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Graduate Programs and Admissions

Major Research Areas

Department Brochure

About the Department (by Nalin Makar)
A good department with good professors. The security related courses here are really coming up and are going to be great in the coming years. Prof. Jon Solworth along with Prof. Bernstein from Math Department are trying to get a security related certification from NSA. Another well funded lab associated with CS department is the EVL lab which is doing path breaking work in visualization and graphics.

The CS department ranks low on the Jan 2002 rankings of US News, but a lot has changed in the past years and the department has really improved.

Click Here to read about the department on the department website.

Aid Scenario
Only PhD students will be supported by the department using Teaching Assistantships. Tuition Waivers (TFW) are present, but few in numbers. MS students can look for only Research Assistantships in CS Department, else look for Graduate Assistantships in other departments.

IGSA Contact Balamurugan Prabhakaran

Department Homepage

Contact Information
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
1020 Sciences and Engineering Offices (SEO)
851 South Morgan St.(M/C 154)
Chicago, IL 60607
Telephone: 312.996.3423
Fax: 312.996.6465

Graduate Programs Office
900 Sciences & Engineering Offices (SEO)
Email: grad-info@ece.uic.edu
Telephone: 312.996.4325
Fax: 312.996.6465

Head Of Department : Dr. Mitra Dutta
Director Of Graduate Studies : Dr. Derong Liu

About The Department
The ECE Department offers graduate programs leading to Electrical and Computer Engineering degrees at the master's and doctoral levels.

Major Research Areas:
http://ece.uic.edu/Research/Research_Area.html

Bio electronics and Biomimetics
Computer Engineering
Device Physics and Electronics
Information Systems

Aid Scenario
No MS student is going to be considered for TA anymore starting Fall 2005. Also be careful, if a professor offers you 25% RA. For it to be approved from the department you must have an additional 25% support from some other place( mostly GA). It is advisable to get at least a 25% GA first and then approach the profs for a RA.

Course Requirements: http://ece.uic.edu/Graduate/main.html

MS Students
Course only option:

1. You are required to take 10 courses.
2. Among these 10 courses, 8 of them must be ECE 400/500 level courses.
3. At least 4 of these courses must be ECE 500 level courses.
4. Up to 2 graduate courses can be taken outside the ECE Department (approval required) or can be transferred from other university.
5. There are no other restrictions.
6. Talk to your advisor if you do not understand these answers.

Thesis option:

1. You are required to take 7 courses.
2. Among these 7 courses, 6 of them must be ECE 400/500 level courses.
3. At least 3 of these courses must be ECE 500 level courses.
4. Up to 1 graduate course can be taken outside the ECE Department (approval required).
5. You need to talk to your advisor for your courses selection to see which courses are more useful to your Master's thesis research.

PhD Students
If you have a prior Master's degree, you are required to take 7 courses. A minimum of 4 out the 7 courses must be ECE 500 level courses. If you do not have a prior Master's degree, the department requires you to take 13 courses. A minimum of 9 out the 13 courses must be ECE courses and a minimum of 6 of them must be ECE 500 level courses. Always talk to your Ph.D. advisor about course selections. As a Ph.D. student, each semester, you can take 2-3 ECE 400/500 level courses plus 0-8 credit hours of ECE 599 (Ph.D. Thesis Research). The courses you take in your first two semesters should be decided based on your areas of choice for your PhD qualifying exam(Note: The exam will be in your second or third semester). The department has a list of recommended courses for Ph.D. qualifying exams posted on the web. Course selections are primarily based on your needs of Ph.D. qualifying exam and future Ph.D. dissertation research.

