Engineering
Bioengineering applies the principles of engineering to biological and medical problems, with the goal of creating technologies and systems that improve our understanding of living organisms and our ability to treat disease and support human function. It is a discipline that sits at the junction of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, computational modelling, and the life sciences, and it demands the ability to work across all of these simultaneously. The results range from medical implants and prosthetics to biosensors, lab-on-chip diagnostic devices, and the computational tools used to model physiological systems.
At the University of Durham, this four-year full-time engineering programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, creating an unusually rich practical and international experience within what is already a technically demanding degree. The sandwich year places you in a professional setting for an extended period, allowing you to develop engineering competence in a real working environment alongside your academic formation. The year abroad adds international breadth, exposing you to bioengineering and medical technology cultures in other countries.
Durham's engineering school has strong research links with the NHS and with biomedical industries, which enriches the programme's connections to practice.
You will study engineering science foundations including mechanics, materials, thermodynamics, and electronics, progressing to specialist bioengineering content including biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, tissue engineering, medical imaging, and computational modelling of physiological systems. The degree develops both technical depth and the interdisciplinary breadth that working at the interface of engineering and biology requires.
Graduates in bioengineering find roles across the medical devices and pharmaceutical industries, in hospital clinical engineering, in research organisations, and increasingly in the digital health sector. The combination of a sandwich year and a year abroad means Durham bioengineering graduates typically enter the job market with a profile that is distinctively strong in terms of professional experience. Chartered engineer status, pursued through professional bodies such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology or the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, is the typical career development pathway.
Postgraduate study at masters or doctoral level is a strong option for those who want to pursue research or technical specialism.