# 2026-2027 Course Catalog
**Source**: https://catalog.illinois.edu/graduate/engineering/bioengineering-phd/
**Parent**: https://catalog.illinois.edu/graduate/
*for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering*
---
The Department of Bioengineering offers both a traditional doctoral program (for students with a previous master's degree) and a direct doctoral program (for students with only a bachelor's degree). Students in both programs are required to have a research advisor and competitive applicants are encouraged to review the research websites and publications of those bioengineering [graduate program faculty](https://bioengineering.illinois.edu/people/faculty/grad-program) they are most interested in working with.
Opportunity exists for specializing in i) computational science and engineering via the [Computational Science & Engineering](https://catalog.illinois.edu/graduate/engineering/concentration/computational-science-engineering/) optional graduate concentration, and iv) data science and engineering via the [Data Science & Engineering](https://catalog.illinois.edu/graduate/engineering/concentration/data-science-engineering/) optional graduate concentration.
## **Department Research**
Bioengineering faculty perform research in the areas of Bioimaging at Multi-Scale; Bio-Micro and Nanotechnology; Computational and Systems Biology; Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering; Neural Engineering; Research in BME Education; and Synthetic Bioengineering. In addition to Bioengineering faculty, the Department of Bioengineering has more than [50 affiliate faculty](https://bioengineering.illinois.edu/people/faculty/grad-program).
*for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering*
---
For additional details and requirements for all degrees, please refer to the department's [Graduate Studies website](http://bioengineering.illinois.edu/) and the [Graduate College Handbook](http://grad.illinois.edu/gradhandbook/).
**Entering with approved M.S. degree**
Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional Development | | 4 |
| [BIOE 500](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20500 "BIOE 500") | Graduate Seminar (two semesters) | 2 |
| [BIOE 502](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20502 "BIOE 502") | Bioengineering Professionalism | 2 |
| Thesis Research | | 52 |
| [BIOE 599](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20599 "BIOE 599") | Thesis Research (min-max applied toward degree) | 52 |
| Technical Elective Courses | | 8 |
| Selected in consultation with advisor | | 8 |
| Total Hours | | 64 |
Other Requirements and Conditions
Grad Other Degree Requirements
| Requirement | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Other Requirements and Conditions may overlap | |
| Minimum program GPA: | 3.0 |
| A Masters degree is required for admission to the Ph.D. program. | |
| Qualifying exam | |
| Preliminary exam | |
| Final exam and dissertation defense | |
| Dissertation deposit | |
Entering with B.S. degree
Course List
| Code | Title | Hours |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional Development | | 6 |
| [BIOE 500](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20500 "BIOE 500") | Graduate Seminar (four semesters) | 4 |
| [BIOE 502](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20502 "BIOE 502") | Bioengineering Professionalism | 2 |
| Thesis Research | | 66 |
| [BIOE 599](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20599 "BIOE 599") | Thesis Research (min-max applied toward degree) | 66 |
| Technical Elective Courses | | 12 |
| Selected in consultation with advisor | | 12 |
| Fundamental Courses | | 12 |
| Students must select one course from each of the three categories below | | 12 |
| Statistics and Data Science | | |
| [BIOE 484](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20484 "BIOE 484") | Statistical Analysis of Biomedical Images | 4 |
| [BIOE 505](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20505 "BIOE 505") | Computational Bioengineering | 4 |
| [IB 501](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=IB%20501 "IB 501") | Programming for Genomics | 4 |
| [STAT 510](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20510 "STAT 510") | Mathematical Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 511](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20511 "STAT 511") | Advanced Mathematical Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 525](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20525 "STAT 525") | Topics in Computational Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 527](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20527 "STAT 527") | Advanced Regression Analysis | 4 |
| [STAT 528](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20528 "STAT 528") | Advanced Regression Analysis II | 4 |
| [STAT 530](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20530 "STAT 530") | Bioinformatics | 4 |
| [STAT 533](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20533 "STAT 533") | Advanced Stochastic Processes | 4 |
| [STAT 541](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20541 "STAT 541") | Advanced Predictive Analytics | 4 |
| [STAT 542](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20542 "STAT 542") | Statistical Learning | 4 |
| [STAT 543](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20543 "STAT 543") | Appl. Multivariate Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 545](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20545 "STAT 545") | Spatial Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 546](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20546 "STAT 546") | Machine Learning in Data Science | 4 |
| [STAT 551](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20551 "STAT 551") | Theory of Probability I | 4 |
| [STAT 552](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20552 "STAT 552") | Theory of Probability II | 4 |
| [STAT 553](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20553 "STAT 553") | Probability and Measure I | 4 |
| [STAT 554](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20554 "STAT 554") | Probability and Measure II | 4 |
