Master's in Biochemistry and Biotechnology

Ghent University is a public university in Ghent, Belgium. It was founded in 1817 and is one of the largest universities in Belgium. The university has over 40,000 students and 6,000 staff members. It offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and engineering. Ghent University is ranked #121-130 in the QS World University Rankings 2024. It is also a member of the League of European Research Universities and the Coimbra Group.

The master’s programme of biochemistry and biotechnology offers courses in English and Dutch. It is possible to choose a complete curriculum of English courses. The two-year master’s programme (120 credits) consists of four modules of 30 credits each: common general courses (general, broadening), major course package (specialising), minor course package (broadening), master dissertation (practical training). The master’s programme offers five specialising majors: the major Bio-informatics and Systems Biology is based on the recent need for bio-computing and computational biology for the processing of the vast amount of data generated from the biological information flow on different levels (genome, transcriptome, proteome, interactome, signalosome); the major Biochemistry and Structural Biology focuses on the determination of protein structures and the study of the functioning of molecular ‘machines’; the major Biomedical Biotechnology studies the relation between basic cell biological processes and pathological processes (inflammation, cancer, metabolic illnesses) and pays also attention to biomedical applications such as the development of new vaccines and new therapies; the major Microbial Biotechnology studies microbial diversity and functionality and applies the fundamental knowledge of the molecular genetics of micro-organisms such as bacteria, yeast, moulds and viruses in a broad variety of biotechnological applications; the major Plant Biotechnology aims at the development of biotechnological applications of plants in agriculture (e.g. disease resistance or drought tolerance), production of biofuels and the biosynthesis of products with medical applications. The major is supported by a training period (6 credits) in the first master and a master dissertation (30 credits) in the second master. The master's programme offers three broadening minors: The minor Research offers the students an extra speciality, chosen from the remaining majors, as well as an extra training period (this minor is particularly interesting for English speaking students); The minor Economics and Business Administration offers an introduction to different aspects of business life; The minor Interdisciplinary Combination permits to combine a major with a coherent package of courses from a different field (informatics, chemistry, engineering sciences,...). In the second year, a research project (master's dissertation) of 30 credits is scheduled. The master's dissertation is a requirement for every student to obtain a master’s degree. The master's dissertation is an original piece of research work. It aims to develop and strengthen the research capacity skills of the students. The student selects a topic and is given guidance by a supervisor. The master's dissertation consists of a literature review part, practical research and an original analysis of the topic.