Graduate Programs
Who are we?
The Biomedical Engineering graduate program at the University of California at Irvine is in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and closely affiliated with the College of Medicine, School of Biological Sciences, and School of Physical Sciences. The program started in 1998 with the launch of the Center for Biomedical Engineering facilitated by a multi-million dollar Development Award from the Whitaker Foundation. There are currently 11 full-time faculty in the program and 43 joint appointments from the various schools listed above. Our research has core technologies in micro/nano medicine, biophotonics, biocomputation, and tissue engineering. The clinical emphases are neuroscience, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and ophthalmology. There are three major degree options: Master of Science (M.S.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and the MD/Ph.D.
[Link to the General Catalogue
Why apply to UCI Graduate Program? Apply Now!
We are located in the heart of Orange County, the largest concentration of medical device companies in the nation. In addition, we are just 70 miles north of San Diego County, the nation's third largest concentration of biotech companies. The majority of our faculty collaborate and interact with these companies, providing a unique environment to perform relevant research addressing real-world concerns. It also provides for abundant opportunities to familiarize oneself with potential employers during the course of the graduate studies.
The faculty members in our program are relatively new and were selected specifically to focus on building up the core technologies and clinical research areas. You will find the research topics of our program to be at the cutting edge of their fields and the faculty members eager to work across boundaries. Our program's research in Biophotonics and Micro/Nano medicine are already widely recognized as among the top in the nation whilst the other areas are rapidly establishing themselves through the strength of the existing research accomplishments and the ongoing recruitment of world-class researchers. We have available to us the world-class facility at the Beckman Laser Institute for Biophotonics research. The Micro/Nano Medicine area boasts state-of-the-art facility at the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility (INRF) and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2).
Students admitted to the Ph.D. degree option are provided with a generous stipend and tuition/fee payments through the Whitaker Development Award. During the first year, the students are given the opportunity to rotate in up to three research labs under a "matching" process that allows the students to identify their eventual research advisor.
