<p>I know that if I go down the research route, I will want to do biomedical engineering research, but does it really mater? Does the name of your degree bear any significance at all?</p>
<p>Whichever area of BME you want to be in (chemical, mechanical, electrical, etc…), get a bachelor’s degree for that area, and supplement it with a masters in BME. The bachelors degree gives you a necessary backbone for the BME (not to mention a professional safety net, should BME take a hit).</p>
<p>I am talking about a master’s. I’m already doing chemical as an undergrad.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that generally, if you want to any type of research, you will need at least a masters; it’s not like an MBA where you technically need it but not really.</p>
<p>I know I will get a master’s if I’m doing research. The purpose of my question still has not been addressed.</p>
<p>Well, if you are already doing chemical in undergrad, and you know that you need a masters for research, and you want to do research, I would say that you should get a BME for masters IMHO.</p>
<p>For most real engineering jobs, I would say that the experience you have overshadows the name of your degree, especially in this case, since BME and chemE tend to overlap in many areas.</p>
<p>NOW did I answer your question?</p>
<p>I would have thought a Ph.D was necessary to start a career in research.</p>
<p>Ph.D is for basic research; masters is for applied research.</p>
<p>Would it be the opposite of that, hye345?</p>
<p>What do you mean, oppisite of that? Opposite of basic research?</p>
<p>Basic research: driven by (scientist’s) curiosity; purpose is to expand one’s knowlege.</p>
<p>Applied research: designed to solve practical problems of the modern world; purpose is to improve living condition of man (finding cure for cancer, improving agriculture, improving energy efficiency, etc…)</p>
<p>I think he meant to ask if you meant Master’s for basic research and Ph.D. for applied reasearch.</p>
<p>collegefreak, I think hye meant that with a master’s you can usually only take the original research (which hye called “basic research”) of others and try to apply a second treatment to it for application to a specificg goal. To do original research, you need to earn a doctorate.</p>
<p>“Basic research” as in fundamental research is what hye345 is talking about.</p>