Biological Engineering
Bioengineering Bldg.
Telephone (805) 893-4326
Admissions inquires email: info@bioengineering.ucsb.edu
General program inquires email: info@bioengineering.ucsb.edu
Website: bioengineering.ucsb.edu
Program Chair: Beth Pruitt
Overview
The Biological Engineering Program offers a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering degree and an Optional Ph.D. emphasis in Bioengineering.
This Biological Engineering Program, at the interface of Engineering and the Sciences, benefits from the strong, collaborative relationships that already exist across these communities at UCSB. The PhD Program provides didactic and research training supporting depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise within Biological Engineering. This program draws interdisciplinary strengths from biophysics, biomaterials, biomolecular discovery, and computational and experimental systems biology.
The application of engineering principles, novel technologies and models is rapidly advancing the science of biology and biomedicine. Similarly, the science of biology provides an increasingly deep and inspiring source of new concepts, mechanisms and materials for application across engineering disciplines. Researchers in Biological Engineering are combining engineering from biology and engineering for biology to make fundamental scientific advances and transition discoveries to applications in medicine and biotechnology.
Admission
Candidates for graduate degrees must meet university degree requirements found in the “Graduate Education” section of the UCSB online catalog as well as departmental requirements.
Applicants must fulfill general requirements for admission to graduate status. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test is not required for applicants to the graduate program. Applicants whose native language is not English, are required to take either the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, or the Duolingo English Tes. Exemptions to this requirement will be considered for those students who have completed an undergraduate or graduate education at an institution whose primary language of instruction is English. The minimum TOEFL score for consideration is 550 when taking the paper-based test (PBT),or 80 when taking the internet-based test (IBT). The minimum IELTS score for consideration is an Overall Band Score of 7 or higher. The minimum Duolingo English Test total score for consideration is 120, or higher. All test cores must not be more than two years old at the time of application to UCSB.
Applications are considered for fall admission and must be received with all supporting materials by December 15.
Prerequisites
Biology (a course covering basic cell biology, molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry)
At least 1 chemistry course
Math (through differential equations)
Programming course or equivalent experience
Faculty
Sid Dey, PhD, UC Berkeley, Assistant Professor (systems biology, epigenetics, stem cell biology) Joint appointment with: CNENG
Marley Dewey, PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering (Engineering Cellular Signals for Regenerative Medicine)
Dorit Hanein, PhD, Weizmann Institute, Israel, Professor (Biological Modeling & Signal Processing) Joint appointment with: CHEM
Arnab Mukherjee, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Assistant Professor (protein and cell engineering, genetic tools for molecular imaging, fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, anaerobic biosystems, synthetic biology) Joint appointment with: CNENG
Michelle O'Malley, PhD, University of Delaware, Professor (genetic and cellular engineering, membrane protein characterization for drug discovery, protein biophysics, metagenomics, biofuel production) Joint appointment with: CNENG
Carolyn Mills, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor (Synthetic & Systems Biology)
Kevin Plaxco, PhD, California Institute of Technology, Professor (biochemistry, protein folding, biomolecular engineering) Joint appointment with: CHEM
Beth Pruitt, PhD, Stanford University, Professor (Mechanobiology, microfabrication, engineering and science, engineering microsystems, and biointerfaces for quantitative mechanobiology.) Joint appointment with: ME BMSE
Ryan Stowers, PhD, University of Texas at Austin, Assistant Professor (mechanobiology, biomaterials, hydrogel engineering, tissue engineering) Joint appointment with: ME
Yon Visell, PhD, McGill University, Associate Professor (Haptics, robotics, sensors, virtual reality, interactive technologies) Joint appointment with: ME
Niels Volkmann, PhD, Max Planck Institute, Professor Joint appointment with: BMSE ECE