PhD in Biomedical Engineering: Top Universities, Eligibility, and Job Opportunities

PhD Biomedical Engineering, also known as Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering, is a three-year doctorate programme in biomedical engineering that can be extended to five years. Tissue Engineering, Molecular or Systems-Level Biology/ Physiology, and Mathematics are all covered in the Biomedical Engineering degree.

Students can investigate the monitoring, treatment, and prevention of a number of medical disorders while taking this course, such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, spinal cord injuries, and tumour growth. A master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering is the minimum requirement for admission to this programme. Admission to this programme will be based on counselling after passing admission exams such as GATE and others, as determined by the colleges. 

Course Level	Doctorate
Full-Form	Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering
Duration	3 – 6 years
Examination Type	Semester-based
Minimum Eligibility	Need a Master’s degree (or sometimes a strong Bachelor’s) in a relevant engineering or science field with good grades (55-60%+). You’ll likely need to pass national entrance exams like GATE, UGC-NET, or CSIR-NET, though exemptions exist for some top M.Tech/M.E. graduates. Research experience is often a plus.
Admission Process	Application Merit/ Entrance-Based
Average Annual Course Fee	India: INR 15,000 – INR 22,00,000 Abroad: INR 20 – INR 50 Lakhs per year
Average Annual Salary	India: INR 4,00,000 – INR 11,00,000 Abroad: USD 62,000 – USD 154,000
Top Recruiting Companies	Universities, AIIMS, Apollo Hospitals, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Siemens Healthineers, Stryker, GE Healthcare, Biocon, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, various research institutes (e.g., NIBMG), pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, startups, and government healthcare organizations.
Job Profiles	Healthcare Scientist, Biomedical Scientist, Analytical Chemist, Clinical Biomedical Engineer, Clinical Research Associate, Forensic Scientist, Physician Associate, Scientific Laboratory Technician, Toxicologist, Biomechanics Engineer, Biomaterials Scientist, Medical Imaging Specialist, Product Development Engineer, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Research Scientist, Bioprocess Engineer, etc.

About PhD Biomedical Engineering

The following is specific regarding the PhD Biomedical Engineering programme:-

• Biomedical engineering entails using engineering ideas and methodologies to describe and address medical and biological problems.
• Tissue Engineering, Molecular or Systems-level Biology/ Physiology, and Mathematics are all part of this PhD programme.
• Graduates of this programme apply their engineering, biology, and medical knowledge to the healthcare and medical device businesses.
• Biology, biological sciences, engineering disciplines, medicine, clinical applications, and human health enhancement are all included in this field.
• Candidates may choose Biomedical Engineering because they want to help people, because they want to work with living systems, and because they want to apply modern technology to difficulties in health care delivery.
• Industry, health care, academia, private laboratories, and government are all good places to look for biomedical engineering jobs. 

Subjects & Syllabus for PhD in Biomedical Engineering

Although the PhD in Biomedical Engineering programme syllabus differs from each college, it generally comprises a few common core courses from which students can choose according to their interests.

The following table lists the most typical subjects included in a structured PhD Biomedical Engineering curriculum:

• Biomedical Instrumentation
• Biomedical Imaging Systems
• Biomechanics
• Signal Processing
• Image Processing
• Computer Graphics
• Design of Algorithms and Data Structures

Top Universities for PhD in Biomedical Engineering Abroad

The following are the top biomedical engineering universities in the world:

Institute	Country	QS Rankings World University Rankings: 2026
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	USA	1
Stanford University	USA	3rd
ETH Zurich	Switzerland	7th
Imperial College London	UK	2nd
Johns Hopkins University	USA	24
University of Warwick	UK	74
Georgia Institute of Technology	USA	123
Newcastle University	UK	137th
University of Twente	Netherlands	#=203
Tampere University of Technology	Finland	423
Duke University	USA	62
University of California- Berkeley	USA	17
Boston University	USA	88
University of Cambridge	UK	6
King’s College London	UK	31
National University of Singapore	Singapore	8th
University of Toronto	Canada	29
TU Dresden	Germany	218
Queensland University of Technology	Australia	226th
McGill University	Canada	#27

Duration of Biomedical Engineering Courses

You need to know the duration of PhD biomedical engineering. Here’s a table that would help you:

Country	PhD
USA/Canada	3-6years
UK/Australia	3-6 years
Other countries	3-6 years

Top Universities in India for PhD in Biomedical Engineering

The following are the top institutions for biomedical engineering in India:

College Name	NIRF Engineering Ranking 2024
IIT Madras – Indian Institute of Technology	1
IIT Delhi – Indian Institute of Technology	2
IIT Bombay – Indian Institute of Technology	3
IIT Kanpur – Indian Institute of Technology	4
IIT Kharagpur – Indian Institute of Technology	5
IIT (BHU) Varanasi – Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University	10
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT Vellore)	11
Jadavpur University, Kolkata	12
S.R.M. Institute of Science and Technology (SRM University Chennai)	13
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore (Amrita School of Engineering)	23
Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT Manipal)	56

Eligibility Criteria for PhD in Biomedical Engineering

India

• Students must have earned a Master’s degree in any discipline of engineering or its equivalent from Osmania University or any other equivalent university/recognized institute, with a minimum of 60% in B.E. and M.E./M.Tech.
• Some reputable institutions and universities hold an admissions examination.

