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Study with Us
Diversity is the name of the game in the Biomechanics and Movement Science Program! Our students, the pride of our Program, come from highly diverse backgrounds including physical therapy, exercise physiology, mechanical engineering, biological sciences, psychology, computer science, althetic training and more. The areas in which students wish to gain knowledge and research experience are equally diverse. For information on finding an Advisor please click HERE.
The BIOMS Program offers MS and PhD Degrees. Students entering the program with a Masters or a professional doctorate (eg. DPT, MD, DPM etc) should apply for the PhD degree. Students entering our program with a Bachelor Degree should apply for the Masters and when the MS degree is completed, they can continue to earn a PhD.
BIOMS MS and PhD students, together with their Advisors, develop Plans of Study (an individualized curriculum) designed to provide breadth and depth of knowledge in one of 5 areas of study relating to biomechanics and movement science. Masters and PhD degrees can be earned in any of the 5 Areas of Study. The Plan of Study is formed by the end of the first semester of study and may include graduate courses at UD or at Thomas Jefferson University through our Gradaute Student Learning Partnership. All Plans of Study are approved by the BIOMS Executive Committee. Please see POS for more information about the Plan of Study.
The 5 Areas of Study are:
Area of Study |
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- Applied Anatomy & Biomechanics (AAB)
- Applied/Exercise Physiology (AEP)
- Motor Control & Behavior (MCB)
- Rehabilitation Engineering (RE)
- Tissue/Molecular Biomechanics (TMB)
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* The MS and PhD can be earned in any of the 5 areas shown above. However, the sample Plans of Study are provided as examples only, and thus are not provided for all degree options in all study areas.
Plan of Study are approved by the BIOMS Executive Committee in the student's first sememster of study. Please remember that any graduate course at UD or TJU that pertains to the students Area of Study can be part of the Plan of study as long as it satisfies the requirements listed below.
Course Related Information
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MS in Biomechanics & Movement Science
The Master's degree program requires 24 credits plus 6 credits of thesis.
Among the 24 credits the following must be included:
- 3 credits Instrumentation, Computer Applications
- 3 credits of Experimental Design or Statistics
- 2 semesters of BMSC 865 Seminar (0 credits)
- 2, 3-credit courses outside of the principle Area of Study
- no more than 6 credits of Independent Study
Masters degrees typically take 2 years of full time study to complete. Coursework typically comprises much of year 1and thesis comprises much of year 2. While Masters students do not advance to candidacy, they must defend the masters thesis proposal before the BIOMS faculty. The proposal is written in the form of an NIH R03 grant propsal.
At least 3 (and no more than 6) faculty from the Biomechanics and Movement Science Program comprise the Masters Thesis Committee. The Thesis Advisor must be a member of the BIOMS faculty. At least one other committee member must be a BIOMS Faculty member and have expertise in an Area of Study other than that of the Advisor.
The final defense of the Thesis must be approved by the thesis committee before the MS Degree is awarded.
For more information about Defense of the Thesis Proposal please click HERE. |
PhD in Biomechanics & Movement Science
The PhD requires 33 credits (beyond a masters degree) plus 9 dissertation credits. The following must be included:
- 3 credits in Instrumentation, Computer Applications
- 3 credits in Experimental Design or Statistics
- at least 3 semesters of BMSC 865 Seminar (0 credits)
- 2, 3-credit courses outside of the principle Area of Study
- no more than 12 credits of Independent Study and Research combined
- if students take research and independent study courses, no more than 6 research credits may count toward the degree total
Prior to conducting the dissertation, the student works with his or her Advisor to identify a Dissertation Commitee.The dissertation committee must consist of at least three BIOMS faculty membersde,one of whom must be from a department different than that of the dissertation advisor. In addition, the committee shall have one member from outside the BIOMS program.
After coursework is completed, PhD Students defend the dissertation proposal, before the BIOMS faculty. The proposal is which is written in the form of an NIH grant and defense of the dissertation proposal constitutes the qualifying examination. PhD students advance to PhD Candidates after successfully defending their dissertation proposals.
The final defense of the dissertation must be approved by the Dissertation Committee before the PhD is awarded.
For more information about Defense of the Dissertation Proposal please click HERE. |
Other BIOMS Admissions Information and Requirements
Graduate Student Tuition and Fees
The majority of BIOMS students receive a stipend over the 9 month academic year and may receive a stipend during the summer months depending on the availabiltiy of funds. Funding for graduate students is merit based and includes: teaching assistantships (TA), gradute assistantships (GA), research assistantships (RA), fellowships, and Tuition Scholarships. For more information on the responsibilities of these funding opportunities please visit the web site of the Office of Professional and Graduate Education and click on link for "Funding".
Funding for BIOMS Students is offered by the Home Department (the department in which the Faculty Advisor has his or her primary faculty appointment). For example, funding for BIOMS students whose advisor is a faculty member in the Department of Physical Therapy, comes from the Department of Physical Therapy. Therefore, applicants who contact BIOMS faculty as they are looking for an advisor should inquire about funding available through the Home Department at the same time.
Transfer up to 3 courses for BIOMS MS and PhD
- A maximum of 9 graduate credit hours may be transferred from another institution, as long as the courses did not satisfy the requirements of a previous degree earned by the BIOMS student.
GPA
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Students must maintain a GPA above 3.0
Level of Courses
- Only graduate level courses can be taken for credit in this program. These courses have numbers between 600 and 899. Students may petition to count credits from 500-level courses toward the total credits for the degree.
Please refer to the Program Policy Statement for more details of the degree requirements.
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