Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering

To promote an individualized program optimized for each student’s needs and interest, the specific requirements for the Ph.D. degree are minimal. The fundamental requirement is to form a thesis committee of at least three Cornell faculty members. The chair of the committee is your thesis advisor. The two required additional members represent your minor programs, one in engineering and one in life science. The content of your program is determined jointly with your committee, with a small number of required core courses complemented by graduate level classes in chosen areas of specialization.

To earn the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. degree, a student must fulfill the following requirements:

• Pass the comprehensive Admission to Candidacy examination (“A Exam”) with the Special Committee before the beginning of the seventh semester of study
• Successfully complete the course work required by their Special Committee and the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program
• Conduct original research that will have lasting value, and write a dissertation recording that work
• Pass the final examination (“B exam”) defending the dissertation with the Special Committee
• Have a minimum of six academic terms of full-time study

A student is recommended for the Ph.D. degree when their Special Committee members agree that the appropriate level of scholarly achievement has been reached and that the Graduate School’s requirements for assessment ↗ have been satisfied.

Each student’s progress towards the Ph.D. degree is supervised by a Special Committee composed of Cornell graduate field faculty members chosen by the student. The supervision of a student’s Ph.D. program by the Special Committee allows for individualized programs tailored to each student’s specific interests that can seamlessly merge traditional disciplines.

For Ph.D. degree candidates, the Special Committee is composed of at least three faculty members: The Ph.D. thesis advisor and two members who represent the two minors selected by the student. The Ph.D. thesis advisor, who must be a Biomedical Engineering graduate field member, serves as the chair of the Special Committee.

Ph.D. students select one minor in the life sciences (i.e., biology, biophysics, biomedical science, etc.) and one minor in a traditional engineering discipline (outside Biomedical Engineering), often the area of undergraduate specialization. Study in the engineering minor is expected to be equivalent to the core course sequence of Ph.D. students majoring in that field. This combination provides breadth in general approach and depth in at least one specific engineering discipline.

The goals of the coursework are to provide students with both breadth across a wide range of Biomedical Engineering and depth in a particular specialization within Biomedical Engineering. The extent of required coursework depends on each student’s previous preparation and goals.

Course selection beyond the required courses is up to each student in consultation with the Special Committee. The Special Committee is responsible for approving classes chosen by the student to fulfill the minor requirements. Students are encouraged to select additional courses of interest.

Course selection beyond the required courses is up to each student in consultation with the Special Committee. Because the Special Committee is responsible for approving classes chosen by the student to fulfill the minor requirements, students are strongly encouraged to discuss course selection plans with their Special Committee, particularly with the relevant minor representative. Students are encouraged to select additional courses of interest, but should discuss how to balance the associated time commitment with their research progress with their thesis advisor.

The courses listed below are suggestions by faculty and current/past Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. students, sorted by research area. Please note that this list is not comprehensive and should serve only as a starting point for identifying courses of interest relevant for each student’s career interests.

Coursera: Writing in the Science ↗.
The course teaches scientists to become more effective writers, using practical examples and exercises. This is a free online course spread over 8 weeks, but participants can watch the online videos anytime. The course offers a certificate option for $79, but this is not required or necessary.

The Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program offers research opportunities in the following areas:

1. Biomechanics & Mechanobiology
2. Biomedical Imaging & Instrumentation
3. Drug Delivery & Nanomedicine
4. Engineering Education Research
5. Molecular & Cellular Engineering
6. Tissue Engineering & Biomaterials
7. Systems & Synthetic Biology

Cornell’s commitment to interdisciplinary research allows for a broad range of research opportunities to Biomedical Engineering students. Mentored by and collaborating with outstanding faculty, the goal for every Ph.D. student is to make an important and long-lasting research contribution in their chosen area of expertise.

By far the largest amount of effort will be devoted to research. At the same time, continued learning, in the form of taking advanced graduate classes in areas selected by the student in consultation with their Special Committee, will ensure substantial depth of knowledge and academic expertise in the chosen research area. In addition, the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program encourages students to participate in the multitude of outreach opportunities offered, including service to local middle and high schools, teaching, and public engagement to serve the broader community.

First-hand experience in a clinical environment. The Ph.D. Summer Clinical Immersion Term is a unique experience of the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program and provides first-year Ph.D. students with the opportunity to experience actual clinical practice in a hospital setting and to participate in clinical research at Weill Cornell Medicine and its affiliated New York Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. The immersion term is completed during the summer following the first year of graduate school and starts approximately in the 2nd week of June through the beginning of August (~8 weeks). The purpose of this clinical summer immersion program is to provide substantial clinical experiences for biomedical engineering graduate students to help shape their understanding and appreciation of challenges and needs in medicine. Each student is matched with a clinician mentor and is encouraged to participate in additional clinical experiences (e.g., shadowing surgeries and other procedures). The mentor selection is driven by the student and their Ph.D. research advisor, in consultation and coordination with faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine. Housing and transportation to and from the immersion term is fully covered for the students.

Students shadow their clinician mentors and their partners, engage in focused study of specific anatomy, pathology, and diagnostics and treatments, participate in an ongoing research directly related to clinical practice, attend a Bioethics seminar, and any additional relevant clinical seminars, and gain exposure to any other aspects of clinical culture.

The goal of the immersion term is for each student to have the opportunity to see first-hand how the results of biomedical engineering impact patient diagnosis and care and to better understand the challenges facing physicians as they try to deliver outstanding patient care. For example, what really happens during a total knee replacement and what are the challenges? Students scrubbed and one foot away from the patient’s knee in the operating room get the ultimate insider’s look and the opportunity to integrate that information into their thesis research and career!

The specific objectives of the Immersion term are:

1. Acquire basic knowledge of the bioethical issues concerning human subject research.
2. Acquire basic understanding of a clinical specialty – anatomy and disease process, diagnosis and treatment methods and technology.
3. Learn to identify the need and challenges of technology in clinical practice, and to formulate from an engineering perspective the problem of and solution to such challenges.
4. Learn how clinicians think, formulate and solve problems, and how to effectively work with busy practicing clinicians.