Introduction

The University of Utah's Neuroengineering Track is an interdisciplinary program of study that may be taken either in the Department of Biomedical Engineering or the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Regardless of the department, students undertake similar coursework and are able to be supervised by neuroengineering faculty in any department.

Prospective students will choose one of the departments to apply to, guided primarily by undergraduate preparation and by which department the student wishes their graduate degree to be in. Admissions procedures for the two departments are different, and there are slight differences in the program of study. Both departments offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The M.S. program may be taken as a course-only option, a project option, or thesis option.

The Neuroengineering Track trains students in the fields of basic and applied neuroscience and neuroengineering. This program aims to treat neural dysfunction with engineering approaches and repurpose strategies utilized by biological nervous systems to solve traditional engineering problems. Research specializations of faculty in the program 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-invasive modes of stimulating neural tissue (e.g., focused ultrasound and magnetic stimulation).

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Financial support is typically offered for Ph.D. students and for thesis M.S. students, through teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships. Our admissions standards are high, and hence the competition is rigorous for the limited number of open positions in the Neuroengineering Track. Admission is based on an evaluation of an applicant’s academic profile and research potential. Students with strong technical backgrounds, an intellectual curiosity about neuroengineering, and an interest in hands-on research are encouraged to apply. We especially encourage applications from under-represented minorities.

 

Undergraduate degrees in engineering, science, applied mathematics or computer science are all excellent backgrounds from which to approach neuroengineering and apply to the Neuroengineering Track. Students are expected to be strong mathematically, and to have some prior research experience. Advanced programming skills are desirable but not necessary for admission since the requisite skills will be taught.

The curriculum covers the fundamental elements of neuroengineering in three core courses: Computational Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience, and Neural Engineering. Students also take additional elective courses at the intersection of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering. Elective courses are selected by students to tailor their studies for their particular research topics or interests and departmental requirements. This interdisciplinary training will prepare a student to pursue any topic in neuroengineering, and to broadly approach many technical problems of interest to society.