M.S. NE Plan II (Radiation Protection Concentration)
The department offers a masters-level concentration in Radiation Protection Engineering (RPE). This concentration is intended to train people to work in the area of occupational and environmental health physics and leads to a terminal, professional master’s degree. The admissions requirements for this concentration differ from those of the traditional program. The prerequisites are: a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited program OR a Bachelor’s degree including a minimum of one year of general college chemistry with laboratory, one year of general college physics with laboratory, one year of differential and integral calculus, a semester of differential equations, and 33 total credit hours of mathematics (calculus level or above) and science.
Students concentrating in the RPE program are required to take five core courses in health physics:
- NE 523L - Environmental Measurements Laboratory
- NE 524 - Interaction of Radiation with Matter
- NE/MPHY 527 - Radiation Biology for Engineers and Scientists
- NE 528 - External Radiation Dosimetry
- NE 529 - Internal Radiation Dosimetry
Another 12 credit hours of electives are required to complete the RPE course work. These electives are chosen from areas of interest such as waste management, nuclear power or calculational methods. In addition to the 30 credit hours of courses, students must take 6 credit hours of NE 591 Practicum. The practicum involves a semester long project in the area of health physics usually under the supervision of a certified health physicist. After completing the course work and practicum, the student is awarded a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering with a radiation protection engineering (health physics) concentration. Graduates of the RPE concentration do not qualify for automatic admission to the Ph.D. program. They must fulfill all prerequisite requirements for the Ph.D. program before they may be admitted. The RPE concentration is a Plan II program and does not have a thesis option.
Master’s students submit a Program of Studies listing all courses being applied to the degree no later than the term before the student intends to graduate (form is located under "Academics").
Approaching the conclusion of the degree, students must notify the Senior Academic Advisor prior to the beginning of their final semester. At least two weeks prior to the thesis defense, students submit an Announcement of Exam (form is located under "Examination/Grades"). The completed thesis must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by their final deadline. The deadline is published on the Office of Graduate Studies calendar.
This is intended as a quick overview of degree requirements. Consult the UNM Catalog, our student forms page, and Graduate Studies website for more information.
