Biomechanics & Movement Science (BIOMS)

New Student - Faculty Orientation, Fall 2014

• Faculty – Primary Appointments in “home

units”– Secondary Appointment in BIOMS– Crosses 3 Colleges

• Administration– BIOMS manages academic

aspects of students’ studies• Direct questions about plans of study,

forms for course registration, deadlines for transition to candidacy or application for advanced degree to BIOMS

– Home Units manage financial aspects of the students’ studies• Direct questions about your student

contract, pay checks, bills, fees to “Home Unit”.

BIOMS Structure

CHS – College of Health ScienceCOE – College of EngineeringCAS – College of Arts & Sciences

BIOMS Executive Committee

• Represents Students/Faculty in each College

• Main Duties:– Advise students– Admission to Program– Approve Plans of Study

• Other Duties– Choose finalists for

competitive fellowships– Others as needed

College of Health ScienceSam Lee, PhDPhysical Therapy

Lucas Lu, PhDCollege of EngineeringMechanical Engineering

College of Arts & SciencesCatherine Kirn-Safran, PhDBiological Sciences

At-Large MemberJim Richards,PhDVice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education

• Darlene Carlton• Beth Breylinger

– phone 302-831-1543– fax 302-831-4234– Ud-bioms@udel.edu

• Duties– Assist in all operations of the

BIOMS Program– Answer questions

(students/faculty• administrative procedures related

to admissions• course registration for courses

with number BMSC ###– Otherwise contact the home unit

that offers the course

• academic deadlines– Drop/Add– Admission to candidacy– Application for Advanced Degree– Web site

BIOMS Staff Assistant

Are offered by Home Units– Behavioral Health & Nutrition– Biological Sciences– Electrical & Computer Engineering– Kinesiology & Applied Physiology– Mechanical Engineering– Physical Therapy– School of Nursing

Other UD Departments– Any department that offers a

course that fits your area of study

Thomas Jefferson University– UD/TJU Graduate Student Learning

Partnership • UD graduate students can register for

TJU graduate courses at no extra charge• http://www.udel.edu/gradoffice/academic

s/

BIOMS Administrative Structure - Courses

BIOMS

Physical Therapy• PHYT ###

Biological Sciences• BISC ####Kinesiology

& AppliedPhysiology• KAAP ####

Mechanical EngineeringMEEG ###

Electrical & Computer

Engineering• ELEG ###• CLEG ###

Behavioral Health and Nutrition

School of Nursing

BMSC ###

• Student Backgrounds – Highly Varied– Exercise Science / Athletic Training– Engineering– Physical/Occupational Therapy– Neuroscience

• MS or PhD in BIOMS– 5 Areas of study

1. Applied Anatomy & Biomechanics2. Applied Physiology3. Motor Control & Behavior4. Tissue and Molecular Biomechanics5. Rehabilitation Engineering

BIOMS Academics – Highly Flexible

BIOMS Curriculum – Highly Individual

• MS or PhD in BIOMS– Plan of Study

• List of courses that the student plans to take• Must satisfy several requirements

– 1 course in Instrumentation or Computer applications– 1 course in Research Design or Statistics– 3 semesters of BIOMS Seminar for PhD (2 for MS)

• A well formed Plan of Study is Key– Can be revised

BIOMS Curriculum = “Plan of Study”

• Formed by Student and Advisor• Approved by the BIOMS Executive Committee

– * by end of first semester of study *• Must be submitted on the POS Template

– http://www.udel.edu/bmsc/students/index.html

• Courses that other students have taken can be found at:– http://www.udel.edu/bioms/study.html

– Samples and instructions on BIOMS web site

• Masters - 24 credits of graduate-level coursework plus 6 credits of thesis.  – 3 credits of Experimental Design or

Statistics.– 3 credits of Instrumentation,

Computing, or Engineering applications– 6 credits (2 courses) in one of the

BIOMS areas of study other than your primary Area of Study• If your area is Applied Anatomy &

Biomechanics an outside course might be BMSC630 Motor Control

– Enroll in 2 semesters of BIOMS seminar (BMSC 865)• Attendance is expected during all

semesters

– Up to 2 Independent Study courses – *Can Transfer up to 3 graduate level

courses (9 credits) from another institution as long as they were not used to fulfill the requirements of another degree.