Courses Offered: http://ece.uic.edu/Graduate/Grad_Course.html

Admission Requirements
Letters of Recommendation: Three
Personal Statement: Required

IGSA Contact
Vickram Subramanian

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Homepage

Contact Information
Department of Mechanical Engineering
842 W. Taylor, MC 251, Chicago, IL 60607-7022
2041 Engineering Research Facility
Curriculum Code : 3122
Telephone : (312) 996-6122
Email : megrad@uic.edu

Acting Head of the Department: William Worek
Director of Graduate Studies : Farzad Mashayek

Department Head secretary : Iris Torres
Mechanical Engineering (M/C 251)
2037A ERF
Ph # : 312-996-8421
Fax # :312-413-0447
email : netorres@uic.edu

Brief description of Programs Offered:

Mechanical Engineering : MS, Phd
Industrial Engineering : MS
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research : Phd

Coursework and research is available in such topics as

1. Fluid mechanics
2. Stress analysis
3. Mechanisms
4. Dynamics and vibration
5. Mechanical design
6. Computer-aided design and manufacturing
7. Heat transfer
8. Mass transfer
9. Combustion
7. Multiphase flow and heat transfer
8. Automatic control
9. Industrial automation
10.Energy conversion.

Interdisciplinary and interdepartmental work is encouraged, especially in the biological, environmental, electrical engineering, and computer science areas.

Admission Requirements
Baccalaureate Field: Mechanical engineering. The degree must be from an American Board of Engineering Technology (ABET) accredited college or university or equivalent. Yes, Indian college degrees are recognized.

Grade Point Average: At least 4.00 (A=5.00) for the final 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of undergraduate study. A grade point average of at least 4.50 is preferred for applicants to the PhD program. That translates to 75-80%.

Tests Required
GRE and TOEFL. Students seeking a teaching or research assistantship are strongly encouraged to take the GRE general.

Scores: Minimum GRE Score: 1200. Minimum TOEFL Score: 550 (paper-based); 213 (computer-based).

Letters of Recommendation: Three required

Personal Statement: Required

Other Requirements
Admission to the PhD program is not automatic for students completing their MS degree in the department. Master’s students who desire to continue on to the PhD must see the department’s Graduate Coordinator for forms to apply to the PhD program.

Non-degree Applicants: Non-degree applicants may be admitted for no more than 8 semester hours.

Deadlines
The application deadline for this program is earlier than the Graduate College deadline; contact the program for information on current deadlines.

Degree Requirements:

Master of Science
Minimum Semester Hours Required: 36. Students may elect one of two options: coursework-only, or thesis.

Coursework
Coursework option: At least 36 hours must be in didactic courses. Twenty semester hours must be in courses in the department, of which at least 12 hours must be at the 500 level, excluding ME 596. ME 596 may be used to fulfill a 400-level course requirement. No more than 4 hours of ME 596 can be applied to the degree. A 400- or 500-level course may be taken in place of ME 596.

Thesis option: At least 24 hours must be in didactic courses. Twenty semester hours must be in courses in the department, of which at least 12 hours must be at the 500 level, excluding ME 596 and ME 598. Twelve hours must be in ME 598.

Comprehensive Examination: None

Thesis, Project, or Coursework-only options
Thesis or coursework-only. No other options available.
Thesis: No more than 12 hours of ME 598 can be applied to the degree.

Doctor of Philosophy
Minimum Semester Hours Required: 108 from the baccalaureate.

Coursework
At least 64 semester hours must be in graduate-level courses other than ME 599. At least 28 hours must be in 500-level courses, of which at least 16 hours must be in the department. The 64-hour course requirement includes a major, the scope of which is determined by the thesis advisor, and a minor of at least 16 semester hours, which may be taken outside the department. Students must take at least 8 semester hours of graduate courses offered by the Department of Mathematics; ME 494 and 594 may count as part of the math requirement.

Students who enter the program with a master’s degree in their major area are granted 12 semester hours of 500-level course credit from the 32 hours granted by the Graduate College for a prior master’s degree.

Dissertation required. Students must earn at least 44 hours in ME 599. The main outline of the dissertation (PhD proposal review) must be presented to the dissertation committee at least one semester before the actual defense.

