Biology can inspire engineering. Increasingly, discoveries in the life sciences reveal processes, complexity, and control without analogy in the world of traditional engineering. Current methods of producing nanoscale control over molecules cannot reproduce the organization found in even the simplest organisms. Energy capture, robust control, remediation, and self-assembly are all employed by biosystems with efficiency unparalleled by anything in today’s laboratories. At the same time, traditional engineering disciplines struggle to find new approaches to the complex challenges of 21st-century technology. The last 50 years of basic life science research have gradually revealed the layers of complexity intrinsic to biological processes, unmasking the fundamental underpinnings on which biological systems are constructed. Bioinspired engineering has the potential to transform the technological landscape of the 21st century. Astonishingly, it represents merely one of the myriad opportunities presented at the interface of biology and engineering.
The field of bioengineering is broad and includes all research at the interface of engineering and biology—this includes bioprocesses, environmental microbiology, biomaterials and tissue engineering, bioelectricity, biomechanics, biomedical and biological imaging, nanotechnology in medicine and the environment, and engineering design for human interfacing. At Northeastern University, bioengineering PhD students have an opportunity to be trained to appreciate advances in bioengineering across a wide range of disciplines while they perform highly focused and cutting-edge bioengineering research with one of our faculty members.
The interdisciplinary PhD in Bioengineering program reflects departmental research strengths in multiple areas. Students accepted to the bioengineering program will undertake a rigorous core curriculum in basic bioengineering science, followed by a flexible selection of electives tailored to their dissertation research.
Research Areas
There are four key areas of research strength in our department.
Area 1— Biomedical Devices and Bioimaging
The Biomedical Devices and Bioimaging track reflects Northeastern's outstanding research profile in developing transformative and translational instrumentation and algorithms to help understand biological processes and disease. Our department has active federally funded research spanning across a broad spectrum of relevant areas in instrument design, contrast agent development, and advanced computational modeling and reconstruction methods. Example research centers and laboratories include the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems, the Translational Biophotonics Cluster, and the B-SPIRAL signal processing group.
Area 2—Biomechanics, Biotransport, and Mechanobiology
Motion, deformation, and flow of biological systems in response to applied loads elicit biological responses at the molecular and cellular levels that support the physiological function of tissues and organs and drive their adaptation and remodeling. To study these complex interactions, principles of solid, fluid, and transport mechanics must be combined with measures of biological function. The Biomechanics, Biotransport, and Mechanobiology track embraces this approach and leverages the strong expertise of Northeastern faculty attempting to tie applied loads to biological responses at multiple length and time scales.
Area 3—Molecular, Cell, and Tissue Engineering
Principles for engineering living cells and tissues are essential to address many of the most significant biomedical challenges facing our society today. These application areas include engineering biomaterials to coax and enable stem cells to form functional tissue or to heal damaged tissue; designing vehicles for delivering genes and therapeutics to reach specific target cells to treat a disease; and uncovering therapeutic strategies to curb pathological cell behaviors and tissue phenotypes. At a more fundamental level, the field is at the nascent stages of understanding how cells make decisions in complex microenvironments and how cells interact with each other and their surrounding environment to organize into complex three-dimensional tissues. Advances will require multiscale experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches spanning molecular-cellular-tissue levels and integration of molecular and physical mechanisms, including the role of mechanical forces.
Area 4—Systems, Synthetic, and Computational Bioengineering
Research groups in systems, synthetic, and computational bioengineering apply engineering principles to model and understand complex biological systems, including differentiation and development, pathogenesis and cancer, and learning and behavior. This involves designing and implementing methods for procuring quantitative and sometimes very large data sets, as well as developing theoretical models and computational tools for interpreting these data. Deciphering the workings of a biological system allows us to identify potential biomarkers and drug targets, to develop protocols for personalized medicine, and more. In addition, we use the design principles of biological systems we discover to engineer and refine new synthetic biological systems for clinical, agricultural, environmental, and energy applications.
Degree Requirements
Completion of the PhD degree requires students to successfully complete the following requirements:
Curriculum
The curriculum comprises a strong core of fundamental courses that is coupled with flexible choices of restricted and unrestricted technical electives to provide depth in a particular field of study. The detailed course requirements are outlined below.
