Master's Certificate in Neural Engineering

Research and industry activity related to neural engineering is rapidly growing

Duke BME faculty are leaders in neural engineering—the discovery of new applications of tools, approaches and skills to diagnose, study, and treat disorders and diseases of the human nervous system.

Our faculty maintains extensive collaborations with the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Duke University School of Medicine departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Radiology, and Duke's interdepartmental Program in Neurobiology.

Duke offers master's students a 12-credit Certificate in Neural Engineering. Students who earn it gain analytical skills and practical experience which will allow them to successfully compete for opportunities as engineers in the medical device industry and as doctoral students at highly-regarded universities.

This master's certificate program is available to Duke Master of Engineering (MEng) and Master of Science (MS) students who intend to pursue careers or enter doctoral programs relating to neural engineering.

Faculty

Warren Grill

Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Warren Grill's team works on fundamental questions and applied development in electrical stimulation of the nervous system to restore function to individuals with neurological impairment or injury. More »

Jonathan Viventi

Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Jonathan Viventi's research involves using flexible electronics to create new technology for interfacing with the brain at high resolution over large areas. More »

Marc Sommer

W. H. Gardener, Jr. Associate Professor

Using a combination of neurophysiology and biomedical engineering, Marc Sommer's research focuses on the interaction between brain areas during visual perception, decision-making and motor planning. More »

Timothy Dunn

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Timothy Dunn and his team develop novel 3D behavior-tracking technologies to track and model movement to more precisely, enabling them to better decipher neuronal activity. More »

Yiyang Gong

Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Yiyang Gong and his team develop novel combinations of optical microscopy and genetically encoded sensors to better record and understand brain activity. More »

Roger C. Barr

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Roger Barr's work involves neural stimulation, with past work that includes an examination of the characterization and behavior of cuff electrodes. More »

Patrick D. Wolf

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Patrick Wolf's research is primarily in the area of advanced instrumentation for diagnosis and treatment of electrophysiological problems. More »

Junjie Yao

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Junjie Yao and his lab develop state-of-the-art photoacoustic tomography technologies and translate PAT advances into diagnostic and therapeutic applications. More »

Cameron McIntyre

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Cameron McIntyre's research involves improving deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of movement disorders and provides the fundamental technologies necessary for the effective application of DBS to new clinical areas. More »

Browse more Neural Engineering faculty profiles »

Requirements

Master of Science (MS)

To earn this certificate, students in the Master of Science (MS) degree program complete the standard 30-credit curriculum, but with these neural-engineering course options:

• Life Science Course requirement:
  • Quantitative Pathophysiology, or
  • Physiology for Engineers
• BME Courses requirement:
  • BME 601L Introduction to Neural Engineering, and
  • Three (3) Neural Engineering electives

Sample MS Curriculum

Master of Engineering (MEng)

To earn this certificate, students in Master of Engineering (MEng) degree program complete the standard 30-credit curriculum, but with these neural-engineering course options:

• Life Science Course requirement:
  • Quantitative Pathophysiology, or
  • Physiology for Engineers
• BME Courses requirement:
  • BME 601L Introduction to Neural Engineering, and
  • Three (3) Neural Engineering electives

**A Note on BME 601L: Introduction to Neural Engineering**

For students who seek to place out of BME601L (and must take another Neural Engineering elective in its place):

Electives

Neural Engineering Electives

• BME 502 Neural Signal Acquisition (Viventi, Wolf, Sommer)
• BME 503 Computational Neuroengineering (Grill, McIntyre)
• BME 504 Fundamentals of Electrical Stimulation of the Nervous System (Grill, McIntyre)
• BME 511 Theoretical Electrophysiology (Barr)
• BME 515 Neural Prosthetic Systems (Grill, McIntyre)
• BME 517 Neuronal Control of Movement (Sommer, Grill)
• BME 518L Modern Neuroscience Tools (Gong, Tadross)
• BME 590 Synaptic Biology Synthetic Technology (Tadross)
• BME 590 Deep Neural Networks of the Brain
• BME 590L Biomedical Amplifiers and Implanted Devices (Viventi, Wolf)
• BME 791 Independent Study - Must have clear neural engineering content focused and by advised by a BME faculty member; only one indepentend study course can be applied to the certificate

Recommended Technical Electives

• BME 506 Measurement and Control of Cardiac Electrical Events
• BME 512L Theoretical Electrocardiography
• BME 547 Medical Software Design
• BME 788 Invention to Application: Health Care Research Commercialization
• BME 790 Quality Management Systems for Engineers
• BME 790 Advanced Design and Prototyping Skills
• CEE 530 Introduction to the Finite Element Method
• MATH 561 Scientific Computing I
• MATH 577 Mathematical Modeling

How to Apply

1. Apply to a Duke BME master's degree program
2. Satisfy the required program courses to receive the certificate.