About the Center

The University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (COHSE) is a NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC). Since inception in 1982, COHSE has supported comprehensive graduate-level educational programs to aspiring practitioners and researchers in Industrial Hygiene (IH), Occupational Health Nursing (OHN), Occupational Safety Engineering and Ergonomics (OSE), and Occupational Epidemiology (OE) to help meet the nation’s needs for qualified practitioners and researchers. Our academic programs are complemented with our highly effective Pilot Project Research Training (PPRT) program, and Continuing Education (CE) courses. Our success as a center of excellence is predicated on:

An outstanding and dedicated faculty
Interdisciplinary curricula that prepare our graduates for modern practice
Vibrant extramurally funded research programs in many National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)-related areas that train next-generation research leaders
Multifaceted outreach and CE programs that meet the needs of professionals in our region and beyond
Strong institutional support
Active and engaged alumni, many of whom are leaders in their fields

The US workforce carries a disproportionate burden of preventable job-related morbidity and mortality. By training high-quality practitioners and researchers, COHSE helps to meet critical shortfalls in health and safety services in most small and many larger workplaces, and thereby reduces the incidence and severity of occupational injury and illness.

Student Funding:

The Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering receives student funding support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. All students who are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents and are admitted to a graduate degree program in Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Epidemiology, Occupational Health Nursing and Occupational Safety Engineering are automatically considered for funding. Funding may include partial to full tuition award, travel and a monthly stipend. No additional application is necessary.

Traineeships include partial or full tuition support and may also include a modest stipend for University of Michigan (UM) graduate students.
Pilot Project Research Training (PPRT) for both UM and non-UM researchers.

Our program directors are supported by:

COHSE Faculty
External Advisory Board (EAB) of experts who have years of experience with occupational health and safety issues.

We are a NIOSH TWH affiliate:

Although not currently offering a degree or certificate program in Total Worker Health (TWH), several venues provide our students with exposure to and instruction in TWH such as our Occupational Health Seminar Series, the curriculum of our Occupational Health Nursing program and research carried out by COHSE faculty alongside masters and doctoral students.

Learn more about the NIOSH Total Worker Health Affiliate Program