Imperial students going abroad
The Department of Bioengineering currently offers a Year Abroad option to students in the MEng degree programme. Currently there are exchange options to six campuses at top univeristies worldwide:
- Technical University Delft (TUD), Netherlands
- ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG), France
- University of California (UC), USA
- National University of Singapore (NUS)
- The University of Melbourne, Australia
Students go abroad in their final year and complete a similar number of courses to that required of MEng students at Imperial. In addition they are required to complete an independent research project. They graduate with an MEng Bioengineering with a Year Abroad degree from Imperial College London.
All courses abroad are taught in English, but students are encouraged to learn the language of the host country. Up to two students will be selected every year. For UC; one student will be selected from the Department to compete at the Faculty of Engineering level for an exchange visit to the University of California (however we are not guaranteed a position).
Application procedure
- Write a 1 page essay describing why you want to go abroad and what you will gain from it.
- Submit a course list of courses you will take while abroad.
- Candidates will be interviewed before the final selection is made.
Application Form. An information session about the exchange possibilities will take place in the middle of November, which will be announced by email to all undergraduate students. Applications for the next year will be accepted typically one week after this session, and an interview will be conducted to select the candidates shortly after. We select the candidates that we feel are most suitable for the Year Abroad, according to the information we gain from the essay and the interview, and their academic results. A minimum of an overall result at 2.1 Level after Year 2 is required academically.
Please contact Dr Chiu Fan Lee for questions about the exchange programme.
Exchange universities
TU Delft Biomedical Engineering - Students will take MSc courses. They will not take the full complement of courses as they will be required to do an independent research project. Consult their online Digital Study Guide for a list of courses.
ETH Zurich Biomedical Engineering - Students will take MSc courses. They will not take the full complement of courses as they will be required to do an independent research project. Consult their online Study Guide for more information and course lists.
Grenoble Institute of Technology, France (School of Physics, Applied Physics, Electronics, and Material Science) - Students will be in the Systems and Microsystems for Physics and Biotechnology specialisation. Students will take courses from Semester 3, 4, and 5 as well as completing a project.
The University of California has 9 campuses. Not all of them offer Biomedical Engineering. Though you cannot be guaranteed a position at a particular campus, the following campuses have strong programmes in Biomedical Engineering:
- University of California, Berkeley - Bioengineering - Students will take final year (senior) courses or 200 level courses. A course list can be found here. Students are advised to take BioE 196 to satisfy their project requirement. It is critical to ensure the prerequisites are satisfied before enrolling in a course.
- University of California, San Diego - Bioengineering - Students will take Graduate courses. A course list can be found here. Students are advised to take BEng 199 to satisfy their project requirement. It is critical to ensure the prerequisites are satisfied before enrolling in a course.
National University of Singapore. Students will be affiliated to the Department of Bioengineering, but may be able to follow courses in other departments if suitable. Students will typically take courses from Semester 5 and above, as well as complete a project. For a list of undergraduate modules please click here, and information for exchange students at NUS can be found here. Note that the first term starts early August and the academic year finishes about one month earlier than at Imperial.
University of Melbourne - Students can take courses from the third year Bioengineering Systems undergraduates studies as well as from the Master of Engineering (Biomedical). A description of all courses can be found here. It is possible to take other relevant courses, provided that all prerequisites are met. Note that you would have to second with their second semester starting on July 27th and finishing on October 26th. The exam period would then go all the way to the end of November (but you would only be examined on one semester) and then Australian summer breaks until march. Then there is another semester from march till June (which is Semester 1 of the new academic year, but it would be semester 2 for you) and then another examination period until the end of June (so in line with the end of Imperial’s summer term).
A normal course load would be 3 - 4 courses per term plus the project. Ensure the total course hours are equivalent to the final year courses at Imperial. European schools use the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) for counting credits. Check the equivalent ECTS for the MEng Mech Eng pathway and the MEng Elec Eng pathway. We expect you to take an equiv alent number of credits abroad (about 30 per term plus pro ject work).
Students abroad wishing to study at Imperial
We offer official exchanges only with the above universities. Erasmus exchanges with other universities are currently not being considered. However, if students from abroad would like to study at Imperial for a year, they are welcome to apply as Non-Exchange Occasional Students. This requires that they pay Imperial fees. Because of our course structure and exam schedule, visiting students are required to come for the entire year (we do not accept visiting students for a single term). If after careful consideration a student wishes to apply, they should email Adrian Hawksworth. (The Erasmus Code is UK LONDON015)
Students abroad wishing to do project work at Imperial
The first step for completing project work at Imperial is contacting a potential supervisor in the Department of Bioengineering. If a member of academic staff agrees to supervise, there are a number of different routes available. For undergraduate project work, students can be registered either in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP ) or as a Non-Exchange Occasional Student. For postgraduate project work, students must be registered as Non-Exchange Occasional Students. The supervisor can advise which application route is suitable. The maximum stay for project work is 6 months.