Join the Nicholas Group

PhD Candidate Positions

The Nicholas Research Group at Michigan State University (MSU) is seeking motivated, talented individuals to start the PhD projects below. Those joining the group will learn how to formulate and execute an original research plan, fabricate and characterize materials, disseminate their scientific findings in international journals and at international conferences, work effectively on research teams, think independelty, and become world-experts on thier chosen PhD topic. Interested students are encouraged to contact Professor Nicholas at jdn@msu.edu for more information. Additional projects, not listed here, may become available as funding allows.

PhD Project #1: Factors Impacting Oxygen Surface Exchange

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) have energy densities five times higher than the world’s best battery, efficiencies three times higher than the world’s best internal combustion engine, and NOx and SOx emissions 100 times lower than conventional power plants. In addition, SOFCs can be used backwards as Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOECs) to store energy, produce fuels, and/or synthesize chemicals. Unfortunately, the commercialization of these Solid Oxide Cells (SOCs) is complicated by the high operating temperatures (>600^oC) required to incorporate oxygen into the device materials. Further, attempts to engineer the oxygen surface exchange chemical rate coefficient (k) have been complicated by the large k discrepancies in the literature for nominally identical materials under nominally identical conditions (such as the 10,000 times discrepancy in the 650^oC k of the model material La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3-x). Recently, the Nicholas group developed a new in situ, non-contact, current collector-free wafer curvature technique (pictured to the left above and described here) that simultaneously measures the oxygen surface exchange coefficients and biaxial stress states of thin film oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Hence, the objective of this project is to quantify how much different surface compositions and/or stress states impact the k of thin film oxygen exchange catalysts produced via Pulsed Laser Deposition (pictured to the right above). If successful, this project will help solve the reproducibility crisis currently plaguing the high-temperature electrocatalyst community, and allow us to produce new, high-performance electrodes for a variety of energy generation, energy storage, gas sensing, environmental remediation, oxygen generation, hydrogen production, and other oxygen-ion-exchange-enabled devices.

PhD Project #2: Thin Film Diamond Anvil Cell Experiments to Study Subducting Slab Phase Relations

The mechanism(s) responsible for deep focus earthquakes (i.e. those occuring between ~400-700 km in subducting slabs such as those in the left figure above) are important for understanding the dynamics of mantle convection, subduction, and seismic hazards within the Earth. Although multiple mechanisms have been proposed to explain the existence, frequency, and source characteristics of deep focus earthquakes, no one mechanism is consistent with all the observations. The objective of this project, performed in conjunction with the research group of Dr. Jie Li, is to evaluate the hypothesis that a combination of geologically-relevant deviatoric stresses, preferred crystallographic orientation, and/or new metastable phases stabilize the olivine-structured Mg₂SiO₄ found within subducting oceanic crust. This will be achieved by using 1) using Pulsed Laser Deposition to produce Mg₂SiO₄ thin films with intentionally varied crystallographic orientations, grain sizes, and deviatoric stress levels, 2) using in situ wafer curvature measurements to measure the deviatoric stress in each thin film sample outside of a diamond anvil cell versus temperature, and 3) using externally heated Diamond Anvil Cell and thin film Raman Spectroscopy (pictured to the right above) to observe the impact the aforementioned variables have on the kinetics and thermodynamics of the Mg₂SiO₄ olivine to spinel phase transformations often cited as a possible cause of deep focus earthquakes. In addition to providing new insights into the mechanisms responsible for deep focus earthquakes, the techniques developed here will allow mineral physicists to perform optically-accessible experiments under previously inaccessible stress tensor conditions, demonstrate a new class of thin film pressure sensors, and show how geologically-relevant high-pressure phases can be stabilized in thin film form for use in everyday devices.

How to Apply

Those potentially interested in pursuing Graduate Studies in the Nicholas Group should apply for admission to the MSE PhD program within the MSU Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CHEMS) Department by following the instructions at: http://www.chems.msu.edu/academics/graduate/how-to-apply. Domestic students are encouraged to apply before the January 15 application deadline so that they are scholarship eligible. Foreign students are encouraged to apply one month earlier than domestic students (i.e. by December 15) to facilitate screening for the TSE (Test of Spoken English) examination. Interested students are encouraged to contact Professor Nicholas at jdn@msu.edu for more information.

