The Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChemBE) at Johns Hopkins University is a flexible, dynamic program that offers multiple options to match students’ different interests and career goals. All students take 3 required courses (see list below), a technical writing requirement, a seminar requirement, and 9 credits (3 classes) of electives. In addition, students must pass both Academic Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research (see details below).
Degree Options
Essay-Based Option: This option culminates in an essay that is submitted to the Sheridan Library’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) Database and a formal presentation. Students on this option typically complete their degree in three to four semesters. Students conducting research must fulfill the Research Laboratory Safety requirement (details below).
- Research (PI) Option: Students undertake original research with the mentorship of a university faculty member. (Students may work in labs outside of the department, if they find a co-advisor in the ChemBE department.) This track is highly recommended for students interested in pursuing a Ph.D.
- Students must take at least 12 credits of EN.540.801 Graduate Research. (They should enroll in their PI’s section and work with them to determine the appropriate number of credits each semester.)
- Co-op Option: Students gain real-world experience by conducting their research via an internship. The Institute for Nanobiotechnology’s (INBT) Master’s Industry Co-op Education Program helps facilitate the matching process for many of our students, though students may pursue appropriate opportunities on their own.
- While completing their internship, students go on nonresident status and enroll in 12 credits of EN.540.804 Graduate Research Internship.
- Design Option: Students develop, design, and build ChemBE products across three semesters of graduate-level Product Design coursework (EN.540.691 Product Design 1, EN.540.692 Product Design 2, and 3 or 6 credits of EN.540.693 Product Design 3).
Coursework Option: Students gain additional flexibility with their course selections by pursuing their degree via this track. In lieu of research, they take an additional 12 credits (four 3-credit classes) of electives and typically complete the degree in three semesters.
Core Courses
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core 1: Thermodynamics | ||
| EN.540.671 | Advanced Thermodynamics in Practice | 3 |
| or EN.540.630 | Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics | |
| Core 2: Transport | ||
| EN.540.604 | Transport Phenomena in Practice | 3 |
| or EN.540.652 | Advanced Transport Phenomena | |
| Core 3: Kinetics | ||
| One of the following courses: | 3 | |
| Metabolic Systems Biotechnology | ||
| Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics | ||
| Advanced Topics in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics I | ||
| Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering in Practice | ||
| Molecular Kinetics and Catalysis | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Students may take additional Kinetics courses and count them as electives. Students cannot, however, take both versions of the Thermodynamics or Transport core courses and have them both count towards their degree.
Elective Courses
The number of remaining credits for electives depends on degree option. (Students must complete a total of 30 graduate-level credits for their degree.) Electives are decided with the approval of an advisor. Any exceptions must be approved by both advisor and the departmental Director of Graduate Studies.
Essay-Based students must take a total of 9 elective credits (three 3-credit classes) of graduate-level coursework. One of these courses (3 credits) must be offered by the ChemBE department (EN.540.6XX).
Coursework Track students must take a total of 21 elective credits (seven 3-credit classes) of graduate-level coursework. 3 of these courses (9 credits) must be offered by the ChemBE department (EN.540.6XX).
While we are fairly flexible with elective choices, students must follow these policies in order for the credits to count towards their degree:
- Elective courses must be approved by the Director of Masters Studies prior to enrollment if they are not offered by the Whiting School of Engineering (EN.XXX.6XX) or the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences' Departments of Chemistry (AS.030.6XX) or Biology (AS.020.6XX).
- All courses must be taken for a letter grade (not pass/fail). These courses cannot include seminars, independent studies, graduate research, or special studies.
- Design Track students who take 3 credits of EN.540.693 Product Design 3 must replace the remaining 3 credits with an additional 3-credit elective course.
- Students may substitute one of their 3-credit courses with a combination of 1–2-credit courses. This typically applies to courses taken through the Center for Leadership Education (CLE). (See “Technical Writing Requirement” below.)
- A maximum of two courses offered by the Whiting School of Engineering for Professionals (EP) may count towards the degree, and must be approved by the Director of Masters Studies prior to enrollment.
- Courses offered at both the 400- and 600-level must be taken at the 600-level to fulfill M.S.E. course requirements. Course levels cannot be changed after the course has been completed. Students are only allowed to count 400-level courses towards their M.S.E. degree if (1) the course is not offered at the 600-level, and (2) the department offering the course considers it to be a graduate-level course. (This requires a letter from that department’s graduate program director.)
MSE Program Tracks
Students may opt to focus their studies within an area of specialization by choosing electives (and their Kinetics course) within one of the below focus areas. Essay-Based students should take two or more of the listed courses, and Coursework students should take four or more of the listed courses.
