Frequently Asked Questions

Ph.D. Program

• How many new Ph.D. students enter the program each year?

  Typically, about 20 students enter the Ph.D. program each year. This number is expected to increase as the department continues to grow.

• When do students select their Ph.D. faculty advisor?

  Students have the fall semester to select an advisor. We encourage students to take time to explore multiple labs to get to know both the research topic and the work environment. Most students decide on their advisor by mid-October to mid-December. There is no formal matching process. Once both student and advisor agree that they want to work together, the selection process is complete.

• What is the ‘Special Committee’?

  The Special Committee advises Ph.D. students on their research, course work, and administers the A and B Exams. At least three members are included, led by the Ph.D. advisor, and two minor members. Students work with their advisor to select the two minor members of their committee. One will represent the engineering (not biomedical engineering) fields and the second minor member will represent the life science fields.

• Can students select a Ph.D. advisor outside of the biomedical engineering department?

  Yes, students are able to select an advisor outside the department as long as the faculty member is a biomedical engineering graduate field faculty. That’s the beauty of the Cornell graduate field system. You have over 60 faculty to choose from. Please note that it is much easier for faculty to join additional graduate fields than for students to switch graduate fields. Almost every year we have some students select an advisor who is not yet part of the biomedical engineering graduate field, and the advisor then joins the biomedical engineering graduate field. If you are interested in a particular lab that is not (yet) part of the graduate field, please let us know.

• What is the process for selecting a Ph.D. advisor based in NYC?

  Students interested in working with a biomedical engineering graduate field member at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City may consider spending time in New York over the summer prior to their start in Ithaca to rotate in one or more of the labs there, without making any firm commitment to a specific lab. Students who decide to join a lab in NYC will spend the first nine months of their Ph.D. in Ithaca, then move to New York for the Immersion term in June and stay in NYC afterwards.

• What classes are required for the Cornell biomedical engineering Ph.D.?

  For Ph.D. requirements, please see the Ph.D. degree requirements and/or contact the Ph.D. program coordinator.

• Does the biomedical engineering Ph.D. have a qualifying exam?

  No. We only have a thesis proposal (A Exam) and thesis defense (B Exam).

• Can I join the laboratory of a Cornell faculty member who is not in the biomedical engineering graduate field?

  Your Special Committee Chair must be a biomedical engineering graduate field member. Field members are qualified in training and research to advise biomedical engineering graduate degrees. If the faculty member the student would like to work with is not a field member, the individual may be able to apply to become a biomedical engineering graduate field member. For faculty whose research and background are considered biomedical engineering-like (e.g., a faculty member in another engineering discipline with applications in biomedical engineering), this process is relatively straightforward. In this case, the student often joins the laboratory while the graduate field application is still in process. If the faculty member is not conducting obvious biomedical engineering-like research or does not have an appropriate technical background, e.g. for faculty members working purely in biological or clinical settings, this route may not be available. In this case, the student can work in the faculty member’s laboratory with a biomedical engineering co-advisor who serves as the Special Committee Chair to fulfill the graduate school requirement.