The microEP program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is an interdisciplinary graduate program designed to expand a student's knowledge beyond the boundaries of traditional departmental based graduate programs. Students in the Microelectronics-Photonics program will participate in cross-departmental research, will take applications-intensive classes from multiple engineering and science departments, and will develop workplace productivity skills in a simulated industrial environment.

The outcome of their graduate education in this interdisciplinary environment will be a better understanding of microelectronic-photonic materials; the creation of high-performance, miniaturized devices and systems made from these materials; and an understanding of the economics that affect successful introduction of these devices and systems into industry and the community.

The Microelectronics-Photonics program reports directly to Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Arkansas, but closely aligns its policies with the policies of both the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. The MS degree program was proposed in the fall of 1998, and was approved by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education on July 23, 1999 for fall semester 1999 implementation. The Ph.D. in Microelectronics-Photonics degree program was proposed in fall of 1999 and was approved on July 21, 2000 for fall semester 2000 implementation.

Students applying for admission to the MS Microelectronics-Photonics program must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a rigorus science or engineering field, and students must have completed a math sequence through differential equations and a calculus based physics sequence through an introduction to modern physics. Undergraduate deficiencies will be evaluated by the program's admission committee, and will be largely defined as the courses needed to support the student's success in the graduate courses they choose.

Students applying for admission to the PhD Microelectronics-Photonics program must have a Master of Science degree from a science or engineering program that interacts with microEP research programs. The course requirements for the microEP PhD will be based on the student's academic records and experience.

Participants in the MS microEP program will be encouraged to complete an interdisciplinary research-thesis based Master of Science in Microelectronics-Photonics degree, although a non-thesis path could be allowed with approval of the program's graduate affairs committee. Both degree paths require a mixture of physics, engineering, other science, and business management classes, resulting in a degree that will be highly marketable to career opportunities in the development and manufacturing of high tech materials and devices.

The program's faculty and post-doc staff in the Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Poultry Science departments will lead the microEP research efforts. Students accepted into the microEP program are encouraged to begin working with the staff in their research laboratories in their first semester at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Financial support for students accepted to the microEP program can come through departmental teaching assistant positions, from specific research grants to individual professors, from research grants to centers such as HiDEC and MRSEC, and from educational grants such as ACEMI, IGERT, and the GK-12 grant.

The Microelectronics-Photonics Program gratefully recognizes the financial support of the National Science Foundation , the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (ASTA), and the University of Arkansas. Without this support, the startup of the microEP program would not have been possible.