The Duke BTE Certificate Program

A program that integrates engineering, the life sciences and medicine

The Duke BTE program emphasizes research, graduate education, and interactions with industry. The research focus is the interaction of proteins, cells and tissues with materials and drugs in natural biological processes, and in medical diagnosis and therapy.

An NIGMS biotechnology training grant offers stipends, tuition, and fees to a number of BTE pre-doctoral students.


Trainees Are Drawn from Duke Programs

As a non-admitting program, Duke CBTE draws students from other admitting pre-doctoral programs at Duke in Engineering, the Arts & Sciences, and Medicine. Please note, all trainees are subject to the degree requirements of the university and their home department.

Admitting Programs

CBTE trainees are graduate students admitted to these Duke units and programs:

  • Biochemistry
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
  • Cell Biology
  • Cell & Molecular Biology Training Program
  • Chemistry
  • Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Computational Biology & Bioinformatics Training Program
  • Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program
  • Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Medicine
  • Molecular Cancer Biology Training Program
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Pathology Training Program
  • Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
  • Pharmacological Sciences Training Program
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Surgery
  • University Program in Genetics & Genomics

How Trainees are Accepted

After students have been accepted by one of the Duke degree-granting programs listed above, CBTE faculty members provide names of admitted students with research interests in protein, cellular, or tissue engineering to the CBTE Steering Committee.

Alternatively, admitted Duke students themselves may apply directly to the program by informing a CBTE co-director, who will notify the Steering Committee.

Acceptance Criteria

The primary criteria are:

  1. Academic excellence
  2. Appropriateness of research interests
  3. Identification of the student's research interest with preferably, one engineering and one non-engineering CBTE faculty.

Also, ideal candidates hold either a BS or MS in:

  • An engineering field, with a concentration in biochemistry, cell biology or chemistry
  • Biochemistry, biology, or chemistry with a strong analytical background

Curriculum

The curriculum requires rigorous quantitative training including engineering electives; however, the curriculum is flexible enough to welcome the participation of non-engineering students.

 Review the curriculum »