BE Graduate Studies in Bioengineering

At MIT, scientists in the School of Engineering have made countless revolutionary advances that have changed the way people live. Engineers today realize that biology will be as important to technology and society in the next century as physics and chemistry have been in the closing one. Now it is time to combine engineering principles with biology. Research in Bioengineering will strengthen our understanding of the basic principals of biological and environmental systems, create novel solutions to today's health and environmental problems, and open new avenues for technological innovation.

Our program is designed to bring together engineering and biology in as fundamental a manner as possible. Stated broadly, the program educates students to use engineering principles in the analysis and manipulation of biological systems to solve problems across a spectrum of important applications. Accordingly, the curriculum emphasizes basic concepts more than particular applications. By learning to advance both engineering and biological knowledge, it is anticipated that the graduates will be well prepared for leadership careers in academia and industry related to biotechnology, medicine, and other emerging fields based on biological technology.

The Bioengineering Track is intended for students seeking Ph.D. thesis work involving the application of engineering principles to the solution of biological and biomedical problems. Following completion of the required core subjects in the Bioengineering track, students may specialize in several areas, such as biomolecular engineering, biomaterials, biomechanics, biodevices and tissue engineering. Students in the Bioengineering Track are also eligible, upon completion of several required subjects, for support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Biotechnology Training Program, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Training Grant in Toxicology as well as the Biogen Fellowships. Students in the Applied Biosciences Track are often involved with research projects in several Centers affiliated with BE, including the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, the Biotechnology Process Engineering Center, and the Center for Biomedical Engineering and the BioImaging Center.

Research Specializations

1. Biomolecular Engineering
2. Biomaterials
3. Biomechanics
4. Biodevices
5. Tissue Engineering

Fellowships & Grants

1. Biogen Fellowships
2. Biomechanics Training Grant
3. NIEHS Training Grant in Toxicology
4. NIGMS Biotechnology Training Program

Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) require:

1. successful completion of course requirements,
2. satisfactory performance on the comprehensive written and oral qualifying examinations,
3. participation as a Teaching Assistant for at least one term, and
4. execution and defense of a thesis based on original research.

A written exam is taken at the end of the first year (following completion of the core curriculum below), and an oral Qualifying Exam is taken during the second year. The oral exam serves as Thesis proposal. Following successful completion of the Exams, the student is expected to present to a Thesis Committee a minimum of two research Progress Reports before defending the Thesis. Completion of the doctoral requirements typically requires 5-6 years from date of entry.

Requirements for the Bioengineering Ph.D. Track

Entrance Requirements
Entering students typically have a B.S. (or M.S.) degree in an engineering discipline (most likely Biomedical, Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical, Materials Science, or Computer Science).

Required Core Subjects
During their first year, students engage in a unified curriculum of four core subjects, in which approaches from the various engineering disciplines are employed for analysis of biological materials and organisms over the full range of length and time scales:

20.400 Perspectives in Biological Engineering Spring 2004
20.410 Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics Spring 2004
20.420 Biomolecular Kinetics and Cellular Dynamics Fall 2003
20.430 Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems Fall 2003

Elective Subjects
In addition to the core subjects, students are expected to take several restricted electives designed to add breadth and depth in the biological sciences and engineering. The goal is to find MIT subjects that best fit a student's thesis research project and career objectives. Advanced subjects are acceptable upon approval by advisor and the BE Graduate Program Chair. They fall into three categories:

1. Bioengineering. To add breadth in bioengineering, the student will choose one course from a short list of Biolocial Engineering subjects in certain areas not represented in the core but, in our view, very important to the future of bioengineering. These specific areas are: (i) Biomaterials, (ii) Biological Instrumentation & Measurement, and (iii) Bioinformatics & Computational Biology.
2. Engineering Science. To develop more depth in an engineering discipline, the student will choose two courses from among the core graduate offerings of an established department. The area of focus can depend on the background of the student.
3. Biological Science. To provide a foundation in modern biology, the student will be expected to take courses in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, and one additional subject in the biological sciences; at least one of these courses must be formally graduate-level. For entering students possessing minimal undergraduate background in biology, the first two courses will most typically be 7.05 (General Biochemistry) and 7.06 (Cell Biology) or their MIT graduate equivalents. If both the Biochemistry and Biology are waived because the equivalent was taken elsewhere, then the student must take an additional graduate level biological Science subject. The third course may be directed toward the student's particular research interests.

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