Bioengineering, PhD

Program Description

Bioengineering is the application of engineering and scientific principles to understand and solve medical problems. As medical technology has rapidly developed over the past four decades, the demand for qualified bioengineers has dramatically increased. Career opportunities for bioengineers range from teaching and conducting basic research in academia, to research and development work in the growing medical product industry. Employment opportunities are also available in independent research laboratories, hospitals and federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration or the National Institutes of Health.

The basic requirement for admission to a bioengineering advanced degree program is a bachelor’s degree from an accredited undergraduate engineering program. Students are most commonly trained in biomedical engineering/bioengineering, materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, electrical/computer engineering or mechanical engineering, although students from other traditional engineering disciplines are also accepted. Exceptional students in physics, chemistry and the life sciences are also considered. Students must demonstrate knowledge in Calculus of Several Variables and Ordinary Differential Equations, as well as biology and physiology at a minimum.

Students can enter the department prior to demonstrating these competencies if approved by the admissions committee. These students are responsible for demonstrating competencies such as completing a course addressing their knowledge in a topic during their enrollment in addition to the requirements stipulated for the graduate degree. Undergraduate Course credits to meet competencies are not applied toward a graduate degree.

Students interested in obtaining a doctoral degree are encouraged to apply directly to the PhD program from their BS degree program, with the PhD program typically requiring about five years to complete following the BS degree or about four years following the MS degree. The selection of courses for the doctoral degree is flexible and depends on the background and objectives of each candidate. More detailed information is available on the website at http://www.clemson.edu/bioengineering.

Summary of Degree Requirements

The PhD in Bioengineering program is a 60 graduate credit-hour degree program comprised of a core curriculum and doctoral research. Applicants are encouraged to apply directly from a baccalaureate degree. Applicants who have already completed an MS degree may apply up to 24 credit hours towards the PhD. For more information about the research conducted by Clemson bioengineering faculty and graduate students, curriculum, and costs please visit https://www.clemson.edu/cecas/departments/bioe/academics/masters/application.html.

Coursework

• BIOE 8000 - Seminar in Bioengineering Research 1 Credits  
• BIOE 8160 - Bioengineering Career Professional Development 3 Credits  
• BIOE 8460 - Biomedical Basis for Engineered Replacement 3 Credits  
• STAT 8010 - Statistical Methods I 3 Credits  
• nine hours of Technical Courses
• nine additional credit hours of track elective courses
• up to two additional credit hours of BIOE 8000  
• a minimum of 36 credit hours of BIOE 9910 - Doctoral Dissertation Research 1-12 Credits  

Outcomes, Learning Objectives, and Graduation Requirements

Outcomes

1. Ability to understand and design experiments: Doctoral students understand relationships among hypotheses, the experiments, and theories related to bioengineering research. They have knowledge providing them a factual basis to use methods of scientific inquiry such as abilities for questioning precisely, developing hypotheses and designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions and making definite claims.
2. Gain good communications skills: Doctoral students have excellent written and oral communication skills for expressing ideas.
3. Gain ability to work with interdisciplinary teams: Doctoral students have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary work environment.

Learning Objectives

1. Design Experiments: Doctoral students formulate research problems, design appropriate experiments to test hypotheses, and make definite claims from data analysis
2. Communication: Doctoral students are proficient in written and oral communication and demonstrate the ability to present to a scientific audience and express ideas for publication.
3. Working in Teams: Doctoral students demonstrate the ability to work and collaborate in interdisciplinary teams.