More Information
Please note: the program's formal name is the "Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program."
If paying the application fee is a hardship for you, let us know; we can help. Please note also that our admissions guidelines do NOT require a GRE Subject Test, but we do strongly recommend submission of General GRE scores. TOEFL scores are also required for most international students.
For more information, or if you'd like to arrange a visit to the Liquid Crystal Institute, please contact our Graduate Coordinator:
Deng-Ke Yang
Professor and Graduate Coordinator
Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program
Liquid Crystal Institute
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
(330) 672-2565
dyang@kent.edu
Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program
Discover the possibilities!
If you want to learn about opportunities for graduate study at the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State, you've come to the right place.
We offer both masters and Ph.D. options in Chemical Physics. These programs focus on liquid crystal science, an exciting interdisciplinary field open to students with backgrounds in either physics or chemistry.
Financial support is available, and applications are due on Jan. 31.
Conventional liquid crystal displays were invented at Kent State, and the Liquid Crystal Institute remains an internationally recognized center of excellence in both fundamental science and technology applications of this elusive state of matter. Our graduate program is a small one, with fewer than ten students entering each fall. Our alumni are in such demand--both in industry and in academia--that we're planning to increase the size of the program in coming years.
Chances are good that the cell phone, music player, or GPS you may have in your pocket, the television you last watched, and perhaps even the computer screen on which you might be reading this message, were all made with technology developed here at Kent. The liquid crystal display (LCD) might even have been designed or manufactured by one of our graduates.
As you might expect, the science and technology of LCD's and non-linear optics are among our hottest research areas. But while the global market for displays is of order $100 billion annually, LCD's represent only one aspect of liquid crystal science. There are many more applications to pursue, each of which also has the potential to create the same economic impact. Liquid crystal rubber flexes and twists like an artificial muscle when exposed to light, heat, or electric fields. Biosensors made with liquid crystals provide exquisite sensitivity to the presence of harmful bacterial. Liquid crystal organic photovoltaic materials promise to improve the efficiency of solar energy conversion. Many of our grad students earn not only diplomas but also patents for their work in developing these exciting innovations.
News & Announcements
- Kent State’s John L. West Named Trustees Research Professor The Kent State University Board of Trustees recently named John L. West, Ph.D., an internationally respected researcher and the university’s former vice president for research, to a five-year term as Trustees Research Professor, effective July 1.
- Posted Mar. 29, 2012 - Kent State University Gets Atomic Force Microscope Lab When Hiroshi Yokoyama became director of Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute, he was determined to set the laboratory apart from others.
- Posted Mar. 26, 2012 - Kent State to Host STEM Project Fair on Feb. 11 Science, technology, engineering and math – commonly referred to as STEM fields – will be in spotlight when Kent State University hosts the Hudson STEM Project Fair on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Posted Feb. 3, 2012 - MEDIA ADVISORY: New Liquid Crystal-Based Technology that Rapidly Detects Multiple Pathogens in Food to be Introduced On Oct. 26, Crystal Diagnostics will introduce a new technology using liquid crystals to detect multiple harmful pathogens in food in a single test. Crystal Diagnostics is the exclusive licensee of fundamental liquid crystal biosensor technologies developed jointly by a research partnership between Kent State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED).
- Posted Oct. 20, 2011