Degree Requirements
For the M.S.
A minimum of 30 credit hours is required for the master of science degree, of which at least 6 credit hours must be a thesis. Course requirements include 6 credits of life science, 6 credits of biomedical engineering, 6 credits of advanced engineering math, (including 3 credits of statistics), and 6 credits of electives (any WPI graduate- level engineering, physics, math, biomedical engineering, or equivalent course, subject to approval of the department head or the student's Academic Advisor). Students are required to pass BME 591 Graduate Seminar twice.
For the M.E.
A minimum of 33 credit hours is required for the master of engineering degree. Course requirements include 6 credits of life science, 12 credits of biomedical engineering, 6 credits of advanced engineering math, (including 3 credits of statistics), and 9 credits of electives (any WPI graduate-level engineering, physics, math, biomedical engineering, or equivalent course, subject to approval of the department head or the student's Academic Advisor). Students may substitute 3 to 6 credits of directed research for 3 credits of biomedical engineering and/or 3 credits of electives. Students are required to pass BME 591 Graduate Seminar twice.
For the Ph.D.
The Ph.D. program has no formal course requirements. However, because research in the field of biomedical engineering requires a solid working knowledge of a broad range of subjects in the life sciences, engineering and mathematics, course credits must be distributed across the following categories with the noted minimums:
- Biomedical Engineering (12 credits)
- Life Sciences (9 credits)
- Advanced Engineering Mathematics (3 credits)
- Statistics (3 credits)
- Laboratory Rotations (6 credits)
- Responsible Conduct of Science (1 credit)
- Advanced Courses and Electives (12 credits)
- Dissertation Research (30 credits)
The student's Academic Advisory Committee may require additional coursework to address specific deficiencies in the student's background. Students are required to pass BME 591 Graduate Seminar four times.
No later than the start of the third year after formal admittance to the Ph.D. program, students are required to pass a Ph.D. qualifying examination. This examination is a defense of an original research proposal, made before a committee representative of the area of specialization. The examination is used to evaluate the ability of the student to pose meaningful engineering and scientific questions, Biomedical Engineering 30 Biomedical Engineering to propose experimental methods for answering those questions, and to interpret the validity and significance of probable outcomes of these experiments. It is also used to test a student's comprehension and understanding of their formal coursework in life sciences, biomedical engineering and mathematics. Admission to candidacy is officially conferred upon students who have completed their course credit requirements, exclusive of dissertation research credit, and passed the Ph.D. qualifying examination.
Students in the Ph.D. program are required to participate in at least two different laboratory rotations during their first two years in the program. Laboratory rotations— short periods of research experience under the direction of program faculty members—are intended to familiarize students with concepts and techniques in several different engineering and scientific fields. They allow faculty members to observe and evaluate the research aptitudes of students and permit students to evaluate the types of projects that might be developed into dissertation projects. Upon completion of each rotation, the student presents a seminar and written report on the research accomplished. Each rotation is a 3- or 4-credit course and lasts a minimum of eight weeks if the student participates full time in the laboratory, or up to a full semester if the student takes courses at the same time.
All candidates for the Ph.D. degree must demonstrate teaching skills by preparing, presenting and evaluating a teaching exercise. This experience may involve a research seminar, lecture, demonstration or conference in the context of a medical school basic science course. Formal parts of the presentation may be videotaped as appropriate. The presentation and associated materials are critiqued and evaluated by program faculty members. The student's Academic Advisory Committee is responsible for evaluating the teaching exercise based on criteria previously defined. The teaching requirement can be fulfilled at any time, and there is no limit to the number of attempts a student may make to fulfill this requirement. It must, however, be completed successfully before the dissertation defense can be held.
The Ph.D. program requires a full-time effort for a minimum of three years and does not require a foreign language examination.
