School of Medicine 

Departmental E-mail:  RMAT@iu.edu

Departmental URL:  https://medicine.iu.edu/research-centers/regenerative-medicine-engineering/Graduate-Program

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.) 

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered 

Ph.D. in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies 

Special Departmental Requirements 

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.) 

Ph.D. in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies 

Students must complete a minimum of 90 credit hours for the Ph.D. degree in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies. The majority of coursework will be in the form of didactic classroom lectures and research seminars. 16 credit hours must be completed from the list of Core Courses. 3 credit hours must be completed from the list of Elective Courses. Students will complete at least one approved Ph.D. minor. The remaining credits will be laboratory research credits (SURG-R800) and will be supervised by their Graduate Faculty mentor and an advisory/research committee selected by the student and their mentor. Less than 30% of the curriculum will be available as online courses. Course grades must, overall, result in a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Please refer to the University Graduate School Bulletin for additional requirements for Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

Admission Requirements 

Bachelor’s degree, preferably with a strong background in the sciences. Candidates should have a grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The Graduate Record Examination General Test or Medical College Admission Test is optional. Test of English as a Foreign Language is required of international applicants. It is preferable that graduate study be started in the fall semester. 

Grades 

Students must maintain an average overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in course work and earn no less than a B- in any required or elective course. 

Advisory Committees

Each student will meet with the Graduate Advisor to form their Academic Advisory Committee to advise and approve the student's Plan of Study and administer the Candidacy Examination. This committee must comprise a minimum of three Surgery graduate faculty or affiliated members and a faculty member from the student’s chosen minor subject area. 

After successful completion of the Candidacy Examination, the student will solicit faculty members to serve on their Doctoral Advisory Committee. The Doctoral Advisory Committee advises the student during their final course of study and administers their Defense Examination. The student's Primary Advisor serves as the chair of the Doctoral Advisory Committee. The selection of the Primary Advisor requires the advisor’s consent and the approval of the Graduate Advisor. The student's research interests should align with the Primary Advisor’s specialties. 

In addition to the Primary Advisor, the Doctoral Advisory Committee will be composed of at least two additional Surgery or affiliated graduate faculty, and at least one faculty member representing the student's Minor area. Additional members may be included at the student's request. Inclusion of individuals without graduate faculty standing may be included but cannot supplant the other four members with graduate faculty status. 

Examination Requirements 

Students must pass the Candidacy Examination and the Defense Examination. 

Candidacy Examination Requirements 

The Candidacy Exam is composed of a written and oral portion intended to test a student’s preparation to undertake an original research project. The student is evaluated based on their performance in the formulation, presentation, and defense of a hypothesis-driven scientific proposal. The written proposal presents a plausible, hypothesis-driven thesis project following the NIH guidelines for a F30 (M.D./Ph.D. or other dual doctoral degree program), F31 (predoctoral students), or F32 (medical residents and postdoctoral students) grant. Unlike the NIH grant, the documents will be double-spaced, a total of 14 pages in length, and contain only four sections: 1) Specific Aims - 3 pages, 2) Significance - 1 page, 3) Approach - 10 pages, and 4) References - not included in overall length limits. Proposals longer than these page limits (excluding references) will not be accepted and will be returned immediately to the student. 

The Specific Aims section must demonstrate a clear understanding of the research problem and an approach to work toward a defendable solution. It should include at least three Specific Aims, a Graphical Abstract, and an Impact Statement. The Significance section must demonstrate knowledge of pertinent background literature and current efforts in the research area of interest. The Approach section must include sufficient detail to demonstrate initial progress toward solving the research problem and a plan to execute the remainder of the dissertation research. The plan should include a Simple Budget and a Timeline. 

Defense Examination Requirements 

The Defense Exam determines if the student’s research warrants granting the Ph.D. degree. A written original research document must be approved by the Doctoral Advisory Committee in a public defense as described in the Graduate School Bulletin. Doctoral research must be original and merit publication in the scholarly literature. 

Course Requirements 

A total of 90 credit hours are required. Students must confirm the plan of study with their Academic Advisory Committee and the Graduate Advisor. 

Core Courses (16 credit hours) 

Students must take all of the following courses:

• GRDM-G505 Responsible Conduct of Research (1 cr.)
• GRDM-G507 Reagent Validation as a Means for Enhanced Research Reproducibility (1 cr.)
• SURG-R711 Regenerative Medicine, Biomaterials and Therapeutics (2 cr.)
• SURG-R712 Regenerative Medicine Technology Development and Manufacturing (2 cr.)
• SURG-R720 Research Rotation in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies (3 X 2 cr. = 6 cr.)
• SURG-R791 Industry/Clinical Internship (4 cr.) 

Minor Courses (variable credit hours) 

The student must select an appropriate minor with the Academic Advisory Committee’s recommendation. The number of hours to be included in the minor will be consistent with the requirements of the unit granting the mi­nor. 

Elective Course(s) (3 credit hours required) 

• SURG-R780 Advanced Topics in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies (3 )
• BME 52700 Implantable Systems (3 )
• BME 58200 Advanced Biomedical Polymers (3 )
• BME 59500 Biomolecular Engineering (3 cr.)
• BME 59500 Cellular Mechanotransduction (3 )
• BME 59500 Tissue Engineering (3 )
• GRDM-G661 Clinical Trials (3 cr.)
• GRAD-G715 Biomedical Science I (2 cr.)
• The student may use additional electives in their plan of study with the approval of the Academic Advisory Committee. 

Research (59+ credits) 

• SURG-R800 – Research in Regenerative Medicine and Technologies (variable cr.)