Graduate Program
Overview
Through the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program at UD, graduate students can obtain a PhD. The PhD program is built on a first year core curriculum with advanced curricula that are based on the research the student will perform for the thesis.Due to the interdisciplinary nature of Biomedical Engineering, faculty advisors for BME graduate students may have primary appointments in the BME departments, or in other departments and colleges at UD. PhD students will identify a Faculty Advisor from among these faculty who will be responsible for defining the student’s research responsibilities and for evaluating the student’s performance. The PhD degree will be administered by the BME Program and will be awarded by the College of Engineering. This multi-disciplinary graduate program will build upon the established biomedical research strength at the University of Delaware, largely within the College of Engineering. It will offer academic rigor, as well as flexibility, to meet the needs and interests of students from different backgrounds and of their faculty advisors from different research areas. For inquiries, please contact the BME graduate program.
Fall DEADLINES (Dec 20th)
Admission decisions are made by the BME Graduate Committee. Application deadline is December 20th for the fall semester. However, since applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis, students are advised to apply early. Decisions on whether to accept offers of admission must be made by April 15 for matriculation in the fall semester.
Spring Exceptions (Dec 7th)
Under exceptional circumstances, students may be considered for off-cycle (Spring) admissions, with an application deadline of December 7. If you apply for Spring term admission, be sure to notify the graduate program and your potential advisor to ensure that your application is reviewed.
APPLICATION
Apply through the University of Delaware Graduate Studies website. If you have any questions please email bmeg-info@udel.edu For information on waiving the graduate application fee, please go to http://gradwav.dbi.udel.edu/.
AID
Financial assistance is awarded on a competitive basis to the pool of admitted applicants. The University of Delaware’s policies apply to all forms of financial aid. Please refer to the University Policies for Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships. The majority of students in the BME program will be supported on research contracts and grants obtained by their Faculty Advisors. Students on projects without external funding will be provided support (assuming that their progress is satisfactory) through the use of either other program funds or by appointment as a teaching assistant. No student will be supported by departmental funds for more than 2 semesters; funds beyond such a commitment must be provided by the Faculty Advisor or by appointment as a teaching assistant. In general, funding is not guaranteed beyond five years. Students in the Biomedical Engineering program may be provided Graduate Assistantships:
- Research Assistants (RAs) are generally funded by research grants and contracts provided by external funding agencies. Students should be supported as an RA through their Faculty Advisor’s research funds once they are matched (beginning in November 1 of the student’s matriculating year). RAships provide full tuition and a stipend.
- Teaching Assistants (TAs) are offered for graduate students to perform teaching and other instructional activities. Note that this is different from the Teaching Aid Requirement in the PhD program. The amount of service may vary from week to week but the average is usually expected to be 20 hours per week. A TAship provides full tuition and a stipend. In accordance with University of Delaware regulations, TAs must fulfill the requirements detailed in the Teaching Aid Requirement section.
On the Rise
Our graduate program has had an outstanding year, ranking 54th in US News and World Report’s graduate program rankings. We graduated our first student from the PhD program. Our current students continue to win many fellowships and awards. This includes the prestigious 2016 George W. Laird Merit Fellowship, making 3 out of the last 4 Laird fellows a BME student!
The Biomedical Engineering (BME) program offers a PhD degree program and plans to offer a Master of Science program.
Requirements
Admission to the graduate program is competitive. Those who meet stated requirements are not guaranteed admission, and those who fail to meet all of those requirements are not necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other appropriate strengths. Applicants to the PhD program in BME should meet the following requirements:
- A bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, physical, or biological sciences from an accredited 4-year college or university with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale.
- Engineering, science, and math courses from the following list, while not required for admission, are highly recommended: Calculus, Differential Equations, Calculus-based Physics, Biology, Physiology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Signal Processing, Statics and Dynamics, Probability and Statistics, and Computer Programming. It is understood that very few applicants will have completed all of these courses, but all provide a foundation that will help with the required courses in the Biomedical Engineering graduate program.
- Competitive GRE scores of 700 for Quantitative and 1200 or higher for Quantitative + Verbal. With the new GRE scoring system, this corresponds to a score of 155 for Quantitative and 308 or higher for Quantitative + Verbal.
- For international applicants, a TOEFL exam taken within the last 2 years with a minimum score of 223 for the computer-based test and of 84 for the iBT with a 20 for the iBT speaking component.
- Three letters of recommendation from individuals acquainted with the student and his/her academic work or from employers or others who have had a supervisory relationship with the applicant and are able to assess the applicant’s potential for success in graduate studies.
- A personal statement (1 page) that indicates:
- the reason for his/her interest in graduate study
- a discussion of previous research experience
- his/her area of interest and a list of faculty whose research area is of interest
- his/her career objectives
We encourage candidates with research experience (undergraduate as well as industrial), as well as those with practical industrial experience after the baccalaureate degree to apply.
