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Materials and Nano-Sciences (MNS)

11 undergraduate courses in the 2026–27 Undergraduate Calendar.

MNS 10 Materials and Nanosciences Seminar

Lectures, workshops, or seminars focusing on academic and professional development.

Prerequisites

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 101 Materials and Nanosciences in the Modern World0.50 units

Overview of materials, including physical and chemical classification of materials, and structure-property relationships; survey of emerging fields in materials and nanoscience research such as nanotechnology, quantum materials and devices, bionic research; societal impacts of materials and nanoscience research.

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 102 Techniques for Materials and Nanosciences0.50 units

Overview of materials synthesis, including both wet chemical and dry physical based methodologies; basic metrology and materials characterization of surface and bulk properties; introduction to the design, fabrication, and evaluation of simple devices; survey of emerging new techniques in materials and nanosciences.

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 201L Materials and Nanosciences Laboratory0.50 units

The laboratory course is aimed at students enrolled in the MNS program and is composed of experiments involving the syntheses of materials and nanoparticles; in addition to their characterization and application using modern instrumentation techniques.

Prerequisites
Corequisites
  • Completed or concurrently enrolled in at least 1 of the following:
    • MNS211 - Chemistry and the Solid State (0.50)
    • MNS221 - Physics and the Solid State (0.50)

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 211 Chemistry and the Solid State0.50 units

Crystal structures and bonding in solids; introduction to diffraction, solid state synthesis, and thermal analysis techniques employed in the study of materials; defects, non-stoichiometry, and solid solutions; phase diagrams for solid systems.

Prerequisites
  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed the following:
      • MNS102 - Techniques for Materials and Nanosciences (0.50)
      • PHYS122 - Electricity and Magnetism (0.50)
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • CHEM123 - General Chemistry 2 (0.50)
      • CHEM125 - Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics (0.50)

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 221 Physics and the Solid State0.50 units

Physical properties of crystalline and amorphous solids; introduction to electric, magnetic and optical properties of solids.

Prerequisites
  • Must have completed the following:
    • MNS211 - Chemistry and the Solid State (0.50)

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 321 Electrical and Optical Properties of Materials0.50 units

Optical properties of and electrical transport in materials; topics may include insulators, semiconductors, metals, superconductors and their applications in photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and nanocomposites.

Prerequisites
  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed the following:
      • MNS221 - Physics and the Solid State (0.50)
    • Students must be in level 3A or higher

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 322 Polymer Materials0.50 units

Basic definitions and polymer nomenclature, molecular weight distributions and averages, molecular weight measurements, step-growth and radical chain polymerization reactions, chain conformations, glass transition, crystallization, mechanical properties of polymers, phase behaviour and morphologies, and self-assembly.

Corequisites
  • Completed or concurrently enrolled in at least 1 of the following:
    • CHEM254 - Introductory Chemical Thermodynamics (0.50)
    • CHEM257 - Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences (0.50)
    • ECE403 - Thermal Physics (0.50)
    • PHYS358 - Thermal Physics (0.50)
Antirequisites
  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • CHEM370 - Introduction to Polymer Science (0.50)
    • NE333 - Macromolecular Science (0.50)

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 331 Biomaterials0.50 units

Mechanical, chemical and biological properties of biomaterials; relationships between biomaterials and their properties, functions, manufacture, and applications; applications of biomaterials in technologies, such as tissue engineering, prosthesis manufacture, drug delivery systems, bioreactors.

Prerequisites

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 410 Special Topics in Solid-State Materials0.50 units

After a review of the essential concepts in solid-state materials, in-depth discussion includes two or three of the following topics: transistors, semiconducting materials and devices, superconducting materials and superconductivity-based devices (such as Josephson junctions, SQUIDS), effects of low dimensionality and interfaces, quantum dots, magnetoresistance, spintronics, multiferroics, topological phases, and, nanofabrication of new materials.

Prerequisites

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines

MNS 431 Special Topics in Nanobiomaterials0.50 units

After a review of the essential concepts in nanobiomaterials, in-depth discussion includes two or three of the following topics: biomaterials on atomic and nanometre scales in which DNA, RNA, and/or polypeptides are incorporated as components; physical, chemical, and biological processes; nanoscale forces, adhesion, indentation; applications in nanomotors, nanobiomimetic materials, nanocomposite materials, and nanobiosensors.

Prerequisites

Calendar entryRequirements, Fall 2026Course outlines