After graduation
In contrast to a vocational education, a university education does not train you for a specific profession. An academic degree demonstrates that you have achieved a level of academic work and thinking capability. It gives you the basis after your studies to head out in all kinds of direction.
After that, I hope to pursue a PhD. MBLS gave me a great foundation for this path, and I can鈥檛 wait to see where it leads.
Only a few students enter the job market upon completing their Bachelor鈥檚; nearly all of them go on to a Master鈥檚 programme. With a Master鈥檚 you can work in a wide variety of professional fields. You can continue in science at a university or in a pharmaceutical company, or find a position in business or in the policy or consulting sector. You can also go directly into communications or teaching; it all depends on what you specialise in.
Other science-related Master's
The Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 (UU) Master's programmes best suited to follow your Molecular and Biophysical Life Sciences (MBLS) Bachelor鈥檚 are:
- Bioinformatics and Biocomplexity
- Drug Innovation
- Environmental Biology
- Experimental Physics
- Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences
Below you will find all other UU Master鈥檚 associated with an MBLS Bachelor's. Depending on the content of your Bachelor鈥檚 (particularly your electives), you can also be accepted into another Master鈥檚 programme at UU, elsewhere in the Netherlands, or abroad.
Do you want to know how you can predict the effectiveness of different medical treatments? How can you use social media data to detect the emergence of extremist behaviour? How can you predict environmental conditions using camera data? Or how you can find out the wants and needs of the audience, so you can tailor content to them?
In this one-year fast-paced academic Master鈥檚 programme, you鈥檒l learn how to apply data science techniques in five different focus domains (Health Science, Economics, Geoscience, Social and Behavioural Science and Media Studies). This knowledge will be combined with your own domain-specific knowledge to create considerable added value.
Do you want to know how you can discover novel genes that cause a particular disease? How you can understand the origin and functioning of complex life on earth? How can you develop or apply computational algorithms to answer these questions by harnessing the wealth of biological big data?
The Master鈥檚 programme consists of two components: Bioinformatics and Biocomplexity. Bioinformatics is used to analyse the multitude of biological 'big data' that originate from observations and experiments investigating living matter. Biocomplexity is focused on developing mathematical and computational models to simulate these processes and thereby unravel the building blocks and interactions responsible for the observed dynamic behaviour. By bringing these disciplines together, we offer you the opportunity to learn two highly powerful and complementary approaches to study the most complex system on our planet: life.
What can we learn from blood vessel systems in relation to crowd control and solutions for traffic jams? How do the compound eyes of insects reduce light pollution? How can we create a building functioning like a living organism or ecosystem? How to make the world more circular and sustainable by learning from nature?
This Master's programme is for students with an interest in design, research and systems-thinking. The first year of the programme is research-based, while the second year focuses on the application of knowledge in innovation.
Do you have a clear and specific interest in cancer, stem cells or developmental biology? This programme combines research in oncology, molecular developmental biology and genetics. Discover the mysteries of embryonic growth, stem cells, signalling, gene regulation, evolution, and development as they relate to health and disease.
Given that fundamental developmental processes are so often impacted by disease, an understanding of these processes is vital to the better understanding of disease treatment and prevention. Adult physiology is regulated by developmental genes and mechanisms which, if deregulated, may result in pathological conditions.
Read more about Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology
Cardiovascular diseases are a major burden worldwide. This programme challenges you to reduce this burden by unravelling cardiovascular disease mechanisms, developing treatments and therapies, and investigate risk management and preventive strategies.
Cardiovascular Health and Disease positions you at the cutting edge of basic and clinical science, in the cardiovascular research field. You study the cardiovascular system in the broadest sense and learn to conduct cardiovascular-related research on a basic, translational, or (pre)clinical level.
Societal challenges are incorporated in this Master鈥檚 programme, such as diversity, health equity, development of animal-free models, prevention, and patient participation in cardiovascular research.
Do you want to know how you can develop new drugs to combat drug-resistant microorganisms? Reducing the side effects of treatment by finding new ways to deliver drugs directly onto the tumor? Or how you can update and speed up the drug regulatory process?
Drug innovation is an interdisciplinary field, which pulls together expertise from the bioinformatics, chemical, biological, physical, and medical sciences. This interdisciplinarity is key to the search for new solutions to currently incurable diseases.
You become skilled in the development of new vaccines, gene therapeutics, the application of organoids, and medical nutrition. Additionally, you are trained to establish new methods and criteria for evaluating the quality, efficacy, safety, and performance of drugs.
How plants, animals and microbes function and adapt to changing environments.
Receive advanced training in the fundamental scientific theories that describe the world around us.
Well-trained and creative minds help us solve the public health problems of the future. Do you see yourself tackling the increasing incidences of allergies and autoimmune disease, working on emerging infections such as SARS-CoV2 and MRSA? Would you like to spend time on developing personalised medicine to treat cancer or chronic inflammatory diseases?
Emerging infectious are a threat to human and animal well-being. An increasing number of allergies and chronic inflammatory diseases have major impact on individuals and society as a whole. Knowledge of the immune system provides you with the know-how to develop potential health care solutions for cancer, transplantation and downregulation of a hyperactive immune system as for example in rheumatoid arthritis.
