The Doctor of Philosophy Program in the Department of
Bioengineering emphasizes our excellence in bioengineering research and
education.
Students pursuing the PhD degree are required to pass a
preliminary examination based on their Bioengineering coursework at the end of
their first year of graduate study. Students pursuing the PhD are also required
to complete two, one-credit teaching practicums, and present a PhD proposal,
ideally within 18 months or so of taking the preliminary exam. Each PhD
candidate makes a final, public PhD thesis defense to fulfill the requirements
for the PhD degree.
Credit Requirements of the PhD program:
•Grant Writing in Bioengineering - 1 credit
•Graduate Engineering
Mathematics - 3 credits
•Statistics for Bioengineers - 3 credits
•Societal, Political and Ethical Issues in Bioengineering - 3 credits
•Track Courses - 9 credits (from menu of courses for specific track)
•Graduate Electives - 6 credits
•Life Sciences - 6 credits
•Teaching Practicum - 2 credits
•Seminar - 6 credits total, 4 credits
must be Bioengineering Seminar
•Doctoral Dissertation Research- 33
credits
Total number of credit hours: 72 credits (plus the credits
associated with the remedial courses, as applicable).
Preliminary Exam
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. A student is
allowed no more than two opportunities to take the preliminary examination.
The purpose of the preliminary examination is to
evaluate the student's ability to use fundamental principles of biomedical
science and engineering approaches to investigate solutions to bioengineering
problems. The basis of the examination is a specific research question
(problem), chosen by the student to write a proposal on. The student may seek
assistance from his/her advisor or any other faculty member for choosing the
question. The examination will consist of an oral presentation and accompanying
written proposal in NIH RO3 format (see below for details.) The written
document and oral presentation should demonstrate the student's ability to
think, present, and defend in an academic environment, as well as a sufficient
background in the biomedical science and engineering aspects of the chosen
problem.
The examinations will be coordinated within the current graduate
tracks. They will typically take place at the end of the first year of graduate
studies. The scheduling of the examinations will be handled by the track
coordinators, who will also determine the suitability of the research question
(problem) (having both engineering and biomedical science components). The
student may get help from anyone in preparing the oral presentation, but must
observe the usual strict standards on plagiarism in preparing the written
document. Students are encouraged to focus on one to two experiments and note
both alternatives and potential problems in each experiment. Proper referencing
of sources is required for both the oral and written components. One important
paper in the field must be identified in the references and made available to
the reviewers, who may ask for an explanation or critique of any aspect of the
paper. The research proposal may be supported by preliminary data, but this is
not a requirement. In addition, students must provide a written statement,
signed by their advisor, to state what the student's contribution to their
research was in the proposal document.
Rather, the examination committee
is expected to probe the student with challenging questions to establish the
depth of his/her creative and analytical thinking, as well as knowledge in
appropriate background areas.
The final result of the preliminary
examination will be based on the combined evaluation of the written and oral
components, with three possible outcomes: unconditional pass, conditional pass,
and fail.
BioE Preliminary Exam Instructions
2018 BioE Preliminary Exam Pertinent Dates
Examples of Actual NIH Grant Applications
Committee Selection
Committees for PhD students 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. For MS students, the
committee will need to consist of three faculty members total and at least two
need to be member of the Bioengineering faculty. However, all three can be
Bioengineering faculty as there is no requirement to have one member from
outside of Bioengineering. Students are required to receive approval from the
faculty Graduate Coordinator of the committee, ideally 1-2 months prior to the
proposal defense. After this takes place, the student will need to obtain a
"blue form" (admission to PhD candidacy form) from the Graduate Administrator,
and obtain the necessary signatures at the student's proposal. After this
occurs, the form will need to be returned to the Graduate Administrator for
submission to the school for approval.
Committee
Approval Form
PhD Proposal and Comprehensive Exam
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. Note that it is a departmental requirement that students complete their proposal by the end of their third full year in the program. To
qualify for admission to candidacy, students must have obtained full graduate
status and have satisfied the requirement of the preliminary examination. Note
that a student does not necessarily need to have all coursework completed before
completing their proposal. The student should submit the written proposal in NIH RO1 format to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the oral defense to the approved committee. The approval of the
proposal and defense of it constitutes passing the proposal and 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.
Once a student has completed the proposal and comprehensive exam, they may
then register for 3999 credits, or "post-proposal" research credits. After the
student completes 12 credits of 3999, which can easily be completed in one
semester, they can then register for FTDH, or Full Time Dissertation Hours, up
to and including the semester in which they graduate. Please note that no
courses can be taken once a student registers for FTDH. It is important to note
that students may switch into 3999 credits if the propose before the end of the
add/drop period of the semester in which they complete their proposal.
Proposal Guidelines for Students
Examples of Actual NIH Grant Applications
Writing a Grant Proposal 101
Graduation info
Students are expected to
be prepared to announce their dissertation defense date at least two weeks
before their defense by emailing the information including the dissertation
date, time, and location, the name and full title of their advisor, along with
an abstract of no more than 400 words, to the Graduate Administrator, after
which a notice will be sent out to the school. At the defense, the student is to
prepare the ETD approval forms, the abstract, a copy of all publications
(including journal articles, presentations, and proceedings,) and a copy of the
PhD rubric form for each member of their dissertation committee.
Information on Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Grad
Checklist
PhD
dissertation rubrics
ETD
approval form