BIOE-PHD - Bioengineering (PhD)

Bioengineering is jointly supported by the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine. The facilities and personnel of the Department of Bioengineering are housed in the Shriram Center,  James H. Clark Center, the William F. Durand Building for Space Engineering and Science, the William M. Keck Science Building, the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, and the Richard M. Lucas Center for Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging. The departmental headquarters is in the Shriram Center for Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering.

Students are expected to enter with a series of core competencies in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computing, and engineering. Students entering the program are assessed by the examination of their undergraduate transcripts and research experiences. Specifically, the department requires that students have completed mathematics through multivariable calculus and differential equations, completed a series of undergraduate biology courses and completed physics, chemistry, and computer sciences courses required of all undergraduate majors in engineering.

Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply for predoctoral national competitive fellowships, especially those from the National Science Foundation. Applicants to the Ph.D. program should consult with their financial aid officers for information and applications.

The deadline for receiving applications is December 1, 2020. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for admission to the M.S. or Ph.D. program in Bioengineering.

Further information and application instructions for all graduate degree programs may be obtained from Graduate Admissions.

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The Department of Bioengineering is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement by both the adviser and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the adviser and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the "Graduate Advising" section of this bulletin.

Faculty advisers guide students in key areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing of teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways. The department’s graduate handbook provides information and suggested timelines for advising meetings in the different stages of the doctoral program.

Ph.D. students are initially assigned a program adviser on the basis of the interests expressed in their application. This faculty member provides initial guidance in course selection, in exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways, and in identifying doctoral research opportunities.

Students identify their doctoral research/thesis adviser prior to the end of the first year of study. The research adviser assumes primary responsibility for the future direction of the student, taking on the roles previously filled by the program adviser, and ultimately directs the student’s dissertation. Most students find an adviser from among the primary faculty members of our department. However, the research adviser may be a faculty member from another Stanford department who is a member of the Academic Council, familiar with supervising doctoral students, and able to provide both advising and funding for the duration of the doctoral program. When the research adviser is from outside our department, the student must identify reading committee members from the BioE faculty.

MCL faculty may not be the primary advisers of students. Although a co-adviser from the MCL line is permissible in some situations, the primary adviser must provide at least 50% of the mentoring for the student. Evidence that a student is receiving greater than 50% of mentoring from the primary adviser include: full attendance of lab meetings, regular one-on-one meetings, dedicated space in the primary adviser's lab, funding provided by the primary adviser, and research being performed in an area that is of current relevance to the primary adviser. Advising situations that do not meet these criteria are subject to review by the graduate studies committee.

Throughout the Ph.D., each student is required to fill out an annual Individual Developmental Plan (IDP), usually in the Summer. The IDP is then discussed with the research adviser, as a way to facilitate: advising the student, both during and beyond the PhD; establishing clear expectations on both sides with respect to degree progress and timely graduation; and emphasizing the importance of wellness in graduate school, together with access to University wellness resources.

The Faculty Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) is also available during the academic year by email and during office hours. The department’s student services office is also an important part of the doctoral advising team: they inform students and advisers about University and department requirements, procedures, and opportunities, and they maintain the official records of advising assignments and approvals. Students are encouraged to talk with the DGS and the student services office as they consider adviser selection or for guidance in working with their adviser(s).

The purpose of the master’s program is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is done through coursework with specialization in an area of the field, including biomedical computation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, molecular and cell bioengineering, biomedical imaging, and biomedical devices.

The PhD is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research. Through coursework and guided research, the program prepares students to make original contributions in Bioengineering and related fields.