Guide for the New Graduate Student

Hello and welcome to the Faculty of Material Science and Engineering

To allow you to start your degree with a minimum of concerns and a maximum amount of knowledge, we are providing this guide with all the basic information you should know before embarking on a graduate degree at the Faculty.

The guide is worded in masculine gender, but applies to researchers of both sexes.

You are invited to contact us at any time with questions, additional suggestions, and comments for changes to the guide and on any other subject.

Best regards,
Lotan Portal and Noy Fabri
Graduate Degrees Delegation at the Faculty of Material Science and Engineering.

Please note!

All information appearing in this file is applicable at the time of writing only.

The document has been written by students, for students, and the contents and statements herein do not obligate the faculty or the Technion For the most current and exact information, contact the graduate degrees coordinator on any subject, including the subjects appearing in this file.

Before everything – fill in all the forms sent from the registration and admission desk!

An official document from the faculty will be sent separately, and will contain all administrative requirements and required forms that must be filled in before starting your studies.

Contact People

Delegation of the Students’ Association at the Faculty

Representatives of the Students’ Association at the Technion

Important websites

Facebook and Instagram

Study tracks and Faculty requirements

Curricula

All the information in this chapter is relevant for graduates holding bachelor’s degrees from the Faculty of Material Science and Engineering, or graduates of another faculty who have studied the subjects relevant to the course in a 4-year track. For further information and additional cases, visit the website of the Technion Graduate School.

All tracks have a requirement of taking 4 credits (out of the total number of credits) from a list of core courses that are offered at the Faculty. One course (2 credits) from the list of thermodynamics courses and one course (2 credits) from the list of characterization methods courses must be completed.

  • There are sports courses for advanced degrees that are not counted within the credits for finishing the degree – one can learn about courses that are opened on the Technion Students Association Sports Unit Facebook Page and on the website of the Technion Students Association.

Switching to a direct doctoral degree track

There is an option for switching to a direct doctoral degree track before finishing a master’s degree. This requires the consent and support of a mentor and the approval of an interviewing committee. For further information, contact the graduate degrees coordinator.

Research proposal

Studies for a master’s degree – a research approval approved by the mentor must be submitted up to 4 months after starting one’s studies (for students starting in October, submission by the end of February; for those starting in March, submission by the end of July).

The proposal must be about one page long, containing a brief summary on the subject of the study in English, the title of the study (in English and Hebrew), and the research question.

Studies for a doctoral degree – a research proposal (a brief essay consisting of about 30 pages in English) must be submitted according to the date appearing on the doctoral degree track acceptance letter. For guidelines on submitting the summary description, contact the graduate degrees coordinator.

The candidate must pass a candidacy exam about a month after submitting the research proposal. The candidacy exam includes a seminar in which the student is asked to present his study up to that stage and the future work and to be examined orally by a committee consisting of a number of staff members.

* The monetary value of scholarship portions increases after submitting a research proposal in all tracks.

Faculty scholarships and external scholarships

Calculation of the Faculty scholarship

All students admitted for degree studies at the Faculty receive a stipend that currently consists of 5 scholarship portions as a basis, according to the list of requirements appearing on the website of the Technion Graduate School. The number of portions can vary according to the Faculty’s constraints. Students who have completed a bachelor’s degree with an average grade of more than 88 are entitled to receive an additional scholarship portion, as of the time of publishing this document.

Students studying at the Faculty through external tracks (Energy/ Nano/Polymers, etc.) may be entitled to a different number of scholarship portions. For further information, contact the coordinator of the relevant track in which you are enrolled.

The monetary value of each scholarship share may be found on the website of the Technion Graduate School. A table that is current as of October 2021 is attached below:

Degree type and research stage Value of a scholarship share in NIS
Magister before research subject 1,001
Magister after research subject 1,071
Doctoral before candidacy exam 1,275
Doctoral after candidacy exam 1,385

 

Conditions for receiving a full scholarship:

  • Average of 80 or higher
  • Fulfilling Faculty requirements
  • Being at the Technion for 5 days a week (“full time”)
  • Option for employment as auxiliary staff at the Technion for up to 1100 employment units
  • Prohibition of employment outside the Technion except in the form of “supplementary employment” or in extraordinary cases that are approved by the school.

