First students graduate from the Master’s Programme in Life Science Technologies

Launched in autumn 2015, the multidisciplinary Master’s Programme in Life Science Technologies consists of six major subjects that cover numerous technologies applied in biosciences: Bioinformatics, Biomedical Engineering, Biosensing and Bioelectronics, Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering, Complex Systems and Human Neuroscience and -technology.

‘I began to study bioinformatics in 2011, and I chose Complex Systems as my major for my master’s studies, which also included courses in machine learning, programming and statistics.  From the get-go, my goal was to go into research after earning my master’s degree,’ explains Tuomas Alakörkkö, who recently graduated from the programme.

In spring 2015, Alakörkkö began working as a part-time research assistant in Professor Jari Saramäki’s group focusing on brain networks, and he now continues this work as a doctoral candidate. The work involves collaboration with DTU, Technical University of Denmark.

Roughly 20 students are taking Complex Systems as their major, and the programme is considered to make a good stepping stone to working life, thanks to its broad scope and the excellent opportunities for specialisation offered by it.

‘The project course was a definite highlight of the study programme, offering a foretaste of working life. Collaborating with Saramäki’s team, our 16-strong student group carried out a project that involved studying human behaviour via mobile phones. The course culminated in a project presentation day, which offered an excellent opportunity to witness the wide range of topics covered by the master’s programme, from chemical engineering to machine learning,’ Alakörkkö adds.

The Master’s Programme in Life science Technologies provides the students with an excellent basis for doctoral studies, and a higher than average proportion of the students carry on to do a doctorate. The major subjects of Complex Systems and Bioinformatics also have their own doctoral tracks that guide a student from master’s studies to a doctorate. In addition, many of the students in the major of Complex Systems carry out the work for their master’s thesis in collaboration with a company, particularly in the fields of data sciences and health technology.

‘I particularly enjoyed the hands-on master’s degree courses that made the transition to the private sector easier. I began to work part-time at Phillips back in 2012, and for the past two years I have worked full-time as a product development engineer, working with magnetic imaging solutions,’ explains Mikael Parmala, another graduate from the programme.

The application period for the studies beginning next term runs from 15 December 2016 to 25 January 2017. Further information on the new doctoral track is available here.