About the Program

At Berkeley, graduate work in chemical and biomolecular engineering emphasizes the excitement of original research in frontier areas of applied science. Graduate students may pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering, or they may apply to our Product Development Program (PDP) to obtain an MS in Chemical Engineering. While formal courses are necessary to provide scientific fundamentals and intellectual breadth, the primary characteristic of Berkeley's graduate experience is to participate in the quest for new knowledge. Graduate students and faculty collaborate as partners in scholarship, in learning, and in intellectual discovery.

Product Development Program (MS)

In Fall 2006, the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at U.C. Berkeley initiated a new and innovative Product Development Program (PDP). The PDP is a graduate-level degree program whose central aim is to fill the unmet need at national and international levels for graduates of chemical engineering and related disciplines who have knowledge and field experience in the complex process of transforming technical innovations into commercially successful products. In the space of one calendar year, PDP graduates will gain exposure to real-world product development practices in a range of chemical process-intensive industries including biotechnology, microelectronics , nanoscience and consumer products (concentrations within the program). The PDP does not require a research thesis, but students will find completing the extensive coursework and field study assignment challenging. By combining elements of advanced technical knowledge with focused business-related training, the PDP aims to fill a specific niche in the “choice space” of graduate education options for engineering graduates.

The academic content of the program is the result of a careful design process using as input the results of extensive interviews with industry, faculty and students. Each component of the program has been thoroughly vetted with several representatives from each one of these stakeholder groups. As currently structured, the program will offer a one calendar year course of study that will result in the award of a Master’s of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in product development.

PhD Program

The PhD program is designed to enlarge the body of knowledge of the student and, more importantly, to discover and develop talent for original, productive, and creative work in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Breadth of knowledge and professional training are achieved through advanced course work. To develop the creative talents of the student, a paramount emphasis in the Ph.D. program is placed on intensive research, a project on which students work closely with one or more members of the faculty.

PhD students may choose to add a designated emphasis (DE) to their program. A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. Designated emphases open to students in this PhD program include: Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE); Energy Sciences and Technology (DEEST); Communication, Computation and Statistic; Computational and Genomic Biology; and New Media.

Visit Department Website

Admissions

Admission to the University

Uniform minimum requirements for admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
2. A minimum grade-point average of B or better (3.0);
3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g. Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, 230 on the computer-based test, 90 on the iBT test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
4. Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants who already hold a graduate degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees as evidence of broad research training, not as vocational training certificates; therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to take up new subject matter on a serious level without undertaking a graduate program, unless the fields are completely dissimilar.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may only apply to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Any applicant who was previously registered at Berkeley as a graduate student, no matter how briefly, must apply for readmission, not admission, even if the new application is to a different program.

Required documents for admissions applications

1. Transcripts:  Upload unofficial transcripts with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcripts of all college-level work will be required if admitted. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) you have attended. Request a current transcript from every post-secondary school that you have attended, including community colleges, summer sessions, and extension programs.
   If you have attended Berkeley, upload unofficial transcript with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required if admitted.
2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants can request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and most European countries. However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a U.S. university may submit an official transcript from the U.S. university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement: 1) courses in English as a Second Language, 2) courses conducted in a language other than English, 3) courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and 4) courses of a non-academic nature. If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Admission to the Program

Admission is granted by the University's Graduate Division on the recommendation of the department. Applicants generally are required to provide the following: evidence of superior performance in the last two years of undergraduate studies; test scores for the aptitude portion of the Graduate Record Examination (the advanced GRE or subject test is not required); and 3 letters of recommendation from professors or colleagues familiar with the applicant's academic and professional aptitudes. International students whose native language is not English must provide evidence of English language proficiency. The weight of evidence from all sources determines admission. Students do not need a master's degree to apply for a doctoral degree. Most applicants will have completed a typical undergraduate program in chemical engineering. However, admission may be granted to students with undergraduate degrees in a related discipline. In this case, necessary background courses in chemical engineering are taken as part of the program for the first year.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Curriculum

