Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Undergraduate research opportunities allow Biomedical Engineering students to apply their engineering and science skills to real life biomedical research in various fields.  The research may be performed in either on-campus or off-campus, directed by a BME core, courtesy, or adjunct faculty member.

How to Proceed

1. Start by developing an understanding of research opportunities in Biomedical Engineering.  Visit the Biomedical Engineering faculty research web page and go to the BMES research open house (usually held each semester) to identify professors conducting research that interests you.

2. Closely examine the professors’ research that you find interesting.  Pay particular attention to the methods that are used and previous achievements.

3. Contact the professor(s) of interest via e-mail or phone to set up an appointment to visit the research group and gain a better understanding about current projects and research environment.  If possible, attend a laboratory group meeting.  Provide the professors with a list of your prior coursework, grades, and relevant lab, equipment, and research experiences.

4. If the research environment looks appealing, ask about the possibility to join the group or to shadow group members.  If the answer is negative, ask about what additional preparation would be required in order to join the group in the future.

5. The expectation of each professor varies with regard to prior training, number of hours, time distribution, and total period of commitment by the student.  Some faculty members may prefer juniors and seniors who typically have more extensive experience, while others may prefer sophomores, as they may have a longer commitment to a project.

6. Opportunities may be created after a professor meets a strong student.  Students with a stronger academic performance with fewer classes may be favored over students with poor grades and have taken more classes.

7. The rules, atmosphere, and size of research groups vary substantially.  Personality match can be as important as research interest match.

8. Doing research should be for research interest and learning.  It takes strong motivation and passion to succeed.

Getting Paid or Receiving Academic Credit

• Each student should meet with his/her advisor to determine how many hours of research per week will be expected.  Research done during the fall or spring semester is typically unpaid, and may be done with or without receiving academic credit.  Any expectation of payment and the amount should be discussed with the advisor.  Any student who receives payment for research cannot receive academic credit.

• If the research is done for academic credit, the student should register for the appropriate number of units 42-x00 Biomedical Engineering Research Project or 39-500 CIT Honors Thesis (if applicable).  Each unit should correspond to one hour per week of research.  For instance, 9 units of research corresponds to 9 hours of research per week.  Please note that only a total of 9 units of research (42-x00 or 39-500) will be counted as a restricted elective toward the BME additional major.  Students should discuss with their advisor to determine the best time to take research for credit.

• Each student should meet with his/her advisor to determine how many hours of research per week will be expected.  Research done during the fall or spring semester is typically unpaid, and may be done with or without receiving academic credit.  Any expectation of payment and the amount should be discussed with the advisor.  Any student who receives payment for research cannot receive academic credit.

• If the research is done for academic credit, the student should register for the appropriate number of units 42-x00 Biomedical Engineering Research Project or 39-500 CIT Honors Thesis (if applicable).  Each unit should correspond to one hour per week of research.  For instance, 9 units of research corresponds to 9 hours of research per week.  Please note that only a total of 9 units of research (42-x00 or 39-500) will be counted as a restricted elective toward the BME additional major.  Students should discuss with their advisor to determine the best time to take research for credit.

• In order to receive a final grade for 42-x00, a brief research summary (two to three pages) must be submitted to the Associate Department Head by the last day of classes.

Summer Research

• Research done during the summer is often paid and may be supported by the CMU SURF program, the BME Summer Undergraduate Research Program (see below), or the advisor's research grants.  However, any student who receives payment for summer research cannot receive academic credit.

• If a student desires to receive academic credit for summer research, he/she must register for 42-x00 during the summer and pay the corresponding amount of tuition.

Biomedical Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program
(pdf)

Description: The 2012 Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (SURP in BME at CMU) invites BME undergraduate majors to apply for summer research experiences. Through this program, students will spend a ten-week period in Biomedical Engineering research laboratories either on campus at Carnegie Mellon University or off campus with affiliated faculty members. These summer experiences allow BME students to apply their classroom knowledge to cutting-edge research projects. Since the inception of this program in 1980, hundreds of BME students have participated in this unique experience. Many continue their BME research during the school year as well. These experiences have played a major role in helping alumni chose their career paths and obtain positions in industrial or academic laboratories.

Compensation and Duration: Each student will receive $9.33/hour and can work a maximum of 37.5 hours per week for a total of 10 weeks.

Eligibility: The SURP in BME is ONLY intended for Carnegie Mellon University students who have completed their sophomore year and are officially registered as an additional major in Biomedical Engineering.

Applications: Students interested in the summer internship must submit the following:

• A current resume
• A statement of research interests. In your statement:
  a. List three (3) participating research faculty (in order of preference) that you are interested in working for.
  b. For each faculty member in part a, write a brief statement that describes why you are interested in that specific lab, and why you are well-suited for that lab.

A list of participating research faculty can be found below. Both parts of the application should be submitted to Kristin Galuska (kgaluska AT andrew.cmu.edu). Please put “SURP in BME” in the subject line. The due date for applications is 3/9/12. 

Matching Procedure: The BME Department will match each applicant with potential researchers. Each researcher will then interview several students who are interested in his/her research. After the interviews are complete, each faculty researcher will send the BME Department their top choices. The BME Department will then contact each accepted student with an offer for a summer position. Once a student has accepted a position, the student is not permitted to switch to a different research laboratory.  Due to limited financial resources, we cannot guarantee that all applicants will receive an offer.

Research Conference: At the end of the summer (date, time, and location TBD), each student will present his/her research in poster format at the BME Summer Research Conference. Additional information will be provided at a later date. Each student must participate in this conference in order to receive his/her final paycheck.

List of Faculty Researchers

External Research Opportunities

• 2012 Summer REU Programs (xlsx)

Travel Support

• Application (docx)

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(Updated 02/29/12)

Campus Office for Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
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Department of Biomedical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
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