Cellular, Molecular, and Biopharmaceutical Engineering
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EN.540.602 | Metabolic Systems Biotechnology | 3 |
| EN.540.633 | Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics | 3 |
| EN.540.638 | Advanced Topics in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics I | 3 |
| EN.540.640 | Micro/Nanotechnology: The Science and Engineering of Small Structures | 3 |
| EN.540.665 | Engineering Principles of Drug Delivery | 3 |
| AS.030.623 | Molecular Synthetic Biology | 3 |
| EN.540.614 | Computational Protein Structure Prediction and Design | 3 |
| EN.540.618 | Cancer Metabolism | 3 |
| EN.540.626 | Fundamentals of Cell Bioengineering | 3 |
| EN.540.628 | Supramolecular Materials and Nanomedicine | 3 |
| EN.540.637 | Application of Molecular Evolution to Biotechnology | 3 |
| EN.540.667 | Targeted Drug Delivery: Mechanistic Concepts | 3 |
| EN.580.646 | Molecular Immunoengineering | 3 |
Chemical and Sustainability Engineering
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EN.540.607 | Renewable Energy Technologies | 3 |
| EN.540.673 | Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering in Practice | 3 |
| EN.540.602 | Metabolic Systems Biotechnology | 3 |
| EN.540.615 | Interfacial Science with Applications to Nanoscale Systems | 3 |
| EN.540.640 | Micro/Nanotechnology: The Science and Engineering of Small Structures | 3 |
| EN.540.681 | Molecular Kinetics and Catalysis | 3 |
| EN.540.658 | Modeling and Design of Sustainable Chemical Processes | 3 |
| EN.510.625 | Advanced Batteries | 3 |
| AS.030.604 | Electrochemical Systems for Energy Conversion and Storage | 3 |
| EN.510.658 | Electroanalytical Chemistry & Energy Conversion | 3 |
Molecular Modeling, Data Science, and AI
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EN.540.605 | Modern Data Analysis and Machine Learning for ChemBEs | 3 |
| EN.540.614 | Computational Protein Structure Prediction and Design | 3 |
| EN.540.658 | Modeling and Design of Sustainable Chemical Processes | 3 |
| EN.540.635 | Software Carpentry | 3 |
Technical Writing Requirement
Students must take at least one technical writing elective (at least 1-credit) offered by the Center for Leadership Education (CLE). Often, this is taken in addition to the other graduate-level courses, but students may choose to take 3-credits of writing as one of their “any-department” electives (one 3-credit course or two 1.5-credit courses). Courses that fulfill this requirement include:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EN.663.613 | Technical Communication | 1.5 |
| EN.663.640 | Writing Grant and Contract Proposals | 1.5 |
| EN.663.644 | Writing for Clarity | 1.5 |
| EN.663.645 | Improving Presentation Skills for Graduate Students | 1.5 |
Students who were JHU undergraduates are exempt from this requirement if they took EN.661.315 Culture of the Engineering Profession. They must still take the full number of graduate-level credits.
Additional Requirements
The following requirements are in addition to the other 30 credits.
Seminar: Students must take and receive a passing grade in at least one semester of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Seminar (EN.540.600 Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Seminar I or EN.540.601 Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Seminar II).
Graduate Academic Ethics: Students must take and receive a passing grade in EN.500.603 Graduate Academic Ethics in their first semester. (Students will be automatically enrolled in this course shortly after the semester begins.)
Responsible Conduct of Research: Students also must complete the Responsible Conduct of Research training in their first semester. Within six weeks of completion, “AS.360.624 Responsible Conduct of Research (Online)” should appear on the student’s transcript.
Research Laboratory Safety: Lastly, Essay-Based students must take and receive a passing grade in EN.500.601 Research Laboratory Safety in their first semester.
Students who were JHU undergraduates are exempt from the Research Laboratory Safety requirement if they took EN.540.490 Introduction to Chemical Process Safety. (Coursework track students also do not need to take this course.)
Good Academic Standing and Probation Policy
A maximum of two C letter (C+, C, or C-) grades may be counted towards the master’s degree. A student is considered in good academic standing up until they receive a grade of a D+, D or F, or three C letter (C+, C, or C-) grades in a course (i.e., they are unable to count a course towards their degree due to unsatisfactory performance).
In any given semester, receiving one grade of a D+, D or F, or two C letter (C+, C, or C-) grades will result in the student being placed on academic probation. (Please note that this includes grades in courses taken at the undergraduate level and courses that do not count towards the degree.) While on probation, any additional grade of a C+ or below may result in the student’s dismissal from the program.
Please also note that an excess of unsatisfactory grades in a single semester may result in dismissal from the program without probation.
The student will be notified if they have been placed on probation and the terms of their probation (i.e., what probation entails and how to be taken off it) shortly after the end of the semester. Terms of probation typically include retaking and replacing failing grades, and meeting with the Director of Masters Studies to discuss academic progress.
B.S./M.S.E. Program Specific Policies
As noted above, there are two exemptions for B.S./M.S.E. students (or students who attended JHU as undergraduates): they are exempt from taking EN.500.601 Research Laboratory Safety if they took EN.540.490 Introduction to Chemical Process Safety, and from the Technical Writing Requirement if they took EN.661.315 Culture of the Engineering Profession. Also noted above, courses offered at both the 400- and 600-level must be taken at the 600-level to fulfill MSE course requirements. (Course levels cannot be changed after the course has been completed.)
It is university policy that "students still in undergraduate status cannot enroll in 800-level research courses." Because of this, 500-level research credits may count towards the M.S.E. degree as long as they were earned after the student was accepted into the B.S./M.S.E. program (and they are not counting towards the undergraduate degree) with advisor approval.
Lastly, only two courses may count towards both the undergraduate and graduate degrees, and courses in which the student earns a grade of B- or lower cannot be double-counted. All other courses must be unique to their graduate degree (i.e., they may not count as electives or towards undergraduate credit total).
Additional information and program policies can be found in our Handbook.