This Master鈥檚 programme covers a variety of topics such as fundamental and clinical immunology, vaccines, immunotherapy, mechanisms of infectious diseases, molecular epidemiology of infections, virulence factors of microorganisms, and resistance to treatment. You contribute to the accumulation of knowledge that is directly or indirectly leading to faster diagnosis of diseases and better treatment options.
The field of medical imaging is evolving rapidly, since diagnosis and treatment are increasingly supported by imaging procedures. The Medical Imaging Master鈥檚 programme combines elements from physics, mathematics, computer science, biomedical engineering, biology and clinical medicine. Master鈥檚 students will attain a high level of knowledge and skills in various areas of medical imaging, such as image acquisition physics, quantitative image analysis including artificial intelligence/deep learning, computer-aided diagnosis, and image-guided interventions.
The programme is offered in close collaboration between the imaging division of the and . Two leading organizations at the forefront of health care and technology. This collaboration tops a solid technological basis with strong links to research performed in a clinical setting.
Do you want to know how organisms function, develop, and interact with their environment? How you can understand and advance our knowledge of cellular processes at the molecular level? Or how you can develop advanced experimental and computational methods to study biomolecules or biological processes?
The Master鈥檚 programme Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences (MCLS) is research oriented and takes a multidisciplinary approach to study molecules related to health and disease in cells and organisms. Although, thematic research often has a fundamental character, such as the study of protein folding or cellular dynamics, it can also have a more applied character: such as the development of new strategies for crop improvement or the 'development' of enzymes to be used in industry. By the end of the programme you will be ready to start a career in biochemical, biomedical, and biotechnological research.
Gain in-depth knowledge on, and experimental experience with, novel nanomaterials and their synthesis, structure, and applications.
Neuroscience and cognition trains you to become a multidisciplinary neuro and/or cognition scientist, fully equipped to face the challenges of modern research in the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience and cognition. With ample knowledge of the scope of brain and cognitive functioning, you will be prepared to join an international research team investigating the most complex organ of our body.
During the Master's programme of Neuroscience and Cognition you will develop the ability to synthesise information from different disciplines in order to plan experiments; to collect, interpret, and analyse data; and to better understand how the brain functions. A basic function, such as sight, can demonstrate the complexity of neuroscience. Many elements of the brain and other processes are involved when you see something familiar, including cognition (the ability to recognise something), plasticity of neurons (the ability to remember), signal transduction (鈥渢ranslating鈥 what you see), and behaviour (acting because of what you see).
Pick Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience or Cognitive Neuroscience as your track of choice and explore fundamental principles and techniques. You get to work in multidisciplinary teams together with students from various bachelor backgrounds such as Biomedical Sciences, Neuro- and Cognitive Psychology, Linguistics, or Artificial Intelligence.
Do you want to know how you can take scientific research and products to the market? How you can apply your scientific knowledge in commercial companies? Or how you can combine your passion for science and business?
A solid understanding of science is essential to bring science-based products to the market. In this Master's, you will build on your academic background in science while adding knowledge of business processes and practical skills for commercial settings. Importantly, you will also focus on the strategic value and applicability of scientific research. The programme will equip you with the knowledge and tools to identify, manage, and overcome problems that arise in each phase of an innovation process.
The first year comprises a science-focused programme, in which you will receive training in a research environment within your area of expertise. In the second year you will obtain business management skills and learn about operations management, organization and strategic management, marketing, economics, entrepreneurship and effective communication in a business environment. You will apply your skills at the final stage of the Master's, during an internship at a national or international company of your choice. Read more about Science and Business Management
PhD research
When you have completed a Master's programme and you are sure that you want to continue as a researcher, you can choose to do a PhD in your field. A PhD program lasts four years and is concluded with a dissertation with which you will be promoted to a doctor (dr.). PhD students - also known as PhDs - make an important contribution to research in Utrecht.
Possible careers
Molecular and Biophysical Life Sciences (MBLS) graduates have many career prospects, either in the Netherlands or abroad. Examples of careers after obtaining a Master's degree are:
As a researcher you conduct research into the development of the cancer disease: How come a normal cell changes into a cancer cell? You will also research how cancer cells spread and how they can be fought. You work at the molecular level in biological model systems.
As a molecular biologist you study all processes that take place in a cell. These are just a few examples of many:
- How do proteins interact with each other?
- How is a protein folded into its final structure?
- How do molecules bind to the cells' receptors?
- How is gene expression regulated in a cell?
- What does the membrane of a cell look like?
A (medical) microbiological researcher is for example engaged in the detection of pathogens (bacteria and viruses). But you can also conduct research into the way in which bacteria penetrate an organism or, even more fundamentally, into how the cell membrane of the bacterium is built.
A researcher in the pharmaceutical industry is looking for new drugs or is making sure that current drugs work even better. This often has a commercial purpose. Examples include the search for a remedy for Alzheimer's or improvements to current medicines for travel sickness.
As a doctoral candidate / PhD researcher in the field of Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, you will conduct a major research project after your studies, under the supervision of a professor. For example, you are concerned with the mechanisms that underlie the growth, differentiation and death of cells. You use all kinds of advanced techniques such as electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, light microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. You conclude your doctoral research by writing and defending a dissertation. You obtain a doctorate, abbreviated to Dr.