International Colleges Eligibility

• A Master’s Degree is necessary in fields like engineering, physics, applied mathematics or computer science.
• Although GRE may not be required, it is preferable to have.
• Most colleges require three letters of recommendation.
• You need to have at least 2 choices on the specialty area of study.
• English proficiency is required(TOEFL/IELTS) 

Application Process for PhD Biomedical Engineering

1. Fill out the application form on the website of each college
2. Enter your details and pay the required fee for the application
3. Submit all documents including TOEFL/IELTS scores for International Colleges and GATE/UGC NET scores for Indian Colleges
4. If your profile is suitable, appear for an interview when called
5. If selected, you will be asked to submit the tuition fee

Documents Required 

• Official Transcripts
• Official GRE Scores
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Curriculum Vitae or Resume
• Personal Statement
• On the International Applicant page, international applicants should examine the Language Proficiency criteria.

Popular Books for PhD Biomedical Engineering

Name of the Book	Author
Fundamentals of Biomechanics	Duane V Knudson
Biomedical Image Analysis	Rangaraj M Rangayyan
Medical Imaging Systems	Albert Macovski
Biomedical Instrumentation	R S Khandpur
Biomedical Electronics & Instrumentation	G S Sawhney

Scope of PhD Biomedical Engineering Abroad and in India

• PhD Biomedical Engineers can work in academic institutions as well as in industry and other institutions in high-level research and development jobs.
• PhD holders in Biomedical Engineering seek work in the public and private sectors as Professors, Research and Development Engineers in areas such as Bioinstrumentation, Biomaterials, Biomechanics, Tissue Engineering, or Rehabilitation Engineering, and Consulting Engineers.
• Biomedical Scientists, Healthcare Scientists, Research Scientists (Life Sciences), Analytical Chemists, Clinical Biomedical Engineering, Clinical Research Associate, Forensic Scientists, Physician Associates, Scientific Laboratory Technicians, Toxicologists, and other positions are available to candidates who have completed a PhD in Biomedical Engineering programme.

Job Profiles and Salary

Job profile	Job Description	Average Annual Salary (India)
Biomedical Scientist	Biomedical Scientists typically study diseases in a lab. Understand, Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent human diseases. Test effectiveness of various treatments by studying in the lab the various treatments on tissues of patients. Diagnose, manage and prevent new and emerging diseases. Find pre-existing conditions for diseases like cancer and diabetes. Analytical, problem solving and team skills are some of the important skills required.	INR 5 Lakh to INR 8 Lakh
Postdoctoral Research Assistant	Design and conduct various experiments based on scientific principles. Assist the research department in various researches. Make sure the research is performed as per the scientific principles and data is recorded properly. Contribute to research analysis and ideas.	INR 3 Lakh – INR 6 Lakh
Expert Reviewer	Accept and review research applications in various fields. Shortlist the applications and coordinate the applications which need change. Provide gap analysis to the applications and help the applicants to submit applications as per the requirements. Coordination till the commissioning of the grant.	INR 6 Lakh – INR 10 Lakh
Research Scientist	Work at R&D labs on research. Apply for a grant for biomedical engineering research subjects. After receiving the grant, conduct research as per scientific principles. Share the findings in journals and with other scientists.	INR 4.5 Lakh – INR 18 Lakh
Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering	Lecture the students on biomedical engineering subjects. Prepare exams and grade the students. Design the curriculum as per the industry requirements.	INR 7.5 Lakh – INR 10 Lakh

Job Opportunities After a PhD in Biomedical Engineering

Now that you are enlightened about all the information relevant to this discipline, the following is a list of highly regarded organizations that provide potential jobs to graduates of biological engineering: 

• Johnson & Johnson.
• KLS Martin.
• Maquet.
• Philips Healthcare.
• Samsung Healthcare.
• Siemens Healthineers.
• Skanray Healthcare.
• Stryker

FAQs

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We hope this blog gives you a complete overview of PhD Biomedical Engineering. Stay tuned to Leverage Edu for more such content on student life abroad. Thank you for reading!