About

Object of Studies

Materials Science is the understanding of the relationship of composition-structure-processing properties of materials. Materials Technology is the specialized design, synthesis, control and modification of materials with the aim of meeting the demands of society. Materials Science and Technology requires both an understanding of the basic science of the structural molecular units of matter as well as the engineering of their applications and is therefore quite a broad and interdisciplinary field. Scientists engaged worldwide in materials science-engineering-technology must have knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, chemical engineering, and other engineering disciplines. More here.

What does the Department offer its students

Laboratory Training

The Department offers many opportunities to students in order to become familiar with modern experimental techniques in the study of the structure and properties of materials. All undergraduate students of the Department practice in a series of mandatory core laboratory courses: the Construction and Mechanical Design Laboratory, General Chemistry Laboratory, Mechanical-Thermal Laboratory, Electrical-Optical Laboratory, Materials Preparation Methods Laboratory, and Materials Characterization Laboratory. In addition, theoretical techniques in the study of materials are established in the three Computer labs. Some of the above workshops are offered by the affiliated departments of Physics and Chemistry, while an effort is being made to develop the Department’s independent laboratories by making significant investments in equipment for the educational laboratories, with the aim of continuously improving the quality of the education provided and adapting the to the ever-increasing complexity of experimental techniques.

In addition to the mandatory laboratory courses, the Department offers optional laboratory courses with subjects in the areas of research activity of the faculty members and visiting professors who staff the Department. All interested students, with satisfactory performance in the courses, also have many opportunities to work, mainly in the context of diploma work, in the research laboratories of the Department and the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas in the relevant fields.

Computer Infrastructure and Internet

The Department places great emphasis on the training of its students in the use and programming of computers. Fully equipped rooms with dozens of state-of-the-art computers are at their disposal for computing courses, workshops, exercises and diploma or postgraduate theses. In addition, the University has aquired permission to provide its students with certain computer programs and operating systems free of charge.

The University of Crete connects at high speeds through EDYTE with the country’s Research Institutions, the rest of Europe’s research networks and the Internet. This gives the opportunity to communicate with other researchers, institutions and individuals via e-mail, as well as direct access to databases and libraries in our country and abroad.

Access to FORTH research laboratories

The Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) is based in Heraklion, Crete. It is one of the largest research centers in the country and the only one established in the region. It operates in key points of the Greek regional arc: Crete-Patras-Ioannina under the supervision and grant of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development. FORTH based on science, technology and innovation, produces high-level research work, develops innovative technology, strengthens university education, and develops partnerships with universities, research centers, and companies at the national and international level. It also has research laboratories on par with the most advanced in the world. Activities related to those of the Materials Science and Technology Department are developed at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (I.E.S.L.) and Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (I.M.B.B.). Such activities refer to the following areas:

Laser and applications laboratory
Microelectronics Laboratory
Polymer Laboratory
Laboratory of Photovoltaic conversion of solar energy
Protein Structure Laboratory
Laboratory of Enzyme Technology
Microchemistry Laboratory.

As part of the Department’s cooperation with FORTH, the laboratories above are available to undergraduate and postgraduate students for research work in the context of the preparation of a diploma thesis, postgraduate thesis and doctoral thesis or other arrangements with the laboratory managers.

After graduation

Employment

In the private sector, our graduates are employed in R&D, Quality Control, Design, Procurement, and Project Management departments of companies such as Stryker-Goodyear, Medtronic, Merit Medical Systems, Henkel, Crete Plastics, as well as local start-ups such as Biomimetic and Biopix.

In the public sector, the professional rights of the graduates of the Department are listed at P.D. 45/2009 (Government Gazette 58/2-4-2009). According to Presidential Decree 85/2022 (Government Gazette 232/17-12-2022), the graduates of the Department are included in the Environmental PE Branch, in the Environmental PE specialty.

The graduates of our Department have not yet joined a teaching PE in secondary education.

Postgraduate Studies and Research

Graduates of the Department of Materials Science and Technology have the opportunity to access related postgraduate study programs at universities in Greece and abroad. The Department has developed a postgraduate program leading to either a Masters or Ph.D. in cutting-edge fields.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering