- Degree
- Master of Science (MSc)
- Course location
- Kiel
- Teaching language
- • English
- Languages
- All courses are taught in English.
English scientific writing classes are integrated into the curriculum.
- Full-time / part-time
- • full-time
- Programme duration
- 4 semesters
- Beginning
- Summer semester
- Additional information on beginning, duration and mode of study
- Lecture and exam periods run from late March to early August and from mid-October to late February. The programme starts on 1 April each year; there is no winter intake.
All successful applicants must be in Kiel to attend classes in person on the day the introduction events are held and lectures start.
- Application deadline
- Application periods are set early, starting in May for the next summer semester, to enable international students to apply for their student visas in time. Please check procedures and deadlines on the Medical Life Sciences website (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/how-to-apply-1).
Visa processing times can take five to nine months or longer in many instances. It is strongly advised to inform yourself as early as possible about the requirements for visa applications and processing times.
- Tuition fees per semester in EUR
- None
- Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
- No
- Joint degree / double degree programme
- No
- Description/content
- To lay the foundation for working in molecular disease research, Medical Life Sciences (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en) (MedLife) provides knowledge in human biology, pathology and systems biology.
Courses in molecular biology, bioinformatics, clinical cell biology, medical statistics and human genetics make the interfaces between medicine and the sciences visible. You learn how to acquire knowledge, validate and use it in research.
Starting in the second semester, you specialise in one of three focus areas:
Evolutionary Medicine (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/focus-areas) investigates how interrelations between humans and their environment have led to current disease susceptibility. Why do we suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity? Why are certain genetic variants maintained in populations despite their disease risk? Those are only two of the many questions that arise when looking at diseases ailing us.
Inflammation (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/focus-area-inflammation) takes you deep into the molecular mechanisms of chronic inflammatory diseases, the causal network between inflammatory processes and disease, genetics and environment.
Oncology (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/focus-area-oncology) leads you into molecular research of malignant diseases, the interplay of genetics and environment, cell biology of tumours and many other aspects.
Experts in their fields guide you through lectures and seminars. Lab practicals and project work in state-of-the-art research labs as well as your Master's thesis provide ample opportunity to improve your skills and be involved in research projects. Genomic diagnostics demonstrates the headway science is making towards more precise, individualised diagnostics of diseases using bioinformatics.
You will also choose electives that complement your focus area. Tracing Disease through Time (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/tracing-disease-through-time) looks at disease etiology by analysing biomolecules, diets and pathogens in archaeological specimens. Imaging (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/imaging) in medical research is also on the menu. MolOcular (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/molocular-inflammatory-and-degenerative-diseases-of-the-eye) provides insights into disease mechanisms at a molecular level, focusing on the eye.
Molecular Diagnostics, Metabolomics, Tissue Engineering, Neurosciences, Epithelial Barrier Functions, Cardiovascular Epidemiology (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/3rd-semester-electives) explore the interface between medicine and the sciences.
How to process and analyse your data is part of what you learn in Bioinformatics and System Biology (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/module/systems-biology-medical-statistics-bioinformatics). Soft skills classes such as project management, career orientation and English scientific writing are integrated into the curriculum as well to prepare you for work life.
- Current information
- To get an idea of where to apply for dorm rooms, check the Medical Life Sciences webpage section on Moving to Kiel. (https://www.medlife.uni-kiel.de/en/kiel-for-students/moving-to-kiel)
(This information is neither exclusive nor complete, but is intended to give you some guidance.)