Biomedical Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
To complete the Ph.D. degree in the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program, the student must satisfy the following requirements:
- Satisfactory completion of 36 credits of approved graduate coursework and 24 credits of Dissertation Research. A minimum 3.3 grade point average in five core BME courses must be achieved before scheduling the First (Qualifying) Examination.
- Satisfactory completion of the First (Qualifying) Examination, which is a presentation of the dissertation research area that highlights key problems in the field.
- Satisfactory completion of the Second Examination, which is a defense of the research proposal.
- Satisfactory completion of the Final Examination, which is a defense of the Ph.D. dissertation.
Ph.D. Coursework
Once any necessary undergraduate courses are completed, students must complete 36 credits of graduate coursework in four areas, as outlined below. Students who have transferred credits from a master's degree may use equivalent courses taken as part of their master's degree to satisfy the requirements. Students are expected to have completed at least 30 credits after their 5th semester (or after the 2nd semester if they entered the program with an M.S. degree).
Biomedical Engineering Courses (at least 12 credits)
While students are encouraged to take as many BME courses as possible, a minimum of 12 credits of BME courses must be taken. See the BME core course requirements below for the GPA requirement.
| BME I2000 | Cell and Tissue Engineering | 3 |
| BME I2200 | Cell and Tissue Transport | 3 |
| BME I3000 | Neural Engineering and Applied Bioelectricity | 3 |
| BME I3110 | Biofluid Mechanics | 3 |
| BME I4200 | Organ Transport and Pharmacokinetics | 3 |
| BME I5000 | Medical Imaging and Image Processing | 3 |
| BME I5100 | Biomedical Signal Processing | 3 |
| BME I5600 | Cell Mechanotransduction | 3 |
| BME I6000 | Advanced Biomaterials | 3 |
| BME I6100 | Intellectual Property, Regulation and Quality Assurance | 3 |
| BME I7000 | Laboratory in Cellular and Molecular Engineering | 3 |
| BME I7100 | Cell and Tissue Mechanics | 3 |
| BME I7300 | Cell and Tissue-Biomaterial Interactions | 3 |
| BME I7700 | Microfluidic Devices in Biotechnology | 3 |
| BME I8000 | Bone Physiology and Biomechanics | 3 |
| BME I9000 | Skeletal Soft Tissue Physiology and Biomechanics | 3 |
| BME I9300 | Scientific Ethics | 1 |
| BME I9400 | Special Topics in Machine Learning | 3 |
| ENGR I7500 | Poroelasticity | 3 |
| BME I9500 | Entrepreneurship and Financial Economics | 2 |
| BME | Any new or once-offered graduate course with the "BME" course code | |
Students are required to take BME I9300: Scientific Ethics. Every semester, students are also required to attend BME I0000: Biomedical Engineering Seminar, which consists of weekly speakers from the BME field; students must register for this course at least once.
Biomedical Sciences (at least 6 credits)
Mathematics Courses (at least 6 credits)
At least two math-related courses must be taken, to be chosen from the following partial listing:
Engineering Courses Other than Biomedical
At least one engineering course in a field other than BME must be completed. This may include however:
| BME I6100 | Intellectual Property, Regulation and Quality Assurance | 3 |
Elective Courses
Any graduate courses can be taken from the categories above to complete a total of 36 course credits.
Completion of 24 Credits of Doctoral Dissertation Research
Each student must complete 24 credits of the course BME J9900 Doctoral Dissertation Research. The instructor for this course should be the student's Ph.D. mentor.
BME Core Course Requirements
In order to take the First Examination (the Qualifying Exam), students must obtain a minimum grade point average of 3.3 in the core graduate courses described below. This GPA requirement is designed to insure that all Ph.D. students have sufficient understanding of the core biomedical engineering fundamentals to pursue advanced study and professional career opportunities. These credits are not in addition to but inclusive of the 36 course credits listed above.
At least one course must be taken from each of the groups 1-4 below: