BME Graduate Student Life

Here's what it's like to be a graduate student in BME at UVA

There's always something happening

  • Charlottesville is home to festivals including the Virginia Film Festival, Cville Pride, Tom Tom Founders Festival, & the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival.
  • There are more than 30 wineries within a 30-mile radius of Charlottesville.
  • Local music venues bring in some big-name artists like Ariana Grande, P!nk, The Chainsmokers, Odesza, Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Justin Timberlake, Portugal the Man, and many more. 

We're a short drive from …

  • Hiking in Shenandoah National Park (45 min)
  • Exploring Richmond (45 min)
  • Wintergreen Ski Resort (40 min)
  • Museum Hopping in Washington DC (2 hours)
  • Relaxing at Virginia Beach (3 hours) 

Here are a few of the clubs and activities we're involved in...

We take our work to all corners of the world!

  • Recently students attended conferences in Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Hawaii, Paris, Dublin, Singapore, Berlin, Castiglione del Lago, and many more!
  • Many students do a 2-3 month internship or externship while they are graduate students. Some of the places they go are Philadelphia, Bethesda, Irvine, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Research Triangle Park, Valencia (Spain), and Gothenburg (Sweden).

Where a UVA BME PhD takes you after graduation

  • Post Doc in Industry - AstraZeneca (Washington DC)
  • Post Doc in Academia - UC San Diego, Harvard, Yale, Stanford
  • Product Development - Medtronic (Minneapolis)
  • Director of Clinical R&D - Rivanna Medical (Charlottesville)
  • Cell Culture Process Development - Genentech (San Francisco)
  • Research Scientist - Luna Innovations (Charlottesville)
  • Faculty - UNC-Chapel Hill/NC State, U. Michigan, U. Florida, U. Washington, Messiah College, and many more

Living in Cville

Most students live within a 10-15 minute walk from MR5, the main BME building.  With free access to both UVA and Charlottesville City buses, it is easy to get around town to visit the shops on the Downtown mall or the restaurants in Belmont.