An Interdisciplinary Program

By their nature, the applied sciences are interdisciplinary - cutting across traditional boundaries. The Curriculum in Applied Sciences at Carolina is a cooperative effort of several departments: Biomedical Engineering from the School of Medicine; Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Computer Science, and Mathematics from the College of Arts and Sciences. Courses are taught by faculty from those departments and also by distinguished industrial scientists and engineers from the Research Triangle area. Applied Sciences courses are frequently taken simultaneously by students at Duke University, North Carolina State University, and other campuses in the State through a two-way interactive television network administered for the State by the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina.

Five tracks of study are currently offered within the Applied Sciences program. The tracks are: Biomedical Materials Science, Computer Science with hardware emphasis, Chemistry-Based Materials Science, Physics-Based Materials Science, and Polymeric Materials Science. These tracks of emphasis are the undergraduate components of the complimenting Ph. D. Program in Materials Science.

Interchangeability Among Program Components

During their first two years, students at Carolina are enrolled in the General College and are not required to declare a formal major. Students intending to major in Applied Sciences spend the first two years obtaining a broad foundation in the basic sciences and satisfying general education requirements. Interchangeability between programs is great at this time. As outlined below, the Polymer Science, Biomedical Materials Science, and the Chemistry-Based Materials Science tracks are almost identical with each other and with the B.S. in Chemistry curriculum during the first two years. Thus, students can easily delay a decision between these approaches until the spring semester of their sophomore year. Similarly, the Computer Science and Physics-Based Materials Science tracks and the B.S. in Physics curriculum are almost identical during the first two years. And all seven programs are interchangeable through the first year.

The applied sciences courses, like all science and engineering courses, have subject content that is vertically integrated. Each advancing level of study is built on prior experience. This experience is gained through a prerequisite course structure in the first years at the university. Entering freshman students who think they desire any one of the science curricula should take chemistry, math, and physics from the outset, because a later switch to a non-scientific program is more readily accomplished than vice versa. It is especially critical that students expecting to enter the Curriculum have successfully completed Math 83 and Physics 27 by the conclusion of their second year.

A Liberal Arts Setting

Lying at the overlap of the basic sciences on one hand and engineering on the other, the applied sciences can be approached from either side. Most programs in the applied sciences across the nation are found in schools of engineering. By contrast, the Curriculum in Applied Sciences at Carolina is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Indeed, it is one of the few comprehensive programs in the applied sciences in the country that is not in an engineering environment. Being in an arts and sciences setting has unique advantages for students. Most engineering schools expect students to declare majors as freshmen and require about 140 semester credit hours for graduation. Carolina students are not required to declare majors until they are second semester sophomores, although they may do so earlier. Our students enjoy the vast range of courses available on a liberal arts campus from which to choose electives. With only 123-126 credit hours required for graduation, Applied Sciences majors have time for more elective courses than are required!