Neuroengineering Graduate Track

The Neuroengineering Track (formerly called “Neural Interfaces”) trains students in the fields of basic and applied neuroscience and neuroengineering. This track aims to treat neural dysfunction with engineering approaches and repurpose strategies utilized by biological nervous systems to solve traditional engineering problems. Research specializations of BME faculty in this track include electrical neural interfaces and neuroprostheses; cell and chemical delivery systems for neural tissue; engineering of neural self-repair; neural plasticity; neural coding in sensory and motor systems; neural imaging; and non-traditional modes of stimulating neural tissue (e.g., focused ultrasound and magnetic stimulation)

Masters students within this track complete the same fundamental courses as the Ph.D. students (see below). However, whereas Ph.D. students must take NEUSC 6040 Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience, M.S. students are given more flexibility to satisfy the Cell & Molecular Biology credits of their Life-Sciences Fundamentals requirement with any supervisory-committee approved cell/molecular biology course. Understanding of cellular/molecular neuroscience is nonetheless required for any M.S. comprehensive exams: written, oral, project presentations, and thesis defenses.

Ph.D. studentswithin this track must complete the courses listed below, intended to provide knowledge in the major areas of the field. A student’s supervisory committee may grant exemptions to the following course requirements on a case-by-case basis, pending sufficient justification. However, these courses provide considerable assistance in preparing for the Neuroengineering written qualifying exam, which combines topics across courses; e.g., questions regarding cellular or systems neuroscience may be asked from a quantitative perspective. The written qualifying exam will draw from material covered in both required life-science fundamentals courses and all three required track fundamentals courses (excluding NERG). The exam aims to encourage students to approach their graduate education as an experience that transcends the boundaries of single courses; revisit the fundamental principles in basic and applied neuroscience; and consolidate, synthesize, and integrate this material. Students are encouraged to keep their course textbooks and use them to help prepare for the qualifying exam.

Course readings also serve as a way for students to prepare for the qualifying exam, although not all core courses have assigned textbooks. The first portion of Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science, provides an excellent text for the study of cellular neurosciences; the latter portion of this text is used for BME 6430 Systems Neuroscience.

For more detailed information, please review the BME Graduate Resources page and select the Graduate Handbook that correlates to the year you started your program.

Questions regarding the Neuroengineering track should be directed to Dr. Richard Rabbitt (801-581-6968).

Neural Engineering Research Group (NERG)