Prospective Graduate Students

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Biomedical Engineering's graduate program at the University of Michigan is in the Rackham School of Graduate Studies granting the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering.

The department is interdisciplinary. A student may plan a widely diversified educational program to advance the student's personal goals. Research opportunities are as diversified as the range of activities conducted by the University units supporting the Department.

Entrance Requirements for the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Those students with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering or Physics degree should present a minimum background of:

Those students with a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree with majors such as experimental psychology, physiology, zoology, microbiology, or biochemistry, must present the above background required of engineers, plus the following:

Students may enter prior to meeting all the prerequisites if approved by the Admissions Committee. These students must plan to complete the prerequisites during their enrollment in the department in addition to the requirements stipulated for the Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Degree Requirements

In order to obtain the master's degree in Biomedical Engineering, students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate study beyond the bachelor's degree. Within this requirement, a group of core courses or their equivalents in the biological sciences, and several graduate level engineering and physical science courses must be completed. Directed research work is required to familiarize the student with the unique problems associated with biological systems research. The core course requirements or their equivalent total 12-23 credit hours for each sub-group of the curriculum. There are six (6) curriculum options available:

A grade of "B" or better must be attained in each course used toward the master"s degree.

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering

The Ph.D. degree is conferred in recognition of marked ability and scholarship in some relatively broad field of knowledge. A part of the work consists of regularly scheduled graduate courses of instruction in the chosen field and in such cognate subjects as may be required by the committee. In addition, the student must pursue independent investigation in a subdivision of the selected field and must present the result of the investigation in the form of a dissertation.

A student becomes an applicant for the doctorate when admitted to the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and accepted in a field of specialization. Candidacy is achieved when the student demonstrates competence in her/his broad field of knowledge through completion of a prescribed set of courses and passing a comprehensive examination.

All Ph.D. students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of nine (9) credit hours of graded course work (any electives with Rackham credit) beyond those which are required for a master"s degree. A student must pass a comprehensive examination in a major field of specialization and be recommended for candidacy for the doctorate. A special doctoral committee is appointed for each applicant to supervise the work of the student both as to election of courses and in preparation of the dissertation.

Requirements regarding foreign language and non-technical courses are left to individual departments or programs, and to the Graduate School. A prospective doctoral student should consult the program advisor regarding specific details.

Peterson's Guide to Graduate Programs