Master of Biotechnology

Curriculum

Find and Follow Your Passion

The Penn Biotechnology degree provides a holistic education with flexibility to discover and pursue your unique path. Our students take classes in the School of Engineering, as well as the Wharton School of Business, the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Arts and Sciences, and more.

Key features include:

  • 10 credit units (CUs) – 4 core classes and 6 electives with completion in 3-4 semesters
  • 60% of courses within the School of Engineering; 40% may be in other schools
  • 2 distinct tracks with research opportunities
  • Part-time study options (visa restrictions may apply for international students)

Below is a list of courses that may be used to complete the degree, subject to availability. Please check the catalog for up-to-date course listings.

 

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Core Curriculum

Listed below are the core curriculum areas, along with approved courses that can be used to fulfill each requirement.

Select 3 from the following:

  • BE 5260: Immunology for Bioengineers
  • BE 5400: Principles of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering
  • BE 5520: Stem Cells, Proteomics and Drug Delivery – Soft Matter Fundamentals
  • BE 5530: Principles, Methods, and Applications of Tissue Engineering
  • BE 5570: Quantitative Principles of Drug Design
  • BE 5620: Drug Discovery and Development
  • BIOL 5062: Biological Foundations for Bioengineering and Biotechnology: Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • BIOL 5262: From Code to Cure: Proteins, Signals, and Therapeutic Design
  • CBE 5170: Principles of Genome Engineering
  • CBE 5270: Advancements and Applications in Genome Editing and Engineering
  • CBE 5400: Principles of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering
  • CBE 5520: Protein Engineering & Practical Applications
  • CBE 5540: Engineering Biotechnology
  • CBE 5570: Stem Cells, Proteomics and Drug Delivery – Soft Matter Fundamentals
  • CBE 5620: Drug Discovery and Development
  • ENGR 5500: Modern Biotechnology for Engineers

Select 1 from the following:

  • BIOL 5825: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Superlab
  • CBE 5800: Masters Biotechnology Lab

Students who feel they have a significant amount of prior laboratory experience are welcome to request a waiver of the requirement and take another course. The following disciplines can be used for a replacement course:

  • Bioengineering
  • Biotechnology
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Computer Information Science
  • Computer Information Technology
  • Engineering Entrepreneurship
  • Engineering
  • Engineering Mathematics
  • Electrical & Systems Management
  • Integrated Product Design
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Track Curriculum

Each student will select one of the below tracks during admission to the program. Students will take 6 credit units of electives according to the respective requirements for that track.

Integrative Molecular Biosciences Track

Select 3 5000+ level courses in the following:

  • Anatomy
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Bioengineering
  • Bioethics
  • Biology
  • Biomedical Graduate Students
  • Biomedical Informatics
  • Biostatistics
  • Biotechnology
  • Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Information Science
  • Computer Information Technology
  • Data Analytics
  • Data Science
  • Earth and Environmental Science
  • Energy Management and Policy
  • Engineering Entrepreneurship
  • Engineering
  • Engineering Mathematics
  • Environmental Science
  • Epidemiology
  • Electrical & Systems Management
  • Genetic Counseling
  • Genomics and Comp. Biology
  • Health Policy Research
  • Healthcare Quality and Safety
  • Immunology
  • Implementation Science
  • Integrated Product Design
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Masters of Science in Translational Research
  • Mathematics
  • Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
  • Medical Physics
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physics
  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Regulatory
  • Scientific Computing
  • Statistics and Data Science

  • Independent Study (BIOT 5990)
    • Students will choose a lab to work in, define a project with their PI, and complete their research independently.

  • Any course at the 5000+ level in any department

Biopharma and Engineering Biotechnology Track

Select 2 CU from the following:

  • BE 5180: Optical Microscopy
  • BE 5210: Brain-Computer Interfaces
  • BE 5320: Computational Biophysics
  • BE 5370: Biomedical Image Analysis
  • BE 5400: Principles of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering
  • BE 5470: Fundamental Techniques of Imaging
  • BE 5500: Continuum Tissue Mechanics
  • BE 5510: Biomicrofluidics
  • BE 5570: Quantitative Principles of Drug Design
  • BE 5650: Developmental Engineering of Tissues
  • BE 5840: The Mathematics of Medical Imaging and Measurement
  • BE 6500: Advanced Biomedical Imaging Applications
  • CBE 5310: Nano-Transport
  • CBE 5400: Principles of Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering
  • CBE 5550: Nanoscale Systems Biology
  • CIS 5350: Introduction to Bioinformatics
  • CIS 5360: Fundamentals of Computational Biology
  • CIT 5900: Programming Languages and Techniques
  • ENGR 5500: Modern Biotechnology for Engineers
  • ESE 5420: Statistics for Data Science
  • MSE 5850: Materials for Bioelectronics

Select 3 5000+ level courses in the following:

  • Anatomy
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Bioengineering
  • Bioethics
  • Biology
  • Biomedical Graduate Students
  • Biomedical Informatics
  • Biostatistics
  • Biotechnology
  • Cell and Molecular Biology
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Information Science
  • Computer Information Technology
  • Data Analytics
  • Data Science
  • Earth and Environmental Science
  • Energy Management and Policy
  • Engineering Entrepreneurship
  • Engineering
  • Engineering Mathematics
  • Environmental Science
  • Epidemiology
  • Electrical & Systems Management
  • Genetic Counseling
  • Genomics and Comp. Biology
  • Health Policy Research
  • Healthcare Quality and Safety
  • Immunology
  • Implementation Science
  • Integrated Product Design
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Masters of Science in Translational Research
  • Mathematics
  • Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
  • Medical Physics
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physics
  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Regulatory
  • Scientific Computing
  • Statistics and Data Science

  • Any course at the 5000+ level in any department

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