This graduate portfolio program in imaging science is part of a larger training program that includes UT Austin, UT Health Science Center at Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Medical Branch at Galveston and Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas. Imaging science students have an opportunity to work on research projects at any of these institutions. The basic requirement to complete this portfolio program is 12 hours of coursework in imaging science at UT Austin that form the requisite core knowledge for an imaging scientist. In addition, optional coursework, seminars, and research internships have been identified and are available to the students.

The imaging science training program has a required core curriculum, a research seminar, a seminar on the responsible conduct of research, an industrial or clinical internship, a guest speaker program, and an opportunity for the students to participate in multidisciplinary imaging research. It builds on the currently successful NSF sponsored IGERT cellular and molecular imaging training program to include imaging at many scales and adds image processing, mathematical modeling, visualization, and informatics into the curriculum. The two-year -degree program incorporates these features:

  • Students are admitted through either the BME or ECE department and as such must meet a common set of pre-requisites and take a common set of courses defining the MS/PhD program for the student’s department. Students may also be admitted to this imaging portfolio program from other departments provided they have the prerequisites and receive the approval of the portfolio admissions committee.
  • Students will receive training in both image acquisition (instrumentation, devices, and contrast agents) and intelligent interpretation (image processing, mathematical modeling, visualization, and informatics) through a series of four core courses on these topics.
  • Students will have a primary BME or ECE supervisor with expertise in one of the four core imaging science areas (instrumentation, devices, and contrast agents; image processing; modeling and visualization; or informatics) and a co-supervisor with expertise on the practical application of imaging for scientific or clinical discovery.
  • In addition to the two supervisors, the dissertation committee must be comprised of at least four other members, one from each of the four core areas. One committee member must be from a department outside the student’s primary department.
  • Students will have the opportunity to study entrepreneurship through seminar lectures given by Dr. Steve Nichols (UT Austin) who holds the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise. Students interested in product commercialization and business may choose to pursue a MBA through the McCombs Business School.
  • Students who successfully complete the training program will receive a special acknowledgment on their official UT Austin transcript.