For students possessing a baccalaureate in a suitable quantitative or technical field before entering the PhD program, the required course distribution is shown in the table below:
| Requirements | Credits |
|---|---|
| Required core courses | 12 |
| Restricted technical electives | 8 |
| Unrestricted technical electives | 12 |
| Advanced seminar (four semesters) | |
| Dissertation | |
| Minimum semester hours required | 32 |
The curriculum for PhD students with “advanced standings,” i.e., students with an MS degree in relevant engineering areas awarded at a qualified institution, will be selected from the available core and elective courses under the guidance of the program director and the student's primary advisor. Completion of the PhD degree with an advanced standing requires a minimum of 16 semester hours of coursework to be approved by the graduate director and a completed PhD dissertation.
| Requirements | Credits |
|---|---|
| Required core courses | 8 |
| Advisor-approved coursework | 8 |
| Advanced seminar (four semesters) | |
| Dissertation | |
| Minimum semester hours required | 16 |
Qualifying Exam (Written and Oral)
To qualify to continue in the PhD program, students must pass the bioengineering qualifying examination in the most relevant of the four department research areas. Students will prepare a six-page written document that will be distributed to the committee before the oral examination. Details of the formal qualification exam procedure and timing are available in the Graduate Handbook. In addition, satisfactory research progress and academic standing are required to pass the exam. The qualifying exam is normally taken in the first semester of the student’s second year.
Qualifying Exam Committee
The qualifying examination committee is composed of three members of the Department of Bioengineering faculty. At least two of three committee members will be from the student’s research area. The student's primary research advisor may not sit on the qualifying exam committee.
PhD Dissertation Committee
Students normally form their dissertation committee within two years of joining the PhD program. The dissertation committee is composed of a minimum of three members, two of whom must be core faculty from the Department of Bioengineering. The student's primary advisor will be a member of and chair the dissertation committee. This advisor must be a member of the core bioengineering faculty or a faculty member from another department who has an affiliation with the bioengineering department. Students are required to meet annually with their PhD dissertation committee to ensure satisfactory research progress.
Annual Committee Meetings and Dissertation Proposals
PhD students must hold their first committee meetings no later than their third year. The first committee meeting requires the student to write a dissertation proposal in the form of an NIH-style R21 proposal research plan that will be distributed to their dissertation committee at least one week prior to the meeting. Thereafter, students are expected to hold annual progress updates with their committee. At the penultimate committee meeting (which must be held at least four months prior to the dissertation defense), the student will prepare and present a final proposal document to the committee. Successful defense of this proposal will allow the student to progress to the PhD dissertation defense.
PhD Dissertation Defense
PhD candidates must satisfactorily complete and defend a dissertation describing original research in bioengineering in an open presentation to the Northeastern bioengineering community, followed by a closed meeting with their dissertation committee in which they are expected to defend their work and answer all relevant questions regarding that work, its significance, and its relationship to ongoing work across the broader research community.
Dissertation Course Requirements
After achieving PhD candidacy by passing the qualifying exam, the doctoral candidate, in consultation with their research advisor, must register in two consecutive semesters (may include full summer term) for Dissertation Term 1 (BIOE 9990) and Dissertation Term 2 (BIOE 9991). Upon completion of this sequence, the student must then register for Dissertation Continuation (BIOE 9996) every semester (in each fall and spring term and also in the summer term if summer is the student's last semester) until the dissertation is completed. Students may not register for Dissertation Continuation (BIOE 9996) until they fulfill the two-semester sequence of Dissertation Term 1 (BIOE 9990) and Dissertation Term 2 (BIOE 9991).
PhD students who have completed the majority of their coursework and not yet reached PhD candidacy should register for Exam Preparation—Doctoral (BIOE 8960) in a section for which their research or academic advisor is listed as the instructor in the online registration system.