Undergraduate Internships and Independent Studies

The Nicholas Group regularly participates in the College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program. This 10 week, 40 hour per week, $11/hr immersive research experience allows undergraduate students from across the United States to conduct mentored research projects. Past ENSURE Program participants have traveled to international conferences to present their work and published their work as first-authors in high impact, peer-reviewed journals. (Click here for an example). Several undergraduates have also completed independent studies in the group during the regular semester. Interested students should contact Professor Nicholas at jdn@msu.edu to learn about avaialble projects.

The Top 10 Reasons to Join the Nicholas Group

Work on research projects that will make a difference to the well-being and understanding of the planet!
Perform innovative, high-quality, highly-cited research. Our sintering aid work¹ and our nano-composite cathode SIMPLE modeling work^2-4 have become the world’s most highly cited publications in the areas of “ceria sintering aid” and “infiltrated solid oxide fuel cell electrode modeling”.⁵ In the past few years we have also developed the world’s only technique capable of simultaneously characterizing in situ film stress and oxygen surface exchange;⁶ an advance which places us in a unique position for making high-impact discoveries on the ability to strain-engineer materials. Further, through our recent collaborations with Dr. Yue Qi and Dr. Thomas Bieler, we have developed a new family of ceramic to metal brazes and performed a variety of Density Functional Theory studies to better understand the behavior of oxygen vacancies in electrochemically-active materials.
Join a group with prominence in the field. Professor Nicholas was the lead organizer of the NSF-sponsored Solid Oxide Fuel Promise, Progress, and Priorities Workshop, the lead organizer of a recurring Electrochemical Society Mechanical-Electrochemical Coupling in Energy Related Materials and Devices Symposium, a Journal of the Electrochemical Society Guest Editor, and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award winner.
Join a well-funded research group. PI Nicholas has been the lead PI on over $3.0 Million in external research awards in the past 8 years.
Work with a great teacher. Professor Nicholas received the CHEMS Department Withrow Teaching Award in 2013 and has one of the highest RateMyProfessor.com rankings in the Michigan State UniversityMaterials Science and Engineering Program.
Make contacts with industry that will broaden your persepctive and maybe help you land a job. In the past five years, the Nicholas Group has worked with Delphi Automotive, Bosch, Atrex Energy, and Nissan North America. Further, as shown at https://www.egr.msu.edu/nicholasgroup/personnel.php, the Nicholas Group has alumni at Intel, GE Aviation, Hemlock Semiconductor, TARDEC, Hitachi Metals, CATL, and elsewhere.
Have motivated colleagues. Nicholas Group graduate students have been authoring or co-authoring at least 1 paper a year, on average. See https://www.egr.msu.edu/nicholasgroup/publications.php for details.
Join a group that values different perspectives. The Nicholas Group has had students of American, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, and Iranian descent, 3/4 of which have been Materials Scientists and 1/4 of which have been Chemical Engineers. See our alumni list at https://www.egr.msu.edu/nicholasgroup/personnel.php for details.
Travel the world. All Nicholas Group graduate students have the opportunity to present their research at international conferences (with registration, hotel, and travel expenses paid for by Professor Nicholas's grants)
Work with a professor that is so dedicated to his students (and prospective students) that he would create a list like this!

The Top 12 Reasons to Pursue Your Materials Science & Engineering Graduate Degree at Michigan State University

Unlike some other programs, MSE PhD Students maintaining adequate progress toward their degree are GUARANTEED financial support for the duration of their graduate studies, or five years, which ever comes first. (Here "adequate" means meeting the GPA requirements and passing the Qualifier, Prelim, and Defense in accordance with the timetable set forth in the CHEMS Graduate Handbook).
The MSU MSE program is a research powerhouse, with strength in metals, polymers, biomaterials, energy-related materials, materials simulations, and diamond-based thin film coatings.