| [STAT 555](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20555 "STAT 555") | Applied Stochastic Processes | 4 |
| [STAT 556](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20556 "STAT 556") | Advanced Time Series Analysis | 4 |
| [STAT 558](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20558 "STAT 558") | Risk Modeling and Analysis | 4 |
| [STAT 571](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20571 "STAT 571") | Multivariate Analysis | 4 |
| [STAT 575](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20575 "STAT 575") | Large Sample Theory | 4 |
| [STAT 576](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20576 "STAT 576") | Empirical Process Theory and Weak Convergence | 4 |
| [STAT 578](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20578 "STAT 578") | Topics in Statistics | 4 |
| [STAT 587](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20587 "STAT 587") | Hierarchical Linear Models | 4 |
| [STAT 588](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=STAT%20588 "STAT 588") | Covar Struct and Factor Models | 4 |
| Engineering Math | | |
| [BIOE 432](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20432 "BIOE 432") | Systems Biology: Uncovering Design Principles of Biological Networks | 3 or 4 |
| [BIOE 450](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20450 "BIOE 450") | Introduction to Quantitative Pharmacology | 3 or 4 |
| [BIOE 485](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20485 "BIOE 485") | Computational Mathematics for Machine Learning and Imaging | 4 |
| [BIOE 504](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20504 "BIOE 504") | Analytical Methods in Bioeng | 4 |
| Life Sciences | | |
| [BIOE 430](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20430 "BIOE 430") | Intro Synthetic Biology | 4 |
| [BIOE 434](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20434 "BIOE 434") | Immunoengineering | 3 or 4 |
| [BIOE 487](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20487 "BIOE 487") | Stem Cell Bioengineering | 4 |
| [BIOE 526](https://catalog.illinois.edu/search/?P=BIOE%20526 "BIOE 526") | Advances in Biotechnology | 4 |
| Total Hours | | 96 |
Other Requirements and Conditions
Grad Other Degree Requirements
| Requirement | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Other Requirements and Conditions may overlap | |
| 12 total hours from the Fundamental Courses and/or Technical Elective Courses categories must be BIOE-rubric courses. | |
| Minimum program GPA: | 3.0 |
| Qualifying exam | |
| Preliminary exam | |
| Final exam and dissertation defense | |
| Dissertation deposit | |
*for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering*
---
1. Ability to apply **quantitative** skills and **engineering principles** to propose novel and practical solutions to medical/human health problems.
2. Understanding of **professional** and **ethical** responsibilities.
3. Ability to **communicate** scientific problems and solutions, as well as their impact, effectively to a diverse audience and stakeholders, both orally and in writing.
4. Demonstrate moderate **technical** mastery in chosen research area, shown by the ability to identify an important scientific problem, formulate a hypothesis, and design experiments to conduct research and data analysis to test the hypothesis. The student should also be able to formulate alternatives.
5. Develop effective **leadership** skills in order to foster the ability to conduct **collaborative** research and work with a diverse team.
*for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering*
---
## **Admission Requirements**
Applicants should have an undergraduate or graduate degree in a natural science, computer science, or engineering. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 (A = 4.00) for the last two years of undergraduate study is required. Applicants should show evidence of strong quantitative skills and of serious interest in the life sciences. GRE scores are optional.
## **Financial Aid**
Qualified students may apply for financial aid in the form of fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and waivers of tuition and service fees. Starting in Fall 2020, Grainger Engineering PhD students in their first five years of enrollment who meet the [minimum eligibility requirements](https://grainger.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/phd-funding-guarantee) are guaranteed a funded appointment for fall and spring that includes a full tuition waiver, a partial fee waiver, and a stipend.
All applicants, regardless of US citizenship, whose native language is not English and who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must demonstrate [spoken English language proficiency](http://grad.illinois.edu/admissions/taengprof.htm) by achieving a minimum score of 24 on the speaking subsection of the TOEFL iBT or 8 on the speaking subsection of the IELTS. For students who are unable to take the TOEFL iBT or IELTS, a minimum score of 3 is required on the [OEAI test](https://linguistics.illinois.edu/testing/oeai), offered on campus. All new teaching assistants are required to participate in the [Graduate Academy for College Teaching](https://citl.illinois.edu/graduate-academy-college-teaching) conducted prior to the start of the semester.
*for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering*
---
## **Department of Bioengineering**
Department Head: [Mark Anastasio](mailto:maa@illinois.edu)\
Director of Graduate Studies: [Wawrzyniec Dobrucki](mailto:dobrucki@illinois.edu)\
[Bioengineering website](https://bioengineering.illinois.edu/)\
[Program website](https://bioengineering.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/PhD)\
1240 Everitt Laboratory, 1406 W Green St, Urbana, IL 61801\
(217) 300-8066\
[bioe-gradprograms@illinois.edu](mailto:bioe-gradprograms@illinois.edu)
## **Grainger College of Engineering**
[Grainger College of Engineering website](https://grainger.illinois.edu/)
## **Admissions**
Graduate Contact: [Karin Readel](mailto:kereadel@illinois.edu)\
[Department Admissions & Requirements](https://bioengineering.illinois.edu/admissions/graduate/phd)\
[Graduate College Admissions & Requirements](https://grad.illinois.edu/admissions/apply)