IGSA Contact
1. Ramprasad Velamakanni

Bioengineering, Homepage

Contact Information
Department of Bioengineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
Room 218 Science and Engineering Offices
851 S. Morgan St. (M/C 063)
Chicago, IL 60607-7052
PHONE: (312) 996-2335
FAX: (312) 996-5921
EMAIL: bioe @ uic . edu

Head of Department: Dr. Richard L. Magin (rmagin @ uic . edu)

Contact Person
Yin Zhong
Room 216 Science and Engineering Offices
851 S. Morgan St. Chicago,
IL 60607-7052

About the Department
The UIC Department of Bioengineering was founded in 1965 with the creation of the new Chicago-Circle campus of the University of Illinois. It received one of the first ten NIH Bioengineering Training Grants. The first undergraduate degrees were awarded in 1969. The graduate program was established in 1970, and in 1973 the first graduate degree was granted. In 1976, the department received its first ABET accreditation. The department has a tradition of strong programs in biomechanics, biomaterials, and biomedical imaging, and continues to offer excellent opportunities in these research areas. The department is also experiencing growth and development in the emerging fields of cell and tissue engineering, neural engineering, and bioinformatics. Current enrollment totals over 200 graduate and undergraduate students. New faculty and facilities are being supported by a current Special Opportunity grant from the Whitaker Foundation.

There are currently twelve full-time faculty members, ten quarter-time faculty members, and 71 adjunct faculty members in many departments throughout the Colleges of Associated Health Professions, Dentistry, Engineering, Medicine, and Pharmacy.

Curriculum Focus Areas
Bioinformatics
An interdisciplinary field that combines computer science and statistical methods with an understanding of molecular biology to provide an understanding of the structure and function of gene products, the regulation of gene expression, and the network of molecular interactions that have direct impact on the function of all living things.

Cell and Tissue Engineering
Tissue engineers combine the principles and methods of engineering and biology to develop biological constructs that are the basis of a future regenerative medicine. To accomplish this goal tissue engineers combine cells, biological growth factors, and scaffolding materials based to create nascent biological structures that can restore a biological function, such as insulin production, or stimulate the body to regenerate the tissue such as the repair of damaged articular cartilage.

Neural Engineering
Computational and experimental models of artificial bioelectric interfaces are becoming vital to work in neural prosthetics, biosensors, and biological computing and are the basis for new neuro-prosthetic devices such as cochlear implants and progress toward a silicon retina. Neural engineers learn to characterize and manipulate neural tissue and to develop more effective interfaces for sensory and motor applications.

Chemical and Biomolecular BioEngineering
Biochemical engineers develop the biological processes associated with industrial scale production of drugs, chemicals and food products. Increasingly batch processing using bacterial and eukaryotic cells is being used to process raw materials for product recovery, development of pharmaceuticals and environmental protection. Such activities require specially trained molecular bioengineers

Other Areas: Biomedical Imaging and Bioentrepreneural studies

Admission Requirements
Master of Sciences
Baccalaureate Field: Physical sciences, engineering, computer science, mathematics, biology, or medicine. Students from other areas are also encouraged to apply if their backgrounds indicate a reasonable chance of success in the program.

Grade Point Average: At least 3.00 (A=4.00) for the final 60 semester (90 quarter) hours of undergraduate study.

Tests Required: GRE general, minimum 1200 total. (1300 and above recommended)
Minimum TOEFL Score: 213 (computer-based).

Letters of Recommendation: Three required.
Personal Statement: Required.

Doctor of Philosophy
Baccalaureate Field: Physical sciences, engineering, computer science, mathematics, biology, or medicine. Students from other areas are also encouraged to apply if their backgrounds indicate a reasonable chance of success in the program.

Grade Point Average: At least 3.00 (A=4.00) for the final 60 semester (90 quarter) hours of undergraduate study.

Tests Required: GRE general, minimum 1200 total. (1300 and above recommended)
Minimum TOEFL Score: 213 (computer-based).

Letters of Recommendation: Three required.
Personal Statement: Required.

Industrial Engineering, Homepage
Admission and Degree Requirements

IGSA Contact
Ravi Mohan

Art and Architecture, Homepage

Contact Information
College of Architecture and the Arts
303 Jefferson Hall
Chicago, IL 60607
Telephone : (312) 996-5611

Courses Offered
1. Architecture
2. Electronic Media/Film/Photography
3. Art Education
4. Graphic Design
5. Industrial design
6. Studio Arts
7. Art History
8. Performing Arts

Admission Requirements
No specific tests. Refer to specific departments on such enquiries. Portfolio submission is required. Not many grad students are in each department. Architecture has quite a decent number of students. Most grad students in the departments have a basic degree in one of the mentioned fields. Admission is usually given in fall because portfolio reviews are done only once a year. Contact individual deptartments for more information.