Master's Degree Requirements

Curriculum

Biotechnology/Drug Development/Medical Device Concentration

Advanced Materials/Microelectrics/Nanscience Concentration

Courses

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Faculty

Professors

Nitash P. Balsara, Professor. Chemical engineering, synthesis and characterization of soft microstructured polymer materials, nucleation, neutron scattering, depolarized light scattering.
Research Profile

Alexis T. Bell, Professor. Chemical engineering, heterogeneous catalysts, spectroscopic techniques.
Research Profile

Douglas S. Clark, PhD, Professor. Chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, cell culture, biocatalyst engineering, microsystems, extremozymes, genomics of extremophiles, metabolic flux analysis, enzyme technology, bioactive materials.
Research Profile

David B. Graves, Professor. Chemical engineering, plasma processing, dynamics (MD), plasma-surface chemistry, high pressure micro-scale grow, electronic materials, plasma biomedicine.
Research Profile

Enrique Iglesia, Professor. Chemical engineering, catalytic materials, heterogeneous catalysis, chemical reaction engineering, methane and biomass coversion processes, refining processes, hydrogen generation, alkane activation deoxygenatiion and desulfurization catalysis, zeolites.
Research Profile

Jay D. Keasling, Professor. Chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, metabolic engineering of microorganisms, degradation of environmental contaminants, environmentally friendly synthesis, biodegradable polymers, mineralization of organophosphate nerve agents, pesticides, biofuels.
Research Profile

Roya Maboudian, Professor. Surface and interfacial science and engineering, thin-film science and technology, micro- and nano-systems technology, surface science and engineering of M/NEMS, silicon carbide technology, harsh-environment sensors, biologically-inspired materials synthesis.
Research Profile

Susan J. Muller, Professor. Chemical engineering, fluid mechanics, Rheology, complex fluids, microfabrication processes, Genetic Engineering of Protein Polymers, Finite Element Modeling of Bubbles, Stress Fluids, Taylor-Couette instabilities.
Research Profile

Clayton J. Radke, Professor. Chemical engineering, surface & colloid science technology, protein/polymer/surfactant adsorption from solution, two-phase enzymatic catalysis, interfacial surfactant transport, electrokinetics, pore-level fluid mechanics, contact-lens & eye mechanics.
Research Profile

Jeffrey A. Reimer, Professor. Materials chemistry, chemical engineering, electrocatalysis, magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, nanostructures, spin.
Research Profile

David Schaffer, Professor. Neuroscience, chemical engineering, bioengineering, stem cell biology, gene therapy.
Research Profile

Rachel A. Segalman, Professor. Chemical engineering, plastic electronic, stable conductive molecules, polymer properties, nanoscale morphology, oxidizable chemicals, nanoscale polymer.
Research Profile

Associate Professors

Alexander Katz, Associate Professor. Chemical engineering, nanoengineering, catalytic imprinted silicas, catalysts in biological systems, catalysis, chemical sensing.
Research Profile

Assistant Professors

Bryan D. Mccloskey, Assistant Professor.

Danielle Tullman-Ercek, PhD, Assistant Professor. Bioenergy, synthetic biology, protein engineering, bionanotechnology.
Research Profile

Wenjun Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor. Synthetic biology, chemical biology, natural product biosynthesis, biofuel synthesis, enzyme discovery and characterization, biomolecular engineering.
Research Profile

Adjunct Faculty

Brian Lee Maiorella, Adjunct Faculty.

Lecturers

Carlo G. Alesandrini, Lecturer.

Paul Bryan, Lecturer.

Colin Cerretani, Lecturer.

Shannon Ciston, Lecturer.

Dean C.Draemel, Lecturer.

Gregory R.Schoofs, Lecturer.

Steve Sciamanna, Lecturer.

Ravi Upadhye, Lecturer.

P. Henrik Wallman, Lecturer.

Marjorie Went, Lecturer.