PhD Biomedical Engineering at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Programme overview

The biomedical engineering programme is a joint programme of biomedical engineering faculty from UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University with five research directions: rehabilitation engineering, regenerative medicine, biomedical imaging, biomedical microdevices and pharmacoengineering. It offers MS and PhD degrees, and students typically come from engineering, physical science, mathematics or biological science backgrounds. The PhD requires at least 52 semester hours of graduate work beyond the bachelor's degree and a dissertation judged of publishable quality.

Faculty: School of Medicine | Department: Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering (UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State) | Intake: Fall | Study mode: full-time | Location: Chapel Hill, NC, United States

What you will study

Required coursework is 6 credits of graduate engineering topics, 6 of graduate life science topics, 3 of engineering mathematics, 3 of statistics and 9 of technical electives, plus a BME seminar each semester, a mentored teaching experience and a professional development seminar. Students pass written and oral preliminary exams before candidacy.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Graduate School minimum (applies to all graduate programmes): a four-year bachelor's degree (or international equivalent) from an accredited institution completed before graduate study begins and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 (B) or better; application via the Graduate School online application with transcripts, three recommendation letters, statement of purpose and CV, plus any programme-specific tests/materials; international applicants add a TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English Test score; admission decisions are made by each programme. Programme-specific: Doctoral students qualify for the Ph.D. degree by meeting grade requirements in their core courses and then advancing to written and oral preliminary exams before admission to candidacy. Students are no longer required to submit their GRE scores. Doctoral students qualify for the Ph.D. degree by meeting grade requirements in their core courses, and then advance on to written and oral preliminary exams before admission to candidacy.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate applicants apply for a start term; fall is the main start term. Very few programmes admit new students for spring or summer terms.

Graduate applications and payment must be received by the deadline of the academic programme applied to, which varies by programme; the application closes at 11:59pm Eastern Time on the deadline date. The Graduate School recommends complete applications by December 15, 2026 for full fellowship consideration.

Apply through the official page: https://gradschool.unc.edu/admissions/instructions/

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