Experimental and Medical Biosciences

The Experimental and Medical Biosciences master’s programme prepares students for a scientific career within the broad field of the life sciences, with particular emphasis on understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms related to health and disease.

Programme description

The programme has been designed to provide students with frontline knowledge in biomedicine and related subjects. It unites theoretical knowledge with practical skills, as is most clearly seen in the individual experimental projects.

Courses are taught using several formats, including regular lectures, tutorial groups that apply problem-based learning (PBL), laboratory work and seminar discussions. The laboratory classes use powerful model systems to illustrate modern concepts of medical biology, while PBL promotes lifelong learning. After two initial, mandatory courses, elective courses offer individual study plans and flexibility in creating a profile that increases the employability of all students within the life sciences. Different areas such as cardiovascular biology, stem cells and applied regenerative medicine, medical genetics and neurobiology are covered. Scientific reasoning, ethical attitudes and multidisciplinary collaboration are given particular emphasis, in order to prepare students for an independent and professional future in biomedicine.

Individual projects in which students apply their theoretical and methodological knowledge are key parts of the programme. During the first year, the project in Experimental and Medical Biosciences will allow students to work with on a specific assignment for ten or twenty weeks. During the second year, a one‑term degree project (master’s thesis) is carried out. Both projects are chosen in collaboration with a supervisor, and the student’s aim is to define a research goal, carry out the experimental work and produce a written report that places the work in the context of current knowledge in the field. The degree project is conducted in a research laboratory, either at Linköping University or at another Swedish or international university, in industry or in the public sector.

Double‑degree programme

An extra feature of the programme is the possibility for a limited number of students to study in Vienna or Krems, Austria, during the second year. The collaborations with the universities in Austria not only offer new experiences and broadens networks, but also earns the selected students an additional master’s degree. 

Studies at the University of Applied Sciences, Technikum Wien are conducted within the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine programme, studies at IMC University of Applied Sciences in Krems within the Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology master programme. Both programmes have a strong link to industry and offer students the possibility to write their thesis in industry or at other research institutes.