- Research
Program Areas
Research Activity
Graduate Engineering Studies at Dartmouth
Join a dynamic community of leading researchers who will help you forge your own unique path to discovery, invention, and application. Tackle both focused and multidisciplinary problems together with peers and mentors who put human well-being and global societal need at the center of their engineering education, research, and practice.
The benefits of a Dartmouth graduate degree in engineering include developing the skills and the drive to innovate with impact. As you work toward becoming an expert in your field, you'll be supported by a culture that values and fosters:
- Service to society through human-centered engineering
- Pioneering research that drives invention and new application
- An integrated approach to investigation, innovation, and technology transfer
Master Degree Programs
MS
Master of Science
emphasizes innovative engineering research, advanced applied mathematics skills, and depth with breadth across disciplines.
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Master of Engineering
a full-time or part-time professional engineering degree for students seeking specialized depth in a particular engineering field.
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Master of Engineering Management
combines graduate level engineering classes with management classes at Tuck School of Business.
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PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
offers flexibility within research focus areas and preparation for either a professional or academic position.
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PhD Innovation Program
the first of its kind in the nation, this PhD track supplements the doctoral engineering curriculum with entrepreneurial studies.
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PhD + Doctor of Medicine
combines a PhD in engineering sciences with an MD from The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Learn MoreThe Graduate Engineering Experience
“One of my projects was developing a tool to study climate change through measuring the changes in Arctic sea ice. It called on a combination of mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering. The systems part was key. The product emerged on the boundary between science and engineering.”
—Cameron Planck, PhD Th'20
Program Areas
Dartmouth offers a diversity of concentrations with collaborative synergies between engineering disciplines. Graduate students are expected to propose a plan of study that supports their interests on a path unconstrained by disciplinary boundaries. Both faculty and students draw from these multiple areas of expertise for maximum human-centered impact:
Entrepreneurship
At Dartmouth, where half of the tenure-track engineering faculty have started companies, we are working to address the nation's growing need for people with both technical and entrepreneurial expertise. As part of that effort, you may:
- Become a PhD Innovation Program Fellow
- Get involved with a faculty start-up
- Gain training through the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship
- Add yours to the list of patent applications filed by PhD candidates
- Start your own company
Human-Centered Design
"Students who become really good at design become experts at a process that they can apply to anything, from designing medical devices to improving the lives of infants in their car seats. The same process can be applied, no matter what the problem is.”
—Professor Peter Robbie
The principles of design thinking are integrated throughout the curriculum. Students come away with the skills to assess human nature, needs, habits, desires, abilities, and cultures and incorporate them into technological design.
“In our medical and biomedical engineering, just to pick one area, we have the huge advantage to work closely with a teaching hospital. We can work directly with clinicians. We can test patients. That ability doesn’t exist in the same way at other places.”
—Professor Doug Van Citters
Collaboration
Dartmouth encourages and facilitates collaboration to widen your horizon even further. Partners for collaboration include:
- Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies
- Department of Computer Science
- Tuck School of Business
- Geisel School of Medicine
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship
- Irving Institute for Energy and Society
- Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL)
- Peer institutions, government, and industry
Leadership
While acquiring technical depth in your area, you'll also hone your leadership skills. You'll practice different kinds of writing, learn to give constructive criticism, and become an experienced presenter. The opportunities go beyond a typical advanced degree in engineering. For example, you might:
- Create or redesign a course with a professor
- Start a journal or club in your research area
- Take classes in other departments
Every experience you have beyond your chosen field of expertise prepares you to take the lead in whatever path you choose.
Discover Dartmouth Engineering
Collaborative Programs
Dartmouth prides itself on facilitating collaboration both on and off-campus. Teamwork and cross-pollination occur between peers, colleagues, schools, centers, institutions, and industry.
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Graduate Degree Outcomes
Most MEM graduates enter directly into full-time positions; 20–40% of MS graduates continue on to pursue a PhD and the remaining secure employment; PhD recipients enter into professorships (~15%), research positions (50–60%), or entrepreneurship or industry (~30%).
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Graduate Student Life & Housing
Dartmouth owns and manages over 500 on- and off-campus rental housing units within two miles of campus. Accommodations range from studio apartments to single-family homes.
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Scholarship, Fellowship & Grant Programs
Endowed named scholarships and fellowships, established through the generosity of alumni/ae, friends, foundations, and corporations, are awarded to engineering students with financial need who have demonstrated academic ability and show promise of contributing to the engineering profession.
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