Crowds of people in the mall area on the UMN Twin Cities campus

Master’s program

Three plans

Master's-Plan A: Thesis

For students who want to do research.

  • 20 credits of coursework
  • 10 thesis credits and a final defense
     

Master's-Plan B: Project

For students looking to strike a balance between research and coursework. 

  • 28 credits of coursework
  • 2 to 3 Plan B Project credits and a final defense
     

Master’s-Plan C: Coursework only

For students who are already working or who want to work in industry, where having research experience is not going to be required. 

  • 30 credits of coursework

Note: There’s no research component.
 

Plans give you flexibility in how you balance coursework, research, and even a job. You aren’t locked into a plan and can switch at any time.  

Additional programs

A top public research university

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is a top 10 U.S. public research university with world-class facilities.

More about UMN research

Hubert Lim showing a medical device to students

Broad, deep research and training environment

You’ll have the opportunity to work closely with graduate faculty members who span the full spectrum of biomedical engineering. 

Our 80+ faculty hail from more than 20 departments as well as our own, which has special research expertise in cardiovascular, neural, and cancer bioengineering.

3D map showing the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering's proximity to the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, UMN health sciences and 1,000+ local healthcare companies

Proximity to engineering, science, and medicine

We’re adjacent to the Medical School and other University of Minnesota science and engineering domains — they’re just steps away and connected by tunnels.

This proximity creates an intellectual environment where there’s:

✓ Interdisciplinary research.
✓ Engineering being applied to fundamental biological questions.
✓ Clinical and translational research collaborations.

UMN resources for biomedical engineering research

1,000+
local healthcare companies, including Boston Scientific, Medtronic, 3M, Abbott, Takeda, Bio-Techne, and Cargill.
500,000
people employed in health innovation and care — Minnesota boasts one of the world’s top health technology innovation clusters.
45%
of Department of Biomedical Engineering faculty have start-ups based on their tech.

 

A great place to live

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area offers vibrant culture and arts and abundant opportunities to enjoy the outdoors — all at a lower cost of living than cities on the east or west coast.

Why Minneapolis-St. Paul?

Fulfilling career opportunities

  • Medical device designer
  • Manufacturing engineer
  • Quality control/assurance engineer
  • Medical diagnostics
  • Rehabilitation engineer
  • Physiological systems engineer

An inclusive, close-knit community

Students studying on the lawn near Nils Hasselmo Hall

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is integral to departmental decision-making, including graduate admissions. In fact, we were among the first Biomedical Engineering departments with a full-time DEI Coordinator, Gabbi Horsford.

Students also enjoy highly engaged student groups.

Student groups

Sylvester Nwosuji Jr.

Contact us and more information

Dave Wood
Director of Graduate Studies
dkwood@umn.edu

Erica Ratner
Graduate Program Coordinator
bmengp@umn.edu

For current students

Intranet