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Milestones
Annual review
Qualifying examination (within two years of entry)
Dissertation committee
Annual committee meetings
Area examination (dissertation prospectus/proposal)
Dissertation defense
Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar | ||
| BIOE 7390 | Seminar (Register and complete two semesters) | 0 |
| BIOE 7391 | Student Seminar (Register and complete once in second year and once in fourth year) | 0 |
| Required Core | ||
| BIOE 6100 | Medical Physiology | 4 |
| BIOE 6200 | Mathematical Methods in Bioengineering | 4 |
| BIOE 7000 | Principles of Bioengineering | 4 |
| Restricted Bioengineering Technical Electives | ||
| Complete 8 semester hours from the following: | 8 | |
| Dynamical Systems in Biological Engineering | ||
| Biomedical Imaging | ||
| Molecular Bioengineering | ||
| Applied Molecular Bioengineering | ||
| Cellular Engineering | ||
| Principles and Applications of Tissue Engineering | ||
| The Cell as a Machine | ||
| Physiological Fluid Mechanics | ||
| Biomedical Optics | ||
| Multiscale Biomechanics | ||
| Experimental Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering | ||
| Physical Bioengineering | ||
| Modeling and Inference in Bioengineering | ||
| Design of Biomedical Instrumentation | ||
| Biomaterials | ||
| Musculoskeletal Biomechanics | ||
| Technical Electives | ||
| Complete 12 semester hours from the electives listed below. | 12 | |
Electives Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Genomics in Bioinformatics | ||
| Special Topics in Bioengineering | ||
| Dynamical Systems in Biological Engineering | ||
| Biomedical Imaging | ||
| Regulatory and Quality Aspects of Medical Device Design | ||
| Molecular Bioengineering | ||
| Cellular Engineering | ||
| Principles and Applications of Tissue Engineering | ||
| The Cell as a Machine | ||
| Stem Cell Engineering | ||
| Bioengineering Products/Technology Commercialization | ||
| Physiological Fluid Mechanics | ||
| Computational Biomechanics | ||
| Biomedical Optics | ||
| Multiscale Biomechanics | ||
| Experimental Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering | ||
| Physical Bioengineering | ||
| Modeling and Inference in Bioengineering | ||
| Method and Logic in Systems Biology and Bioengineering | ||
| Systems, Signals, and Controls for Bioengineers | ||
| Design of Biomedical Instrumentation | ||
| Biomaterials | ||
| Design of Implants | ||
| Engineering Approaches to Precision Medicine I | ||
| Engineering Approaches to Precision Medicine II | ||
| Computational Methods in Systems Bioengineering | ||
| Stem Cells and Regeneration | ||
| Multidisciplinary Approaches in Motor Control | ||
| Molecular Cell Biology for Biotechnology | ||
| Biochemistry | ||
| Molecular Cell Biology | ||
| Research Methods and Critical Analysis in Molecular Cell Biology | ||
| Research, Evaluation, and Data Analysis | ||
| Principles of Mass Spectrometry | ||
| Protein Chemistry | ||
| Principles of Chemical Biology for Chemists | ||
| Molecular Modeling | ||
| Analytical Biotechnology | ||
| Biochemical Engineering | ||
| Foundations of Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Database Management Systems | ||
| Computer Graphics | ||
| Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision | ||
| Robotic Science and Systems | ||
| Principles of Programming Language | ||
| Computer Systems | ||
| Algorithms | ||
| Machine Learning | ||
| Information Retrieval | ||
| Compilers | ||
| Supervised Machine Learning and Learning Theory | ||
| Unsupervised Machine Learning and Data Mining | ||
| Micro- and Nanofabrication | ||
| Data Visualization | ||
| Linear Systems Analysis | ||
| Electromagnetic Theory 1 | ||
| Complex Variable Theory and Differential Equations | ||
| Applied Probability and Stochastic Processes | ||
| Fundamentals of Computer Engineering | ||
| Nonlinear Control | ||
| System Identification and Adaptive Control | ||
| Optimal and Robust Control | ||
| Computational Methods in Electromagnetics | ||
| Modern Signal Processing | ||
| Numerical Optimization Methods | ||
| Information Theory | ||
| Computer Architecture | ||
| VLSI Design | ||
| Mobile and Wireless Networking | ||
| High-Level Design of Hardware-Software Systems | ||
| Human Factors Engineering | ||
| Advanced Mechanics of Materials | ||
| Elasticity and Plasticity | ||
| Dynamics and Mechanical Vibration | ||
| Finite Element Method 1 | ||
| Continuum Mechanics | ||
| Control Systems Engineering | ||
| Musculoskeletal Biomechanics | ||
| Mathematical Methods for Mechanical Engineers 1 | ||
| Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) | ||
| Finite Element Method 2 | ||
| Essentials of Fluid Dynamics | ||
| Nano/Biomedical Commercialization: Concept to Market | ||
| Deterministic Operations Research | ||
| Concepts in Pharmaceutical Science | ||
| Biophysical Methods in Drug Discovery | ||
| Network Science 1 | ||
| Classical Mechanics/Math Methods | ||
| Computational Physics | ||
| Biological Physics 2 | ||
| Advanced Physical Pharmacy | ||
| Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism | ||
| Advanced Drug Delivery Systems | ||
| Neuroscience | ||
| Lab for PT 5138 | ||
| Motor Control, Development, and Learning | ||
| Lab for PT 5150 |
Dissertation
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Dissertation Term 1 | ||
| Dissertation Term 2 |
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
32 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required
Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.
