The main objective of the master’s degree in materials science is to provide the student with a high level of academic training in engineering and materials science.

Goals

The master’s degree seeks to provide specialist engineers with high-level scientific and technical preparation, as well as a capacity to adapt, not only in the professional sphere but also in research, development and innovation. Such objectives, which serve as an extension of those set out in the bachelor’s degree in materials engineering offered by the UPM, offer a culmination of the technical academic training. The degree gives its graduates the highest level of competence in the materials science field, affording knowledge, diversity, mobility and adaptability within a high-quality study programme that foments integration across the continent and provides Spanish society with the service required.The master’s degree seeks to provide specialist engineers with high-level scientific and technical preparation, as well as a capacity to adapt, not only in the professional sphere but also in research, development and innovation. Such objectives, which serve as an extension of those set out in the bachelor’s degree in materials engineering offered by the UPM, offer a culmination of the technical academic training. The degree gives its graduates the highest level of competence in the materials science field, affording knowledge, diversity, mobility and adaptability within a high-quality study programme that foments integration across the continent and provides Spanish society with the service required.

Having completed the master’s degree, graduates will be able to perform functions not only in industries that produce and use materials but also in research, development and quality- control roles in laboratories. Doing so will involve meeting the following objectives:

1. To identify and comprehend, and to be aware of how to apply, the scientific fundamentals of the behaviour of materials and the interrelationships among their structure, proprieties, processing and application.
2. To ascertain and appreciate, and to be aware of how to apply, the technology related to materials in being involved in the production, transformation, processing, quality-control, maintenance, recycling and storage processes associated with any such type of material.
3. To identify and understand the fundamentals of biological, chemical, electronic and mechanical behaviour of materials, and to be aware of how to apply them to the design, calculation and modelling of aspects related to components, elements and equipment.
4.  To identify and grasp, and know how to apply, the physical-chemical mechanisms that determine phases of the lifecycle of materials, their durability and impact on the environment, and the procedures and techniques regarding characterisation for assessment of durability, service life and integrity.
5.  To acquire and extend a capacity to innovate, develop and produce new materials, fabricating – by alternative methods – the conventional materials necessary to become more competitive or address socio-environmental issues.
6.  To recognise, comprehend, and know how to apply, the bases of science and the scientific method.

Skills

In order to achieve these objectives, students will acquire and then develop a group of general and specific skills.

General skills

General skills, considered important by both graduates and employers, entail attributes provided by any degree course. The UPM has defined a group of such skills, to be acquired during the learning process and oriented to students that study for a master’s degree. They are the following:

• General skill (GS) 1: Use of the English language
• GS2: Team leadership
• GS3: Creativity
• GS4: Organisation and planning
• GS5: Information management
• GS6: Administrative and financial management
• GS7: Work in an international context

In the case of the master’s degree in materials engineering, and in order to enable students to achieve the objects of the degree, three skills have been added. They are the following:

• GS8: Development of oral and written communication
• GS9: Adaptation to a new environment
• GS10: Responsibility and respect of professional ethics

The general skills are neatly aligned with the master’s degree and the position the field enjoys in society, characterised by its dynamism and link to social responsibility (with bioethics and sustainability being of particular note).

Specific skills

The specific skills are related with the knowledge acquired during the training process (skills specific to the discipline) and the abilities and skills required to put such knowledge into practice (skills specific to the profession). In defining them, the objectives of the master’s degree and content of others offered by institutions in Europe, Japan and the United States have served as a guide.

These specific skills are associated with practical processes such as design, fabrication, use, maintenance, inspection, quality control, and recycling. In addition, they also entail a more scientific dimension related with knowledge, modelling, innovation, assessment, research and teaching. They are the following:

• Specific skill (SS) 1: To identify and comprehend, and to be aware of how to apply, the scientific fundamentals of the behaviour of materials.
• SS2: To be aware of how to design, model, evaluate, select, fabricate and use materials that have particular properties.
• SS3: To know how to make use of, and manage technically and financially, the selection, fabrication, processing, use and recycling of materials.
• SS4: To appreciate how to transmit and report knowledge, procedures, results and techniques associated with the behaviour and use of materials.
• SS5: To be able to learn independently, and then update such learning, new concepts and techniques..
• SS6: To identify and grasp, and know how to apply, the physical-chemical mechanisms that determine phases of the lifecycle of materials, their durability and impact on the environment, and know how to evaluate, monitor and improve security, durability and structural integrity of materials and components made with them.