* A student who is entitled to receive 4 or more scholarship portions is also exempt from paying tuition fees to the Graduate School.

“Pay slips” for scholarships may be found on the Hilanet website

External scholarships and awards

A student is allowed to submit his candidacy to receive external scholarships and awards according to the requirements of the Graduate School, and subject to the conditions of the Technion scholarship. There are scholarships for reserve servicemen, merit scholarships, and various awards. Additional information may be found in the external scholarships table.

External scholarships will be announced by the Graduate School and the graduate degrees coordinator. These scholarships have different criteria, so the advanced degrees coordinator will contact people meeting the criteria to suggest that they submit their candidacy. A Faculty committee will choose the Faculty candidate and submit his candidacy to the school and to the foundation.  After receiving a notice of acceptance, the increased amount of the scholarship shares will be determined according to the award.

Scholarship slips (“scholarship pay slips”)

Scholarship slips are received once a month and may be viewed directly through the Hilanet website.

To get an initial password to log into the Hilanet system, contact Anna Tarbaev,  at the Accounting Division – scholarships@technion.ac.il , 04-8293899.

Absence of scholarship recipients from the Technion

Full details of the various reasons for being absent, and the causes that must be preapproved, may be found on the Graduate School website.

Important! Any overseas trip of a student (whether private or as part of a course) must be approved in advance by the Graduate School. Fill in a request form for absence from the Technion of scholarship recipients, have the relevant parties sign it, and submit it to the graduate degrees coordinator.

Employment

According to the conditions for receiving the scholarship, a student is allowed to engage in additional work to get income besides the scholarship, on the condition that the employment falls under the “supplementary employment” or “auxiliary staff” heading (there is an option for extraordinary employment outside the Technion with specific approval from the school).

A student who receives a full scholarship (4 scholarship shares or more) is allowed to work as an auxiliary staff member for up to 1100 employment units per semester. Employment is possible with mentor approval only.

You can find a pay and pay grade calculator for students in different tracks and different stages of tracks (before/after research proposal) on the teaching staff organization website. Monthly slips may be viewed on the Hilanet website.

Registration for employment is done at the semester level through the undergraduate and teaching coordinator of the Faculty:

  • Stage 1 – announcement of an employment survey by email within the Faculty by a teaching staff organization representative (about two weeks after opening the registration of students for undergraduate studies for the following semester).
  • Stage 2 – assigning subjects and courses for students according to previous experience, Faculty need and schedule restrictions (done by the undergraduate studies secretary and teaching staff organization representative at the faculty).
  • Stage 3 – announcing employment for the next semester individually to each student.

Possible employment types at the Faculty as “auxiliary staff”: tutoring for courses, laboratory instructing, homework checking, tutoring of undergraduate students on their thesis project.

Employment table: https://www.tso.co.il/salary-table

  • A student who has been assigned to less than 500 employment units needs to go to the graduate academic coordinator and fill in a corresponding form.

Employment at other faculties

A student is allowed to work at other faculties as an “auxiliary staff” member with the approval of the Faculty’s dean and the mentor, as long as he does not exceed the limit of 1100 total employment units in all faculties in which the student works.

Supplementary employment

A student is also allowed to work in other functions that are not defined as auxiliary staff functions appearing above, such as:

  • Work at the Students Association and/or the Technion Institute.
  • Coaching of students through the teaching advancement unit/Student Association
  • Teaching at the Science-seeking Youth unit.
  • Work as a scientific reporter within the Technion Spokesperson Unit.
  • Teaching at other academic institutes and schools (travel times to these workplaces will be counted as permitted absence times for scholarship recipients).

Work will only be permitted after getting Graduate School approval for “supplementary work.” This employment does not count as part of the 1100 employment units limit for auxiliary staff.

Pay slips

Pay slips are received once a month. and may be viewed directly through the Hilanet website.

To get an initial password to log into the Hilanet system, contact Anna Tarbaev, at the Accounting Division – scholarships@technion.ac.il, 04-8293899.

Courses

Core courses

All students at the Faculty in all tracks are required to complete 4 credits (out of the total number of credits required in their relevant track) out of a list of core courses that are offered at the Faculty. One course out of the list of thermodynamics courses and one course out of the list of characterization methods courses must be completed.