PhD Program
The PhD program in Biomedical Engineering consists of 39 credits of graduate level course work including at least 9 credits of Doctoral Dissertation. The program allows for considerable flexibility in course selection. The PhD program also requires completion of a Teaching Aid requirement, the Qualifying Exam, the Candidacy Defense and the Doctoral Dissertation. PhD students are required to take 5 core courses and a minimum of 4 technical electives. The table below lists the course requirements for a PhD degree in BME.
| PhD requirements in Biomedical Engineering: 39 credits total | |
| 5 Core courses | 15 credits |
| Principles of Biomedical Engineering (2 courses) | 6 credits |
| Advanced Math | 3 credits |
| Statistics | 3 credits |
| Communication and Ethics | 3 credits |
| 4 Elective courses (Minimum) | 12 credits |
| Research | 3 credits minimum |
| Dissertation | 9 credits minimum |
| Seminar series (3 semesters) | 0 credits |
Students will be matched to a Faculty Advisor from a list of BME-affiliated faculty members participating in the degree program. For the first 2 months following fall matriculation, the student will be advised by the BME Graduate Director (unless a direct match to an advisor is made during the admission process). The student will be responsible for identifying potential faculty advisors by meeting with faculty in early September, attending faculty presentations in BMEG 801 (seminar series), and attending research group meetings. By Oct 15th students must submit a ranked list that contains at least 3 potential advisors. Advisors also submit a ranked list of students (blind to student ranking). The BME Graduate Director will match the student to a Faculty Advisor before the end of October. The Faculty Advisor will be the primary contact of the student for questions and advice on his/her thesis research throughout the remainder of the program. The student will develop a plan of study for the program with the Faculty Advisor by the end of the second semester of their first year. Any changes to a student’s program of study must be approved by the Faculty Advisor and the BME Graduate Director. For more information, please consult the graduate handbook FORMS:
Form to Establish Dissertation Committee
Core Courses (15 credits)
Principles of Biomedical Engineering (8 credits)
BISC 605 Advanced Mammalian Physiology (4) Systemic mammalian physiology: cellular mechanisms, muscle, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, digestive and endocrine systems. Emphasizes human physiology and includes discussions of primary literature in the field of physiology research. PREREQ: BISC 306 or instructor’s approval
Advanced Math (3 credits)
ELEG 671 Mathematical Physiology (3) Mathematical methods in Human Physiology, covering cellular, tissue, organ, and integrated systems. Dynamic modeling of homeostasis, endocrine regulatory systems, immune response dynamics, mutation and selection. Mathematical methods covered include linear and nonlinear differential equations, Lyapunov analysis, mass action, Hamming spaces, reaction-diffusion equations, and simulation.
Previous years: MATH 607 Survey of Scientific Computing (3) Numerical solution of linear systems; interpolation; differentiation and quadrature; transforms/FFT; nonlinear equations; initial value problems; boundary value problems; Monte Carlo methods; finite difference methods for partial differential equations. Additional topics at the discretion of the instructor. PREREQ: Linear algebra, differential equations, multivariable calculus. MATH 616 Modeling in Applied Mathematics (3) Introduction to modeling and analytical techniques used in solving problems arising in a variety of physical settings. Biological modeling. Derivation of the equations of mathematical physics. Solution behavior of nonlinear systems of ODE’s. Use of software to explore solutions to physical systems. PREREQ: One semester of advanced calculus MEEG 690 Intermediate Engineering Mathematics (3) Linear algebra: generalized vector space, eigenvalue problem, diagonalization, quadratic forms. Field theory: divergence theorem, Stokes’ theorem, irrotational fields. Sturm-Liouville theory, Bessel functions, Legendre polynomials. Partial differential equations: diffusion and Laplace equations by separation of variables and Sturm-Liouville theory, wave equation. Engineering applications.
Statistics (3 credits) – Choose 1
BISC 643 Biological data analysis (3) Single-Semester introduction to the numerical analysis of biological data in fields such as molecular and cellular biology. Emphasis on choosing and using the correct analysis method for each experiment by using small number of relatively simple statistical tests. CHEG 604 Probability and Statistics for Engineering (3) Fundamental approach to modeling, characterization and analysis of random phenomena with the objective of providing students with the basic principles, methods and tools for solving engineering problems involving randomly varying phenomena. Application areas explored include experimental design, manufacturing, system reliability, and cellular biology. PREREQ: MATH302, MATH305, or equivalent with permission of instructor.
Previous years: STAT 608 Statistical Research Methods (3) An introductory statistics course for advanced undergraduate and graduate students with applications for life sciences, business, health, engineering, and the social sciences. The course managing and describing data; the normal, t, F and chi squared distributions; the logic of inference; inferential statistics for one and two sample problems; analysis of table data; analysis of variance; and multiple regression. The course is taught using statistical software.
Communication and Ethics (3 credits)
BMEG 801: Communication in Biomedical Engineering (3) Communication methods for professional development such as written and oral presentations. Writing proposals, journal papers, and dissertations. Oral presentation of research, proposals, and informal presentations Selecting a research topic, reviewing literature, generating hypotheses, writing study designs.