Letters of Recommendation: Three required.

Personal Statement: Required.

IGSA Contact
1. Madhu Venkatesan

Management Information Systems, Home Page
Admission Criteria/ Deadlines

Masters in Business Administration, Homepage

The following information has been provided by an IGSA member. Please visit the department homepage for more information.

"Finance Department
Comes in the top 20 in US with professors like James Kurish and Jaeyoung Sung getting awards for being in the category of best finance professors in Chicago.

Marketing Department
Joseph Cherian is the best professor.

Course Requirements
54 credit hours. There are 6 core courses. One can take only 500 level courses. Departmental Approval is required for courses below 500 level(as told by my academic advisor).

Admission Requirements
Letters of Recommendation: 3
Personal Statement: 2 (2 not 1, we had to write a personal statement and an essay)
Work Experience: Very Important. The more the better.
Tests Required GMAT – Average score 570/800 TOEFL

Differential
I have written this down since most prospective students feel that the differential will be the same as other departments. We have to pay a differential of $4000. This may increase since the tuition has increased.

Aid Scenario
GA’s for tech support are available in University Hall. There are few TA’s for some profs. "

Mathematics Statistics & Computer Science, Home Page
Course Information

College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Home Page

Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Homepage

Contact Information
Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy
University of Illinois at Chicago
833 S. Wood St. (M/C 865)
Chicago, IL 60612-7231

TEL: 312-996-0888
FAX: 312-996-0098
Email: tejada @ uic . edu, hayat @ uic . edu

Head of Department: Dr. William T. Beck 
Director of Graduate Studies: Dr. Hayat Onyuksel

About The Department
The department offers graduate programs leading to PhD in Biopharmaceutical sciences and MS in Forensic sciences.  There is no MS in Biopharmaceutical sciences. However, there is the option of a terminal Masters under extraordinary circumstances. Major research areas include pharmaceutics, pharmacogenomics, pharmacology, and forensic science. Forensic science is offered under the MS program only.

Department Handbook: http://www.bps.uic.edu/StudentInfo/BPSHandbook.doc

Aid Scenario
All students admitted into the PhD program are fully funded with a teaching assistantship and full tuition waiver. Costs that students should consider include health insurance, required student activity fees, required textbooks. The tuition differential is paid by the department. Typically a PhD student is a TA for 2-3 years after which he/she becomes an RA.

Course Requirements
Ph.D. program
Program requires a minimum of 96 hours from the B.S. and 64 hrs from the M.S. At least 20 hrs must be in 500-level didactic coursework.

Core: BPS 501, 502, Bstt 400, GC 401, 470, 471, GCLS 504/505 (3 credit hours) plus BPS 595 (seminar) every semester for 8 credit hours total, and a minimum of 10 credit hours of program elective courses from a current list maintained by the department.

Master of Science
M.S. degree will be awarded to students who do not complete the requirements for the Ph.D., but who meet the following criteria: 32 semester hrs, including BPS 501, 502, Bstt 400, GC 401, 470, 471, GCLS 504/505 (3 credit hours) plus BPS 595 (seminar) every semester for 4 credit hours total, and a minimum of 5 credit hours of program elective courses from a current list maintained by the department. Registration for a minimum of 6 hours of BPS 598 (thesis research) is also required. A Master's thesis is required. Students will not be accepted into the M.S. program

Textbooks
Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts
Statistics for the Life Sciences (3rd Edition) by Myra L. Samuels
Biochemistry by Donald Voet

These are the 3 books that you'll definitely end up using no matter what your research interest. However these books are subject to change depending on the professor teaching the course that year (especially the biostatistics book). This list is current as of Spring 2005.

IGSA contact
Prem Mohanty

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