Doctor of Biomedical Engineering

The Doctor of Philosophy (Biomedical Engineering) takes three years of full-time study to complete, or up to eight years part-time. Institutions like the University of Tasmania offer these to applicants at the height of the discipline, focussing entirely on research. Students either submit a roughly 70,000 word thesis on a topic of their choice by the end of the program or have multiple smaller works published throughout.

Employment options

The employment options specified here are all excellent choices for PhD graduates, but the qualification is particularly suited to research. One of the most valuable characteristics of biomedical engineering are the practical, often life-saving advancements that come as a result of research. PhDs equip graduates to be excellent researchers, so this career path is a natural fit.

The Biomedical College of Engineers Australia is a great resource regardless of where any graduate decides to take their career. It provides opportunities to network with professionals already in the field and perhaps discover otherwise inaccessible employment opportunities.

Scholarships and funding

There are a number of scholarships available that are unique to biomedical engineering PhDs, or general engineering PhDs. Some of these include:

• The Beacon Scholarship for PhD Applicants is worth up to $200,000, making it one of the largest available. It’s only available to a select few disciplines, of which biomedical engineering is fortunately one. The application process is just as unique as the value; students traditionally need to be invited instead of making a formal application. If the prospect of sitting around waiting to be invited seems dubious, students can ‘push the envelope’ so to speak by having their supervisor contact the University of Adelaide’s dean.
• The PhD Scholarship in Image and Signal Processing provides $27,000 pa (up to a maximum of $95,500) on the basis of merit to students of select engineering disciplines, biomedical included. Positions are exceptionally scarce, with only two being available. Requirements include:
  • A high GPA; as high as possible
  • Experience designing human experiments
  • Background knowledge in signal processing
  • Evidence of research excellence (doing a PhD by publication can aid in this)
• The Postgraduate Research Scholarship in Computational Biomechanics provides $26,682 pa to engineering PhD students. Similar to the previous scholarship, there are several requirements:
  • Have a high GPA
  • Have experience in numerical modelling
  • Have experience with finite element methods
  • Have experience with design optimisation regarding fluids and solids

It’s possible for students of biomedical engineering to have experience with all of these, particularly the final requirement, making it a sound opportunity to apply for.

It’s also very much worth applying for any of the top general scholarships, as they’re unusually lucrative. Some of these include:

Some of the largest scholarships available are available across disciplines, such as:

• Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships valued at $69,000 pa.
• General Sir John Monash Scholarships valued at $65,000 pa.
• The Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship valued at $120,000. This one is less straightforward than a GPA requirement, urging students to focus on one of three areas:
  • Technology and innovation
  • Strengthening Australia-Asia ties
  • Enabling positive social change

Biomedical Engineering PhDs are clearly well-suited to the first option, as research into new technology is at the forefront. It’s certainly possible to make a case for progressing the other two areas, but the first is without a doubt the clearest.

To view the full list of available scholarships for biomedical engineering PhDs, click here.

Prerequisites and selection process

Applicants need to have a bachelor or master degree in biomedical engineering or cognate discipline to enter. There are a few other requirements nested within these, however.

• Regarding bachelor degree entry, students often require at least second-class honours.
• Regarding master degree entry, the course must have a sufficient research component or else applicants are ineligible. “Sufficient” is often defined as roughly 25% of the course grade being dedicated to research.
• A graduate diploma can serve in place of a master degree, provided the same research component is met.