Students at the HLS gain a profound education in Biomedical Engineering, enabling them to work in various fields of activity within Medtech companies. The taught modules highlight the design and manufacturing process of medical implants, considering the importance of biointerfaces between biological tissue and the implant. Students get to know biomaterials used for implants, learn how to assess its biocompatibility and to characterize and engineer surfaces for biomedical applications. In addition, the design and implementation of embedded systems for active electronic implants and medical devices is covered as well as therapeutic applications based on surgical robotics. Further modules emphasize on the use of mathematical techniques for optimization, simulation, modelling applied to clinical problems as well as medical image analysis. As medical devices are subject to European directives and national laws, students will be introduced into regulatory and quality aspects of the entire development process.
After the eight months lasting Master’s thesis, usually performed in cooperation with a Medtech company, alumni are well prepared to take over responsibility in a company.
Details
In total each student has to gain 50 ECTS by visiting modules. Students can choose modules from the whole Master of Sciences in Life Sciences programme. It is also possible to gain up to 12 ECTS from outside this Master programme by visiting suitable modules offered by other Universities (prior approval by the head of Master's Studies required). Please be aware that each student has also to visit at least three cluster-specific modules.
Annual Plan Master of Sciences in Life Sciences
Core Competences
The Core Competence Modules provide the students with essential competences in data literacy and for their professional position. These modules are offered by the cooperation and are visited by students from all partner schools allowing students to build up a Swiss-wide network.
Data:
Handling and Visualizing data
Design and Analysis of Experiments
Modelling and Exploration of Multivariate Data
Business, Management & Society:
Business Administration for Life Sciences
Management and Leadership for Life Sciences
Innovation and Project Management
Politics and Society
Specialisation and Cluster-specific Modules in Biomedical Engineering
Specialisation and cluster-specific modules give the students an in-depth scientific and technical education in their respective field.
Specialisation modules are held and organised by the School of Life Sciences and take place in Muttenz whereas the cluster-specific modules are organised by the four schools of the cooperation and are open to students from all cooperating schools. The cluster-specific modules usually take place in Bern or Olten; both venues can be easily reached by public transport.
Students in Biomedical Engineering choose a minimum of five compulsory elective modules worth three ECTS credits each.
The Master's thesis is worth 40 ECTS credits and is the most important module in the course. As part of their thesis, students work on demanding, application-based projects. The thesis can be done in the industry, at a university or at a research institute in Switzerland or abroad or at an institute within the FHNW School of Life Sciences.
The Master's thesis is written in English and lasts for eight months (full-time).
The Master's course is taught exclusively in English. Students therefore require good language skills. The following table shows the required levels:
If prospective students do not have the required English skills, they can acquire these during their studies and be tested on them at the end of the course.
Tuition fees per semester for the following students:
Swiss nationals, Students who have their civil law domicile in Switzerland at the start of their studies.
Students who can prove that their parents have civil law residence in Switzerland at the beginning of their studies.
Refugees of legal age and stateless persons with civil law residence in Switzerland.
CHF 700
Tuition fees per semester for students who have their civil law residence in the EU/EFTA at the beginning of their studies.
CHF 1'000
Tuition fees per semester for students who do not have their civil law residence in Switzerland or in an EU/EFTA state at the start of their studies.
CHF 5'000
The full semester fees are due if the deregistration or the exmatriculation application is not received by the FHNW within one week after the start of the semester.
Prospects
After completing their studies, graduates predominantly work as engineers in the medtech sector. Their quality assurance and data management competencies equip them to assume leadership roles straight away.
Organisational information
The Master's course usually lasts one and a half years full time. The focus in the first two semesters is on attending lectures. At the end of the second semester, students begin their Master's thesis, which lasts for eight months.
It is possible to study part time while working, with the course then extending from three to six semesters. Experience suggests that working between 50 to 60 per cent of full-time equivalence is appropriate.
Part-time students attend lectures over several semesters and usually begin their Master's thesis at the end of the fourth semester.
The course begins in the autumn semester (calendar week 38). It is possible to begin in the spring semester (calendar week 8).
Admission
Graduates with an excellent Bachelor's degree are admitted directly if they:
hold a Bachelor's degree in a related technical field from a university of applied sciences with a mark of A, B or ≥ 5 or an equivalent mark (≥ good)
or demonstrate an equivalent background (BSc) and practical experience
and have excellent English skills.
Prospective students who meet most but not all of the entry requirements are invited to interview.
New: Application for the Master's programme was never easier! Click on the "apply now" button in the right-hand column to go directly to the registration form.
