Biomedical Engineering (BME) is an inter-disciplinary field involving the subject of Life Science, Cognitive Science and Information Science. BME in UESTC started from the year of 1986. During the discipline evaluation recently organized by Ministry of Education, BME in UESTC ranks the tenth among the BME disciplines of all the main universities in China. The current experimental conditions include the Key Laboratory of Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, and other Sichuan Province supported Key Laboratories, which are equipped with 3.0T MR, EGI and NeuroScan EEG workstations, etc. Altogether, cheerful results have been achieved in the areas of brain imaging techniques and applications, visual electrophysiology and computational modeling, biomedical signal processing, medical imaging and processing, system biology, plant molecular genetics, nanomedicine, etc.

1. Objectives

Ph. Ds of the discipline are expected to have a profound knowledge of the cutting-edge research and trend of the fields of biomedicine and information techniques and a solid and extensive grasp of the theoretical and systematic expertise, as are able to complete experiments and studies of the filed independently, to be proficient in the use of computers, able to contribute high-level academic papers and exchange views in international conferences, and to demonstrate rigorous spirits in scientific approaches and independence in scientific pursuits with in-depth studies and innovative achievements, so as to have the competency of undertaking researches and developing projects independently and qualities of being academic leaders or project leaders.

2. Orientations 

1. Brain Functions and Neural Information Engineering (EEG and fMRI Data Processing, Neural Electrophysiology, Brain-Computer Interface, Brain-inspired Intelligence, etc)

2. Medical Instruments, Medical Image and Signal Processing

3. Bioinformatics

4. Neurobiology

5. Cell Biology

6. Biochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology

3. Duration

The duration set for Ph.D candidates is 3 years full-time. An extension can be applied for by those who cannot finish their courses on time owing to objective causes, yet altogether 6 years is the last due.

4. Progression and Requirements

International students of Ph.D candidates can take 1) full-time training, i.e. the whole progression is done at UESTC, or 2) on-the-job training, i.e. finishing the course work at UESTC and completing the dissertation in their home country, with no less than 1 year to be spent at UESTC for the research work around the dissertation. Either way chosen, the dissertation defense should be done at UESTC.

The supervisor responsibility mechanism is adopted in the education for international Ph.D candidates. The supervisor is responsible for the student’s making of personal study plan, the choice of courses, and the completion of the degree thesis.

The minimum total credits for international students of Ph.D candidates is 14, Ph.D candidates should complete the course work of no less than a total of 12 credits (out of which at least 8 should be of the degree course categories), compulsory sections of no less than 2 credits. During the course work, according to specifications by the discipline, the student is to pass examinations held for the degree courses and examinations or assessments held for the other optional courses. Of all the degree courses, common core courses are compulsory. Ph.D candidates are allowed to choose 1~2 inter-disciplinary core courses as their degree courses under supervisors’ guidance. Degree courses can be taken to substitute non-degree courses, but not vice versa. International students of Chinese language abilities can apply to take courses given in Chinese to local full-time graduate students and acquire corresponding credits if pass.

Those who fail to meet the credit requirements will be denied the thesis defense.