BIG (Bioengineering Interdepartmental Graduate) Program

BIG ( Bioengineering Interdepartmental Graduate) Program is the umbrella for graduate level research effort associated with the faculty in the Department of Bioengineering as well as other Participating Faculty at UCR who have an passion for training graduate students in bioengineering.

Both the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees are available, and the application process is online, easy and free for domestic students!

Applications for Fall 2010 are now being accepted and the process is online via the Graduate College!

Our Strengths Include:

• A solid financial support package for Ph.D. students including fellowships.
• A broad range of critically important, contemporary bioengineering topics including the new area of BioCellular Engineering.
• A dedication to leadership training. Our graduates are continuously exposed to opportunities to interact, not only with the BIG Faculty, but also many of our Colloquium speakers, including our Distinguished Speakers. Our seminar series allows our graduates to meet with our distinguished guests and ask their questions without faculty presence.
• An emphasis on productivity in an energized welcoming environment. Using small presentations as our platform, our students begin working early and often with creative expression and presentations that emphasize accountability.
• A strong faculty dedicated to a collaborative, sharing environment to maximize learning and innovation.
• Flexible course structure with the unique opportunity to study all of the non-clinical medical school courses in the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences.
• Opportunities to interact will leading UC centers with cutting edge instrumentation including:
  • UCR Center for Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB) (www.cepceb.ucr.edu)
  • UCR Central Facility for Advanced Microscopy and Microanalysis
  • UCR Institute for Integrative Genome Biology (IIGB) (www.genomics.ucr.edu)
  • San Diego Super Computing (SDSC) (http://www.sdsc.edu)
• The potential to do collaborative cutting-edge medical research with institutions such as:
  • City of Hope
  • Loma Linda University, School of Medicine

Results

BIG combines a solid fundamental foundation in biological science and engineering, and aims to equip the students with diverse communication skills and training in the most advanced quantitative bioengineering research so that they can become leaders in their respective fields. Students have the opportunity to interact with, not only their advisors, but continuously with the BIG Faculty in a host of academic settings. The result is a rigorous, but exceptionally interactive and welcoming educational training for BIG students.

Broad Course Selection to Choose From Including the Non-Clinical Medical School Courses

BIG has a minimum core course structure to allow the students to work with their faculty advisors to build strengths in their particular area of interest.

Unique to BIG is the opportunity for graduate students to participate in medical school courses offered in the Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences. This gives them an opportunity to develop one of the most solid biomedical foundations offered in a bioengineering graduate program.

How to Apply

Degrees Available

BIG offers graduate instruction leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Bioengineering. Fellowships are available for Ph.D. students only.