Thermodynamics courses (2 credits)

  • 318320 – Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Intermediate Surfaces
  • 318321 – Advanced Topics in Thermodynamics
  • 318337 – Diffusion and Mass Transfer in Solids
  • 318336 – Phase Transformation in Solid Metals and Alloys
  • 318530 – Polymer Thermodynamics and Mechanics

Characterization methods courses (2 credits):

  • 318525 -– Transmission Electron Microscopy
  • 318526 – X-Ray Diffraction
  • 318529 – Analytic Scanning Electron Microscopy

Registration for courses

Registration for courses opens up a few weeks before the beginning of each semester, upon the announcement of the list of courses that is sent by email to students, and ends about three weeks after the semester begins.

Registration is done using the subjects registration form, which the mentor must sign for approving the selected courses. The form is to be forwarded to the graduate degrees coordinator. Registration using this form is relevant to all graduate students, including courses from other faculties and joint undergraduate courses.

Practical courses – MIKA

The Faculty has an electron microscopy center (MIKA), where students can be trained to work on advanced microscopes for their research.

The training includes the preparation of specimens, FIB, TEM, SEM, XRAY, and more.

Registration for practical training is held twice a year, at the beginning of each semester, by general announcements by email through the graduate degrees secretary. Registration requires mentor approval and payment out of the laboratory’s budget for the course and using the microscope.

Further information on the existing microscopes and possible courses for students at the Faculty may be found on the MIKA website.

Transferring bachelor’s degree courses

Students who have completed their bachelor’s degree with “surplus” courses that they have not used to finalize their degree may submit a request to transfer the credits for the relevant courses with the grade to their graduate degree marks sheet.

The transfer requires approval from the mentor and the deputy graduate dean of the Faculty.

The request for recognition of subjects taught at the Technion form must be filled in and submitted after being signed by the mentor to the graduate degrees coordinator with the final bachelor’s degree marks sheet showing the courses that are not recognized for the bachelor’s degree to be transferred.

First steps for a graduate degree

There are a few things that you should do in the first weeks after you are accepted for a graduate degree at the Faculty.

Ordering a student card

You must order a new student card on which the Faculty is defined as being for “graduate degrees.” The card will allow you admission to events for graduate degrees only, as an entry card to the Faculty and certain rooms that are locked to outside parties, and more.

The student card may be ordered from the Students Assocation website.

Logging into the computer system

You have to meet the computer administrator at the faculty in order to log into the Technion computer system and get faculty graduate student authorizations.

Anatoly Likholet – 4519 lanayoly@technion.ac.il

Access to the Faculty

To get a key to the main door of the Faculty building on floor no. 3, and for encoding your student card for access to the faculty via floor no. 0, contact the building custodian, Zvika.

Vehicle parking sticker

Advanced degree students at the Technion on full scholarships are entitled to receive a parking sticker for their vehicle at no cost, after getting a tentative scholarship confirmation.

The vehicle label must be ordered from the Technion’s Safety website. Sticker type – red-green.

Research ethics test

All research track students at the Technion must complete the online course research ethics – 218000, which is opened automatically for every new student.

The online course includes digital courseware, at the end of which an exam must be taken. The exam is opened once a month on a date announced in advance in the course model and in emails that are sent to all students registered or the current semester until the exam is completed.

The exam is in the form of multiple choice questions and is in a pass/fail format (the mark does not affect the average mark for the graduate degree).

Completion of the ethics requirement is essential for approving the research subject.

English exam for graduate degrees

All graduate students at the Technion are required to take a test in English that is held 3 times a year (January, July, and September).

The exam must be registered for in advance and must be completed before starting the second semester of the graduate degree. Requirement – mark of 65 and higher. The exam is in a pass/fail grade format, and the mark does not affect the average mark for the graduate degree.

A student who does not pass the exam must take a course in English for graduate degrees, which he must complete before finishing the third semester of the degree.

To register for the exam and for further information, see the Humanities and Arts website.

Course in academic writing in English for doctoral students

All doctoral students at the Technion are required to pass writing in English for doctoral students course (328050), which is open every semester. The English exam must be passed before it is possible to register for the academic writing course.

The degree cannot be completed without completing this course for doctoral students. The course has mandatory attendance and registration is done through the Faculty of Humanities, two weeks before the semester starts.