Milestones
Annual review
Qualifying examination (within two years of entry)
Dissertation committee
Area examination (dissertation prospectus/proposal)
Dissertation defense
Core Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar | ||
| BIOE 7390 | Seminar (Register and complete two semesters) | 0 |
| BIOE 7391 | Student Seminar (Register and complete once in second year and once in fourth year) | 0 |
| Required Core | ||
| BIOE 6200 | Mathematical Methods in Bioengineering | 4 |
| BIOE 7000 | Principles of Bioengineering | 4 |
| Approved Coursework | ||
| Complete 8 semester hours from the Elective Course List. | 8 | |
Elective Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Special Topics in Bioengineering | ||
| Dynamical Systems in Biological Engineering | ||
| Biomedical Imaging | ||
| Regulatory and Quality Aspects of Medical Device Design | ||
| Molecular Bioengineering | ||
| Cellular Engineering | ||
| Principles and Applications of Tissue Engineering | ||
| The Cell as a Machine | ||
| Stem Cell Engineering | ||
| Bioengineering Products/Technology Commercialization | ||
| Physiological Fluid Mechanics | ||
| Computational Biomechanics | ||
| Biomedical Optics | ||
| Multiscale Biomechanics | ||
| Experimental Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering | ||
| Physical Bioengineering | ||
| Modeling and Inference in Bioengineering | ||
| Method and Logic in Systems Biology and Bioengineering | ||
| Systems, Signals, and Controls for Bioengineers | ||
| Design of Biomedical Instrumentation | ||
| Biomaterials | ||
| Design of Implants | ||
| Engineering Approaches to Precision Medicine I | ||
| Engineering Approaches to Precision Medicine II | ||
| Computational Methods in Systems Bioengineering | ||
| Medical Physiology | ||
| Genomics in Bioinformatics | ||
| Stem Cells and Regeneration | ||
| Multidisciplinary Approaches in Motor Control | ||
| Biochemistry | ||
| Molecular Cell Biology | ||
| Research Methods and Critical Analysis in Molecular Cell Biology | ||
| Research, Evaluation, and Data Analysis | ||
| Protein Chemistry | ||
| Principles of Chemical Biology for Chemists | ||
| Molecular Modeling | ||
| Analytical Biotechnology | ||
| Biochemical Engineering | ||
| Foundations of Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Database Management Systems | ||
| Computer Graphics | ||
| Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision | ||
| Robotic Science and Systems | ||
| Principles of Programming Language | ||
| Computer Systems | ||
| Algorithms | ||
| Machine Learning | ||
| Information Retrieval | ||
| Compilers | ||
| Supervised Machine Learning and Learning Theory | ||
| Unsupervised Machine Learning and Data Mining | ||
| Micro- and Nanofabrication | ||
| Data Visualization | ||
| Linear Systems Analysis | ||
| Electromagnetic Theory 1 | ||
| Complex Variable Theory and Differential Equations | ||
| Applied Probability and Stochastic Processes | ||
| Fundamentals of Computer Engineering | ||
| Nonlinear Control | ||
| System Identification and Adaptive Control | ||
| Optimal and Robust Control | ||
| Computational Methods in Electromagnetics | ||
| Modern Signal Processing | ||
| Numerical Optimization Methods | ||
| Information Theory | ||
| Computer Architecture | ||
| VLSI Design | ||
| Mobile and Wireless Networking | ||
| High-Level Design of Hardware-Software Systems | ||
| Human Factors Engineering | ||
| Advanced Mechanics of Materials | ||
| Elasticity and Plasticity | ||
| Dynamics and Mechanical Vibration | ||
| Finite Element Method 1 | ||
| Continuum Mechanics | ||
| Control Systems Engineering | ||
| Musculoskeletal Biomechanics | ||
| Mathematical Methods for Mechanical Engineers 1 | ||
| Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) | ||
| Finite Element Method 2 | ||
| Essentials of Fluid Dynamics | ||
| Nano/Biomedical Commercialization: Concept to Market | ||
| Deterministic Operations Research | ||
| Concepts in Pharmaceutical Science | ||
| Biophysical Methods in Drug Discovery | ||
| Network Science 1 | ||
| Classical Mechanics/Math Methods | ||
| Computational Physics | ||
| Biological Physics 2 | ||
| Advanced Physical Pharmacy | ||
| Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism | ||
| Advanced Drug Delivery Systems | ||
| Neuroscience | ||
| Lab for PT 5138 | ||
| Motor Control, Development, and Learning | ||
| Lab for PT 5150 |
Dissertation
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the following two courses: | ||
| Dissertation Term 1 | ||
| Dissertation Term 2 | ||
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
16 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required