Master's Program Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics

The courses on the Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics Master teaches the basics and the skills required to successfully carry out research or industrial projects across the interdisciplinary boundaries between natural sciences, engineering and medicine.

Curriculum

The first year of this interdisciplinary Master program focusses mainly on assisting lectures and lab courses, while the second year focusses on the research within the framework of the Master's thesis.

Semester 1 and 2 - Study phase

During the study phase, the students select and assist the lectures from the compulsory- and elective-subjects catalogue. The elective subjects cover selected topics from the research area Biomedical Engineering and introduces them into the current research, reflecting in a unique way, the broad research activity of the Physics Department and the Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering (MIBE). The scientifically-oriented lab course and the general-education subject, which bridges the gap to the neighboring scientific areas, round off the profile of this Master program.

You must complete the following two mandatory modules in the program:

    PH2001 - Biomedical Physics 1 (5 CP) and
    PH2002 - Biomedical Physics 2 (5 CP)

One of the two compulsory modules must be passed by the end of the 2nd semester.

Master's students of the interdisciplinary program Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics can choose their focus area courses out of an extensive and dynamic catalog, covering nearly all research topics pursued in our department and affiliated institutions. Students can specialize in the following areas:

  • biomedical imaging
  • biosensors

The two focus areas are intented to help you with your subject-specific orientation, but you can choose freely from both focus areas regardless of your choice of focus area. The two focus area catalogs will be given at the beginning of each studying year.

For your Master's program you have to pass 40 CP (ECTS) in special courses. To ensure a broad coverage of topics a consultation by a mentor (by signature on the mentoring form).

According to the curriculum and the general structure of the program, the BEMP Lab Course (=Advanced Practical Training) is scheduled for the 2nd semester of studies.

The advanced experiments dealing with different topics from the research area of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics are carried out, whereof the students perform one of them. The subjects of the experiments offered correspond to the research areas of the different institute from the physics department and the Munich Insitute of BioEngineering, thus facilitating future decisions regarding choices of specialization or topics for Master's theses. The topic of lab course experiments can be freely chosen from the offered catalog. Each experiment takes about 60 hours of laboratory work.

The BEMP Lab Course catalog will be given at the beginning of each studying year.

The lab course is carried out in groups of usually 3 participants. The groups are working self-dependently as far as possible. A supervisor supports the group in case that questions or problems arise.

The module is examined by a laboratory assignment in form of a pass/fail requirement. The students perfom one experiment from the catalog. The lab work is assessed on the performance in the experimental containing several steps of experimental and theoretical nature.
Every experiment involves four parts:
1. Preparation (insufficiently prepared participants may be rejected due to safety reasons).
2. Execution (20%).
3. Report (5-10 pages, 60%).
4. Discussion (duration: 15 minutes, 20%).

Semester 3 and 4 - Research Phase

The research phase brings the students in direct contact with current Physics research topics from the specific scientific area of the degree program. After a period of vocational adjustment (Master’s seminar and Master’s training) students work on their own research project for the Master’s thesis. An intense supervision during the whole research phase is assured by the large number of senior scientists at the campus Garching and students benefit from the excellent research environment with a broad national and international research network.

To the scope of the one year research phase (60 ECTS) belong firstly, the development of the necessary special knowledge within a cutting-edge research line (Master's seminar) and secondly, the acquisition of the corresponding experimental or theoretical skills (Master's work experience), that are necessary for the following realization of the research project within the frame of the Master's thesis. Each of these steps conforms a module, the Master's seminar and the Master's work experience. Both modules belong intrinsically together and account in total for 30 ECTS. Subsequently, the independent research project can be carried out as part of the Master's thesis, which corresponding module comprises 30 ECTS. The research phase is completed with the Master's colloquium, the defense of the Master's thesis, within this module.

During the research phase, the fulfillment of an independent scientific work is tightly connected with the acquisition of additional skills, such as project management, team work as well as the depiction and presentation of scientific results.

  • Scientific work in own field of study
  • Literature research and professional specialization
  • The module is examined by a laboratory assignment in form of a pass/fail requirement

  • Scientific work in own field of study
  • Methodology and project planning
  • The module is examined by a laboratory assignment in form of a pass/fail requirement

  • Scientific work in own field of study
  • Independent research project
  • The module comprises the practical and/or theoretical treatment of a scientific topic, resulting in a thesis (type of assessment: research paper, 70%), and its oral presentation within the Master’s Colloquium (30%).