Biotechnology is a very broad field and graduates from the M.Sc. programme in Biotechnology at Saarland University have access to a wide range of career options. Biotechnologists develop new drugs and diagnostic test procedures, they cultivate plants with specific resistance or tolerance properties and they design biofuels and biopolymers.

Students learn how to examine and analyse complex systems experimentally and how to describe these systems using mathematical and bioinformatics models. The focus of the programme is on systems biotechnology and on the associated fields of bioinformatics, natural products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, molecular biotechnology and bioprocess engineering.

Details:

Work in this area is opening up new possibilities in metabolic engineering, whose goal is the targeted production of producer organisms and the development of corresponding production processes, and in the discovery and validation of drugs and drug targets.

The interdisciplinary M.Sc. programme is run by the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology III at Saarland University. The number of places on the programme is limited to 18 per year, which ensures an excellent student-staff ratio and meaningful interaction between students and their instructors. Students who graduate from the M.Sc. programme with good grades and who would prefer to pursue academic research rather than take up a position in industry can apply for admission to the doctoral research programme.

Programme Structure:

The M.Sc. programme 'Biotechnology' comprises a mandatory section, an electives section and a key-skills section. Each of these sections contains modules or module groups that themselves comprise different teaching units in a specific subject area (lectures, problem-solving classes, practical skills classes, seminars or excursions).

The modules in the mandatory section of the programme aim to teach students the fundamentals of the following branches of biotechnology:

• Biotechnology Fundamentals
• Bioreaction Engineering
• Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
• Molecular Biotechnology
• Systems & Synthetic Biotechnology
• Medical Biotechnology
• Instrumental Bioanalytics

The mandatory section is supplemented by a multi-semester biotechnology seminar and a six-week advanced practical training course.