Introduction

Systems biology has been recognized as a powerful approach to solve biological questions at various levels and to come to quantitative descriptions of biological behaviour, structure and evolution. Also in medical sciences, drug design and biotechnology, systems biology is seen as an avenue to increase our understanding and to improve on applications with regard to production, stability, efficiency and control.

Studying Systems Biology at the University of Amsterdam

The Master's programme in Systems Biology reflects the broad research area of this field, processed in courses that integrate the following disciplines:

• chemistry and biochemistry, including bioanalytical tools;
• genetics, molecular biology and cellular biology;
• biophysics;
• mathematics;
• programming and computational modeling;
• data analysis and bioinformatics

The programme is organised to teach the students aspects of these different disciplines but above all to have them integrate these disciplines as the ultimate intellectual challenge. Students can choose to complete their programme with either a theoretical focus or a more experimental training relevant to systems biology.

The programme welcomes students with a Bachelor background in chemistry, biology, informatics, mathematics or physics. Applications will be reviewed by the exam committee for students with backgrounds that are not considered evidently suitable.