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Requirements for the Master of Science Degree

For students with a strong engineering background, a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study is required for the Master of Science (MS) Degree. The student's advisory committee will help the student develop a plan of work tailored to fit the student's career goals. All students are required to take the Biomedical Engineering seminar each semester, except the semester prior to graduation.

EXAMINATION

The MS requires a Comprehensive Examination to be conducted by the student's advisory committee. The Comprehensive Examination is to be taken after all course work is completed and is intended to assess the student's ability to integrate coursework with practical problems in biomedical engineering. The MS Comprehensive Exam may be written or oral, the format chosen by agreement among committee members and the student. If an oral exam is chosen, it may be conducted at the same time as the presentation of the thesis. If a written exam is chosen, it should be completed before the presentation of the thesis.

THESIS

The master's thesis should show the student's ability to conduct a research project from beginning to end, including the ability to clearly document the work done by the student. For example, it may be a report on a series of experiments, or it may be the design and fabrication of an instrument for research or a mathematical or computer model of some aspect of a biological system. The student's committee will oversee the thesis proposal and research progress, conduct the Master's Comprehensive Examination, approve the final thesis work and schedule the public oral presentation of the work. After completing the master's thesis, the student is required to report orally on the work at an appropriate seminar or other venue approved by the student's advisory committee.

SUMMARY OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study is required for the MS Degree. Refer to the curriculum summary for the Master's degree for details of current requirements. Typical Master's course hours include:

    1. BME Seminar (BME 802 / BMME 890) – each semester prior to graduation
    2. Bio/Med: Graduate Biochemistry in the Fall semester and Systems Physiology in the Spring semester
    3. Engineering: 6 hours (refer to Approved Course List B1-3 Engineering)
    4. Graduate-level mathematics: 3 hours (refer to Approved Course List)
    5. Graduate-level statistics: 3 hours
    6. Electives: 6 hours or more (with approval of advisor)
    7. Thesis research : minimum of 3 hours

Students previously completing equivalent coursework in graduate math and statistics may be exempted from this requirement by permission of the DGP.