The CHEMS Department and the Fraunhofer USA Center for Diamond and Coating Technologies at Michigan State had ~$11 Million in combined research funding last year.
With 6 faculty members performing diamond coating research in the Fraunhofer USA Center for Diamond and Coating Technologies (John Albrecht, Jonas Becker, Qi Hua Fan, Tim Grotjohn, Tim Hogan, and Shannon Nicley), MSU has the world’s foremost thin film diamond coatings center.
Michigan State just completed a new $70 Million Bioengineering building and expects to hire new biomaterial-related faculty in the future.
The MSE faculty include award-winning computation-based faculty members Jose Mendoza, Hui-Chia Yu, and Philip Eisenlohr (with the second highest cited paper in Acta Materialia published in the past decade). Collaborations are also on-going with the newly established Computational Mathematics Science and Engineering Department at Michigan State.
With 6 faculty performing metals research (Carl Bohlert, 2019 TMS Fellow Tom Bieler, Marty Crimp, Phillip Eisenlohr, Andre Lee, and Jason Nicholas), the MSE program has one of the largest metallurgy faculty clusters in the nation.
With 8 faculty performing polymer research (Shiwang Cheng, John Dorgan, Larry Drzal, Robert Ferrier, K Jayaraman, Andre Lee, Richard Lunt, and Ramani Narayan), the CHEMS department has one of the largest polymeric materials faculty clusters in the nation. The MSE program also has one of the most highly awarded programs for polymer composites (which are used in automotive, aerospace, and other applications).
With 8 faculty performing energy related research (Scott Calabrese-Barton, John Dorgan, Chengcheng Fang, Wei Lai, NSF CAREER Award Winner Richard Lunt, Donald Morelli, NSF CAREER Award Winner Jason Nicholas, and NSF CAREER Award Winner Alexandra Zevalkink), the CHEMS department has one of the largest Energy Materials faculty clusters in the nation, with expertise in organic solar cells, solid oxide fuel cells, batteries, polymeric, bio-based fuel cells and thermoelectrics.

Your salary will go further in East Lansing

A $25,000 salary from Michigan State is roughly equivalent to a $45,000 salary from MIT or a $60,000 salary from Stanford.

Michigan State University (MSU) has one of the few combined Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CHEMS) departments in the country, enabling you to better pursue interdisciplinary research, make a greater number of professional contacts, and more-easily tailor your Chemical Engineering (CHE) or Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) degree coursework.
New MSE Graduate Students get thier first month of Gradute School to learn about potential research projects, meet with faculty members, tour labs, and interact with other Grad students before choosing a PhD project. This is in contrast to other schools which REQUIRE a student to decide upon a research project before they are even admitted! MSU Summer Research fellowships allowing students to start their PhD research early (i.e. in the May or June before the typical August start of their PhD program) are also available.
The MSU CHEMS Department has an active, vibrant, and welcoming CHEMS Graduate Student Association that facilitates graduate student fellowship, professional development, and community service.
The MSE program at MSU offers the benefits of a 50,000+ student university, with cozy average MSE undergraduate and graduate class sizes of 35 and 10 students, respectively.
Michigan State University is ranked in the 92^nd percentile of Best Universities in the World according to U.S. News and World Report and the Times Higher Education.
Because of its diverse population, food, culture, job opportunities, etc. greater Lansing, MI (the home of Michigan State University) was ranked among the 50 best places to live in the United States according to U.S. News and World Report. Neighboring Okemos, MI was also ranked among the 10 of best places to live in the United States according to Niche.com.
Michigan has more engineers (and engineering jobs) on a per capita basis than any other state.
Michigan has lots to do and a rich history
1. Michigan has the longest amount of freshwater coastline of any state (enjoy the beach without having to worry about sharks!)
2. Michigan has some of best museums in the world including the Detroit Institute of Art, the Henry Ford Museum, etc.
3. Michigan experiences all four seasons, packed with world-renown festivals such as Dutch Tulip Time in Holland, the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Traverse City, the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, etc.
4. Sports fans can enjoy Michigan State University Athletics, the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team, the Lansing United Soccer Team, etc.
5. Michigan has a large history of innovation, including the world’s first land-grant university (Michigan State), soda pop, the traffic light, the world’s first hydroelectric power plant, etc.
The people at MSU are among the friendliest in the nation and have a culture that values education, citizen participation in government, and welcoming outsiders. All we are missing is you!

References

1. JD Nicholas and LC DeJonghe, Solid State Ionics, 178, 1187 (2007).
2. JD Nicholas and SA Barnett, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 157, B536 (2010).
3. JD Nicholas, L Wang, AV Call and SA Barnett, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 14, 15379 (2012).
4. M. Shah, JD Nicholas and SA Barnett, Electrochemistry Communications, 11, 2 (2009).
5. Thompson Reuters, Web of Science (2014).
6. Q Yang, TE Burye, RR Lunt and JD Nicholas, Solid State Ionics, 249-250, 123 (2013).