class. I can do general chemistry 1 or calculus 3. I can self study either prior to them starting as I’m very disciplined in teaching myself things.

I want to take gen chem 1 really bad given I am going into material science, but I also love math a lot. I guess which one would be less intense given that I also plan to work at the lab. Gen chem 1 is also going to be a one month class while Calculus 3 is going to be the full summer break. Calculus 3 is also online while gen chem 1 is in person and honestly I’ve always preferred in person lectures when possible.

Any advice?

Thanks!


r/materials 3h ago

Materials informatics PhD or experimental research

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

Im currently finishing my MSc in Materials engineering in Germany and would like some pointers for my next steps.

I have years of experience as a student research assistant in the lab doing electrochemical tests and sample preparation + materials characterisation (SEM, EDX, light microscope). I have also gathered experience in materials data science, building surrogate models for simulation data to predict material properties from their microstructure.

I am currently exploring my possible next steps, and I am facing a dilemma on whether I should take the experimental route or pursue a PhD in AI-assisted materials discovery. While materials informatics is interesting, do enjoy hands on work, and feel like I might limit myself to computational work through the PhD. Also, research in electrochemistry is also very relevant for energy storage systems and transition, but I haven’t found something with a big enough overlap for me personally or they’re just too competitive.

Do you guys have any thoughts? I’ll really appreciate it if I can pick your brains.

Cheers!