(PBE)
Admission to the PhD Program in Biological Engineering will be made based on a recommendation by the graduate admission committee. The plan of study for each student will be developed in consultation with and approved by the student’s graduate advisory committee. The committee will include the student’s major advisor and at least two additional members of the graduate faculty such that the LSU Graduate School’s requirements for graduate committees are satisfied. Forty-two credit hours of non-research course work beyond the BS, with the following provisions:
- At least half credit hours at 7000 level or above
- At least half credit hours in the College of Engineering
- At least one (3 credit hours) advanced math or statistics course at 4000 or 7000 level
- At least 12 credit hours in Biological Engineering
- No more than six credits of BE 7909
- One credit hour of BE 7500
Students with a MS degree in Biological Engineering or a related field can transfer up to 21 credit hours of non-research coursework with approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.
Ph.D. students from other departments who choose BAE as a minor should be expected to take at least 12 hours of BE graduate credits to satisfy their requirements for a minor. The specific courses, which can include independent study, will be determined by the student’s minor professor.
Each PhD student completes a milestone examination within 12 months of admission to the BE PhD -Program. This examination serves as the student’s qualifying exam for continuing in the PhD program. The exam consists of 1. Report summarizing the student’s research proposal to be submitted to the committee two weeks prior to the exam date, and 2. Presentation of the research proposal to the advisory committee.
At or near the end of the completion of a PhD student’s required course work, the student should schedule the general examination. The general examination consists of two parts: one written, the other oral. The written portion is at the discretion of the committee. The oral portion will include an update on the research progress, although the oral examination need not be limited to topics related to the student’s PhD research. Upon successful completion of the general examination, the PhD candidate moves forward with the dissertation to demonstrate the ability to design and conduct independent and original research. The final examination will be an oral examination primarily concerned with the dissertation, although the committee may opt to extend the questions to the general subject matter.
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