General Principles and Goals

1. The Department of Bioengineering expects that all students admitted to the Ph.D. program who maintain good academic standing and satisfactory progress towards completion of the degree will receive financial support from a departmental or extramural source. This support will consist of tuition fee remission and a stipend at a nominal minimum level set each year and offered to all newly admitted students.

2. Good academic standing and satisfactory progress will be established by: (a) maintaining a GPA of at least 3.4; (b) satisfying all departmental teaching obligations on time; (c) passing departmental and qualifying exams within the prescribed schedule; and (d) receiving satisfactory annual progress reports. Failure to meet one of these standards will not, however, mean the automatic loss of financial support. These cases will be reviewed individually by the department chair in consultation with the faculty advisor and the Graduate Affairs Committee.

3. Additional support eligibility requirements (refer to information on Graduate Student Support at UCSD published by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, http://www-ogsr.ucsd.edu): To be eligible for UCSD support (campus appointments, fellowships, traineeships, tuition/fee scholarships) graduate students must meet the following basic eligibility requirements: 1) be enrolled full-time (12 units or more per quarter) 2) be in good academic standing, i.e., meet departmental standards including a satisfactory spring evaluation, must not have accumulated more than a total of eight units of F and/or U grades overall 3) be within departmental support time limit (refer to the UCSD catalog, Bioengineering section on Ph.D. time limits).

4. The Department will provide at least two years of financial support to all eligible doctoral students (U.S. citizen and permanent resident status) who do not have other sources of support. Normally, one of these years is the first year in the program but it need not be. For example, a student receiving an extramural fellowship at the time of admission will be eligible for two years of support after the fellowship has expired.

5. The remaining two-four years of student support is expected to come from faculty research grants or individual fellowships awarded to the student. Students are urged to consult early with their faculty advisor and to apply for fellowships and grants for which they are eligible.

6. For International eligible doctoral students, financial support is expected to come from faculty research grants or individual fellowships awarded to the student. The department would only provide one year of support, which would be after the first year of study.

7. In cases where students receive fellowships that do not cover the full amount of fees or the nominal stipend level, the department or faculty advisor will supplement the student to make up for any shortfall.

8. Supplementary awards by the department above the nominal level are not generally made except in special circumstances, such as when such supplementation is a condition of the awarding agency.

9. The department will not generally support Ph.D. students in their 6th or later years, except in extenuating circumstances. However supplementation of 6th-year students will be considered.

10. In situations where a continuing student in good standing has received departmental support but faculty research grant or fellowship funding is unavailable or insufficient, the department will consider extending full or partial support at the recommendation of the faculty advisor, taking into consideration any special prior commitments, the students academic and research record and the efforts s/he has made to apply for funding.

11. Requests for departmental support of continuing Ph.D. students are to be made by the faculty member advising the student, not by the student directly. Decisions are made by the department chair in consultation with the Student Affairs office and the faculty advisor.