Graduate PhD Program

A brief description of the requirements for the Ph.D. program follows:

(for a full description download the graduate handbook)

The course requirements for the PhD in Bioengineering include the following:

Graduate Engineering Mathematics - 3 credits (approved math courses)
Statistics for Bioengineers - 3 credits
Societal, Political and Ethical Issues in Bioengineering - 3 credits
Life Sciences - 9 credits (approved life science courses)
Doctoral Dissertation Research - 26 credits
Teaching Practicum - 2 credits
Bioengineering Seminar - 8 credits
Track Courses - 9 credits (from menu of courses for specific track)
Graduate Electives - 9 credits

Total number of credit hours: 72 credits (plus the credits associated with the remedial courses, as applicable). Typically, completion of the program requires four years.

The PhD Preliminary Exam is given once a year, typically in early June, and is to be taken by students pursuing the PhD degree after their first two semesters of full time course work. The written part of the exam consists of four questions based on four different courses that the student has taken. The oral examination is based on a formal presentation of a peer-reviewed article selected from that concentration's literature. A student is allowed no more than two opportunities to take the preliminary examination.

By the end of the second year, the student (under the guidance of his or her advisor) selects a doctoral committee of four or more persons, for the approval of the Department Chair. The committee should consist of the student's advisor (who will act as Chair of this committee), at least two additional faculty members from within the Department of Bioengineering and at least one faculty member from outside the Department of Bioengineering.

Formal admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree (typically in the 3rd year) constitutes a promotion of the student to the most advanced stage of graduate study and provides formal approval to devote essentially exclusive attention to the research and the writing of the dissertation. To qualify for admission to candidacy, students must have obtained full graduate status, satisfied the requirement of the preliminary evaluation, completed formal course work with a minimum quality point average of 3.3, passed the Preliminary examination, and received approval of the proposed subject and plan of the dissertation from the doctoral committee following an overview or prospectus meeting of the committee. The student then submits a PhD proposal to the doctoral committee in NIH R01 format, the approval of which constitutes passing the Comprehensive Examination. The committee will meet at least once a year during the remainder of his or her PhD program culminating in the Dissertation Defense.