Safety

Technion safety

Students are required to take general safety training once a year, which includes all training relevant to their regular work at the laboratory and research. Once a year, there is concentrated training at the Faculty (January), with mandatory attendance for students. Students who fail to attend this training will have to complete it individually in training courses that are held as part of the general Technion safety training (registration via a callout by general Technion email).

The training types include:

  • Laser work training
  • Firefighting training (theoretical – once every six months, practical – once a year)
  • Cryogenics training
  • Gas cylinders training
  • Training on work with blood and specimens from a human source

Laboratory work safety

All students are required to take safety training at their research laboratory, which will be administered by the laboratory manager or his representative.

The training will include familiarization with all relevant instrumentation in the research laboratory, familiarization with the relevant safety points on the story (firefighting station, hazardous materials station, eye wash and body wash, waste disposal in accordance with the laboratory’s character).

Also, before entering the laboratory, the sudent must pass the Technion safety study program courseware (https://moodle.technion.ac.il/course/view.php?id=5396).

This program is a prerequisite for starting work. One of the safety programs (for a chemical or biological laboratory or working with animals) must be chosen, according to the type of work at your laboratory. At the end of the courseware, the student must pass a 10-question quiz with a mark of 90 at least.

Students are responsible for always being up-to-date in regards to the following matters:

  1. Correct and safe manner of dealing with irregular cases and irregular responses (such as substance leaks, chemical spills, fires, etc.).
  2. Correct and safe usage of substances of various hazard levels (familiarization with the various hazard levels, the required protection level, and optimal manner of operation).
  3. The MSDS of materials used in the laboratories, including materials not defined as hazardous.
  4. Each semester, a professional training insurance form is to be filled in and sent to the graduate degree academic coordinator.

Faculty Safety

Students are responsible for always being up-to-date in regards to the following details:

  1. Make contact, if necessary, with the faculty safety trustee– Zvika Rozin – 4565.
  2. Emergency passages and emergency exits at the Faculty.
  3. The Technion security telephone number – 2222.
  4. The Technion safety department telephone number – 2146.

For further information on safety at the Technion/faculty/laboratory level, contact the safety unit – https://safety.net.technion.ac.il/
or the faculty safety trustee–Zvika Ruzin.

Any unusual case must be reported immediately to the faculty safety trustee, the safety department, and the security department.

Maternity leave

After Childbirth

  1. Inform the graduate degrees coordinator of the date of birth.
  2. Send the “parenthood adjustment” form, including a birth certificate, for getting a grant from the mothers’ foundation (grants for parenthood) to Shuli Schwartz hatamot@tx.technion.ac.il
    The form may be found here: https://dean.web.technion.ac.il/%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA/
  1. Female students employed at the Faculty are required to make adjustments with the National Insurance Institute. The undergraduate and teaching coordinator must be notified about the birth, and a birth allowance claim form must be filled in and sent with the confirmation of birth to Shelly Weizmann, the teaching staff and retirement coordinator –s@technion.ac.il 04-8294981.

* In the case of the payroll department not being informed of the upcoming birth, payment to the Technion by bank transfer or check must be made so that pension fund provision payments will continue. To do this, contact Irena Filiuk, the payroll accountant – irenafi@technion.ac.il 077-8871705.

Extension of maternity leave

To extend maternity leave:

  1. Send a letter signed by the mentor to the graduate degrees coordinator, containing a written application.
  2. External scholarship recipients on maternity leave must also get a confirmation of extension from the outside party.
  3. Students who are employed at the faculty who wish to continue the pension fund provision payments during their extended maternity leave months must forward two forms to the certification and teaching coordinator:
    • Request for continuity of pension program.
    • A letter from human resources stating the dates of the maternity leave and leave of absence (unpaid), must be requested from Shuli Weizmann, the teaching staff and retirement coordinator.

Miscellaneous

Cibus

Students at the Technion are entitled to receive a Sibus card that is honored by some businesses at the Technion and provides a discount of up to 30% at more than 5000 restaurants nationwide.

To order the card and register, enter the Student Association website.

Pension fund

Employees at the faculty have a pension fund automatically opened for them at Migdal Insurance, Pension, and Savings.

It is recommended to contact the fund’s representative at the Technion: Alexand Richlis, to get further information and details on the policy: Alexander@migdal.co.il 052-6999356

A student who is interested in continuing his current pension fund is asked to contact Technion’s payroll department.