• PhD - 33 credits of graduate-level coursework plus 9 credits of dissertation.  – 3 credits of Experimental Design or

Statistics.– 3 credits of Instrumentation,

Computing, or Engineering applications– 6 credits (2 courses) in one of the

BIOMS areas of study other than your primary Area of Study• If your area is Applied Anatomy &

Biomechanics an outside course might be BMSC630 Motor Control

– Enroll in 3 semesters of BIOMS seminar (BMSC 865)• Attendance is expected during all

semesters

– Up to 4 Independent Study courses• no more than 12 credits of Independent Study

and Research combined • if students take research and independent study

courses, no more than 6 research credits may count toward the degree total

– *Can Transfer up to 3 graduate level courses (9 credits) from another institution as long as they were not used to full fill the requirements of another degree.

Plan of Study Requirements• Independent Study - is supervised by a faculty member

– Can take up to 12 credits of Independent Study (6 for MS)– Independent Study Contract (ISC)

• outlines what the student will do, and how s/he will be evaluated

– Plans to include Independent Study Courses, then ISC must be submitted with the POS

• Research Credits– up to 6 credits of “Research” during their studies, no formal

contract– You may take as many Research credits as you want, but no

more than 6 Research credits can count toward the total credits for the degree

• No more than 12 credits of independent study or Independent study and research credits may count toward the degree– So, for PhD students the options are:

• 12 credits of Independent Study and 0 credits Research• 9 credits Independent Study plus 3 credits Research• 6 credits Independent Study plus 6 credits of Research

BIOMS Web Site – look here first• Academics

– BIOMS Program Policy Statement– Plans of Study

• Formulating and submitting• Revisions• Independent Study and "Experimental" Courses

• Seminar Requirements – • Attendance is expected for all BIOMS students in

residence• Required attendance

• 2 semesters for MS students• 3 semesters for PhD Students• 75% attendance is required to “pass”

Course information

• Graduate Courses are numbered 600-899– Students may petition to take 500-level courses (which

are normally considered upper level undergraduate courses) with approval of the Executive Committee.

• Courses ending in 67 (667 or 867) are “experimental” courses– If these are included in the BIOMS POS, the course

syllabus must also be submitted.• Graduate students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better

Thesis and dissertation committees• Created by student and Advisor• At the time when student begins to develop the thesis proposal• Shall include 3 UD Faculty within BIOMS (no more than six

members)• At least one of the BIOMS committee members must be from an

area of focus in biomechanics and movement science other than that of the student or Advisor. For PhD committees, 1 faculty member should be outside of BIOMS.

• Theses and Dissertations: written in the form of an R03 grant application from NIH and can be defended ONLY after all course work is completed

• After a successful PhD proposal defense, enter candidacy status, then earn 9 credits of Dissertation.

• A Master student is not considered a candidate after the thesis Defense

"Qualifying Exams"

• These are exams that ensure that a PhD Student is qualified to study in the proposed area because they have adequate breadth and depth of knowledge in Biomechanics and Movement Science.

• Because of the highly diverse nature of the student body in BIOMS it is difficult to create qualifying exams that evaluate the student’s knowledge, therefore, at the Proposal Defense students may be asked questions about the general topic of Biomechanics and Movement Science.

• PhD student transition to candidacy

Other BIOMS resources• BIOMS e-mail lists – maintained by BIOMS administrators

– Bioms-students@udel.edu– Bioms-faculty@udel.edu– Bioms-friends@udel.edu– Used to send messages about upcoming seminars,

events etc.• BIOMS Student Senator

– Represents BIOMS Students at BIOMS Faculty meetings and University Graduate Student Senate• Federico Pozzi

• BIOMS United group– To facilitate inter-departmental interaction– Monthly Meetings– Liz Rapp

• BIOMS on Facebook – For current students and Alumni– http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=122001211168472&ref=

ts

Other Items of Interest

• Grad Student Annual Report Form– A form used by some Advisors/students to review progress and

make annual goals• Center for Teaching and Learning

– Academic Career Preparation Summer Institute– Higher Education Teaching Certification Program

• Office of Graduate and Professional Education– Dissertation Boot camps– Graduate Fellowships <http://www.udel.edu/gradoffice/>

• Graduate Scholars• Graduate Fellowship• Dissertation Fellowships

• Office of the Provost– Graduate Student Professional Development Awards

• for travel to professional conferences at which you are presenting• apply ~ a month prior to your travel• <http://www.udel.edu/gradoffice/financial/profdev.html>