Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

The Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering is a complete English-taught two-year program and leads to a joint degree from UGent and VUB. In this master's course, knowledge and skills in all fields in biomedical engineering will be given, so when you finished the Master's program, you can be employed as a generalist, and you will also be specialized in one particular field of biomedical engineering.

As a student, you will be able to select any field of biomedical engineering. You will be trained to work in interdisciplinary project teams, composed of engineers and medical specialists.

To prepare further for interdisciplinary teams, students and scholars are treated as equals. To train for working in a European setting, you will get knowledge in the healthcare situation in several countries in Europe, and you will be trained in cultural differences between European countries.

The multidisciplinary program of the Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering provides a comprehensive overview of the different areas essential in biomedical engineering. The program involves relevant courses regarding medical technology and health care, while also incorporating the economical and ethical aspects of the field.

The program is divided into 3 main parts:

1. Compulsory courses

The 66 ECTS of compulsory courses provide students with fundamental and specialized knowledge in the field of biomedical engineering.

2. Elective courses

Over both years of the program, students can choose 30 ECTs from an extensive list of elective courses taught at our three collaborating institutes (VUB, UGent, and ULB) according to their personal interests. The electives are divided into specialized modules, as described below. Courses can be freely chosen from one or from different modules.

3. Master thesis

In the second year of the Master's program, a Master's thesis will be conducted for 24 ECTS. For more information regarding the thesis, click here

Modules

• Radiation Physics
• Neuro
• Mechanics and Materials
• Sensors and Device

The program offers an inter-university master program to Bachelors of Applied Sciences and Engineering. It also provides the opportunity for bachelors in medicine and health care or sciences, subject to a preceding specific training, to follow this program as well. This multidisciplinary program broadens scientific knowledge and forms a link between medical and technological knowledge.

The discussed themes are always relatable to the combination of cutting-edge technology and automation techniques for biomedical applications.

Biomedical engineers are expected to have a sufficiently broad knowledge of technical aspects relating to several engineering activities such as product development and technical management, having the creativity and problem-solving capacities that one expects of academically trained engineers.

Biomedical engineers are also expected to have sufficient basic knowledge of the (bio) medical sciences, to be able to understand the medical end-users and to be able to translate their requirements into technical specifications in such areas as prevention, prognosis, (early) diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

In order to meet the abovementioned objectives the biomedical engineer must have been exposed to the following:

• a broad standard educational package in engineering techniques: chemistry (including organic chemistry), elasticity and strength of materials, mechanics/continuum mechanics, and electronics;
• a standard package consisting of the main medical subjects of interest to a biomedical engineer: anatomy, physiology, and biology;
• topics relating to medical equipment, the carrying out of measurements and observations of patients, and acquiring and processing of patient data: electrical measurement techniques, medical instrumentation (including radiation equipment), medical imaging, biomedical signal processing, and data analysis (including image processing), medical data processing and telematics;
• biomechanics and biomaterials (including mechanical and chemical specifications of prostheses and implants and biocompatibility) and rehabilitation engineering; (e) safety aspects of biomedical engineering.

With a Master of Biomedical Engineering, the student has ample possibilities of finding a job in Flanders, Belgium, Europe, or around the world in industry, hospitals, health care, universities and research institutes, government positions, and many more.

The biomedical engineer is versatile, multi-disciplinary, and thus employable in a variety of positions:

• PhD-student at a university or at a large industry R&D department
• Product manager or project leader in an (R&D) industry
• Medical physics engineer in a hospital
• Government/public health
• Consultancy in a wide range of functions, from product design to safety regulations
• Notified bodies, Regulatory Affairs Managers, screening new products for a CE-mark, and patent offices
• Health Insurance, improving health care, and controlling costs
• Any job requiring the traditional analytical and organizational skills of the academically trained engineer (general consultancy jobs, top functions in administration, banking sector