Technical Electives (12 credits)
Technical Electives can be chosen from courses offered across departments.
| BISC 602 | Molecular Biology of Animal Cells |
| BISC 612 | Advanced Cell Biology |
| BISC 625 | Cancer Biology |
| BISC 626 | Advanced Neuroanatomy |
| BISC 627 | Advanced Neurophysiology |
| BISC 639 | Developmental Neurobiology |
| BMEG 610 | Tissue Biomechanics & Modeling |
| BMEG 640 | Structural Attachments in Biology |
| BMEG 641 | Biomechatronics |
| BMEG 662 | Engineering Biomedical Nanostructures |
| BMEG 663 | Mechanotransduction |
| BMEG 665 | Tissue Biomechanics and Modeling |
| BMEG 679 | Introduction to Medical Imaging Systems |
| BMEG 695 | Computational Systems Biology |
| CHEG 604 | Probability and Statistics for Engineering Problem Solving |
| CHEG 620 | Biochemical Engineering |
| CHEG 621 | Metabolic Engineering |
| CHEG/CHEM 649 | Molecular Biophysics |
| CHEG 650 | Biomedical Engineering |
| CHEG 801 | Process Control and Dynamics |
| CHEG 825 | Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics |
| CHEG 827 | Chemical Engineering Problems |
| CHEG 828 | Statistical Thermodynamics |
| CHEG 842 | Selected Topics in Biochemical Engineering |
| CHEG 845 | Advanced Transport Phenomena |
| CHEM 641 | Biochemistry |
| CHEM 642 | Biochemistry |
| CHEM 643 | Intermediary Metabolism |
| CHEM 645 | Protein Structure and Function |
| CHEM 646 | DNA-Protein Interactions |
| CHEM 647 | Biochemical Evolution |
| CHEM 648 | Membrane Biochemistry |
| CISC 642 | Intro to Computer Vision |
| CISC 681 | Artificial Intelligence |
| CISC/BINF 689 | Topics: Artificial Intelligence |
| CISC/BINF 849 | Advanced Topics in Computer Applications |
| CISC 852 | Computer Network Performance |
| CISC 887 | Internet Information Gathering |
| CIEG 601 | Introduction to the finite element method |
| ELEG 630 | Information theory |
| ELEG 631 | Digital signal processing |
| ELEG 636 | Statistical signal processing |
| ELEG 671 | Mathematical Physiology |
| ELEG 675 | Image processing with biomedical applications |
| ELEG 679 | Intro to medical imaging systems |
| ELEG 680 | Immunology for engineers |
| ELEG 801 | Advanced topics in biomedical engineering |
| MATH 529 | Fundamentals of Optimization |
| MATH 611 | Introduction to Numerical Discretization |
| MATH 617 | Introductions to Applied Mathematics II |
| MATH 630 | Probability Theory and Applications |
| MATH 660 | Intro to Systems Biology |
| MEEG 612 | Biomechanics of human movement |
| MEEG 624 | Control of dynamic systems |
| MEEG 682 | Clinical biomechanics |
| MEEG 683 | Orthopedic biomechanics |
| MEEG 684 | Biomaterials and tissue engineering |
| MEEG 685 | Control of human movement |
| MEEG 686 | Cell and tissue transport |
| MEEG 862 | Advanced Engineering Analysis |
| MSEG/CHEG 601 | Structure and Properties of Polymer Materials |
| MSEG 625 | Entrepreneurship and risk: meeting the challenges |
| MSEG 630/CHEG 600 | Introduction to Polymer Science and Engineering |
| MSEG 633/833 | Polymer Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory |
| MSEG 635/835 | Principles of Polymer Physics |
| MSEG 660 | Biomaterials and Tissue engineering |
| MSEG 803 | Equilibria in Materials Systems |
| MSEG 804 | Kinetics in Materials Systems |
| MSEG 817 | Composite Materials |
| MSEG/CHEG 823 | TEM in Materials Science |
| MSEG 832 | Principles of Polymerization |
| STAT 609 | Regression and Experimental Design |
Courses not on the above Elective list can be substituted with permission of the Faculty Advisor and the BME Graduate Director. This list will be updated and provided on the program website annually. For descriptions of technical electives, please refer to the UD Course Catalog. BME may waive the requirement for up to 18 credit hours of course work for students entering with a Master’s Degree or credits for graduate course work performed at another recognized graduate school. Waivers will only be granted for courses that cover subjects eligible for credit toward a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Delaware. Requests for a course waiver must be initiated by the student before the beginning of their third semester at UD. Waivers must be approved by the Faculty Advisor and the BME Graduate Director and will be contingent on the student’s demonstration of satisfactory performance in course work taken at UD.
Seminar Series
Biomedical engineering is an emerging and rapidly expanding field where engineering and biological disciplines converge. To keep up to date with the wide variety of research encompassed by this field, students are required to take 3 semesters of the seminar series BMEG 890.