An oral qualifying exam is required for all Ph.D. BMEN students during the first year of graduate studies. In biomedical engineering, the qualifying exam is an oral presentation along with a written abstract addressing a specific research topic determined by the department’s Graduate Committee.
The Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. Qualifying Exam is intended to test fundamental knowledge and evaluate research aptitude by assessing students' ability to:
- Identify and articulate a significant problem within an assigned disease theme.
- Propose an innovative and relevant research plan that aligns with a research track; this will additionally demonstrate an understanding of the field.
- Apply advanced engineering concepts to research design and/or analysis of results; examples of advanced engineering concepts include fluid and solid mechanics, bioinspired and/or responsive materials, imaging and sensing instrumentation, computational models, and machine learning algorithms.
- Effectively communicate complex ideas.
- Integrate available information and present them in the form of responses.
Students will prepare a written abstract (300 words or less) and a 15-minute oral presentation on the disease theme topic selected by the department’s Graduate Committee. The oral presentation will be presented to an independent 3-person committee selected from departmental faculty related to the student’s selected research area.
More details for current students can be found on the BME Graduate Student Canvas Community under the page titled Resources for Ph.D. Degree Students.