Matriculation into the doctoral program is based upon prior demonstration of a high level of academic achievement in graduate and/or undergraduate work. Advanced study and research are conducted under the guidance of a faculty member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and an interdisciplinary committee. A total of 72 credits (21 course work credits and 51 credits of research) satisfies the Department's and the Institute's residency and thesis requirements. Students in the Ph.D. program can automatically earn a M.S. degree when completing their candidacy. Also, it is common for doctoral students to receive financial support from the department and/or the faculty.<br><br>Tissue engineering combines cells, bioactive components, and/or biomaterials with the primary goal of regenerating diseased or damaged tissues. A secondary area of this diverse field includes generating in vitro tissue models of diseases toward development and screening of new therapeutic interventions. From a tissue repair perspective, tissue engineering at Rensselaer focuses on cartilage/bone repair and brain and spinal cord regeneration while musculoskeletal and neurodegenerative diseases are the focus from a disease model perspective.