Biomedical Sciences

The key objective of the M Biomedical Sciences is to train students to conduct research on a wide range of biomedical issues. Biomedical science is increasingly becoming an interdisciplinary research field with different disciplines providing diverse knowledge about the biomedical issue and interaction with society, which is required to effectively address the biomedical issue. Therefore, the program equips students with knowledge, skills and competences to work from and integrate knowledge from different biomedical disciplines.

The program builds on the knowledge, research methodologies, and skills from an undergraduate scientific background by first deepening knowledge, skills and understanding in biomedical disciplinary research (either Immunology, Infectious Diseases, or Neurobiology) and second by broadening this knowledge, either by acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding of a second biomedical discipline or by broadening the skills and competences to conduct biomedical research at the interface with society (either International Public Health (IPH), Science Communication, Science in Society or Education) -students who do not pursue a second specialization of the program must take a coherent set of biomedical courses from another discipline. Through this arrangement of the program, each student specializes in 2 disciplines.

The programme has three learning goals :

- Understanding the integration of various biomedical disciplines and the societal interface in order to address biomedical issues.

- Deeping knowledge, skills and competences in a specific biomedical discipline

- Broadening knowledge, skills and competences to another biomedical discipline or do research on the interface of science and society

It is important to show students that biomedical specializations are not isolated disciplines, but instead are integrated with each other and transcend disciplinary boundaries. Therefore, the program starts with a compulsory “Integrated Biomedical Sciences” course . All students participate in this course, which aims to present the interdisciplinary nature of biomedical sciences.

In parallel with and after this course, students take 3 courses from a biomedical disciplinary specialization. The biomedical disciplinary specializations include lectures, working groups and sometimes laboratory exercises to gain knowledge of current theory and key research questions in the field. In the second semester, the students are engaged in an individual research internship within the respective discipline.