M.Sc. in Biomolecular Sciences: Molecular Cell Biology

Focus on the fundamentals of molecular and cellular processes

How to provide safe, stable food and how to produce crops in a stable way? How to develop treatments for age-related diseases or infections? How to find solutions to emerging problems, such as antibiotic resistance and nitrogen fixation in our soils? These are all demanding challenges that modern society faces. And it’s our priority to find solutions.

With a thorough understanding of molecular and cellular processes and a focus on fundamentals, you’ll be better positioned to innovate and develop biotechnological solutions or treatments for these issues. Moreover, today’s biomolecular scientists are increasingly exposed to huge volumes of data from high-throughput methods, which require a critical scientific approach. To this end, it’s vital that molecular and cell biology graduates are well-prepared to enter the lab within an interdisciplinary life sciences research community.

Depending on your background and interest, you’ll choose one of three tracks:

• Molecular Cell Biology
• Biological Chemistry
• Molecular Bioinformatics

These combine both compulsory core courses – including Protein Science and Genomes & Gene Expression – plus a selection of elective courses. It’s also possible to choose courses across the different tracks to create your own unique study progrogramme.

You’ll be taught through a series of lectures, research tutorials, work groups, demonstrations, lab visits, lab and computer practicals, as well as onsite training and mentoring. Laboratory internships and an extensive literature study also form major components of the programme, under the mentorship and guidance of a researcher of your choice. You’re also encouraged to consider going abroad for your internship in the final year. Your lecturers can help you find a suitable lab through their own extensive research networks.

Which specialisation do you choose?

The Master’s programme in Biomolecular Sciences takes two years. The teaching is done in the form of lectures, research tutorials, work groups, demonstrations, lab visits, lab practicals and training, and specific computer-assisted applications. In the first year you choose one of the three specialisations. It’s also possible to choose and combine the specialisations. In your second year you continue with the specialisation of your first year.

Molecular Cell Biology

Summary

With the track Molecular Cell Biology, you can develop your skills further and your performance in molecular and cellular research. You can prepare yourself for an (inter)national research position. The track Molecular Cell Biology has been developed for students with a Bachelors degree in Biology or Biomedical Sciences or any other relevant Bachelor's degree (for instance Biochemistry or HLO).

If you choose the Molecular Cell Biology track, you’ll take two compulsory courses: Protein Science and Genomes and Gene Expression. You’ll also choose from a variety of electives, including:

• Cell Structures & Functions
• Molecular Infection Biology
• Signal Transduction in Health and Disease
• Microbial Genomics
• Biophotonics
• Drug-induced Stress and Cellular Responses
• Developmental Biology

Plus, you’ll take academic skills courses that will prepare you for getting into the lab. These include professional training for a scientific career as well as scientific writing skills.

Your internships are a very important part of the programme, with one shorter placement and one longer placement of around six months. You’re free to carry out internships at VU Amsterdam, off campus or even abroad in your second year.

You’ll also carry out a literature survey in your chosen research area, under the mentorship of a local expert. You can decide on your own topic and the research questions you want to investigate.

And finally, you’ll have the chance to supplement your coursework with selected capstone projects, which aim to provide you with in-depth knowledge and discussion of various research topics. While these projects are optional, they’re a great opportunity to discover the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject as well as completing assignments. Some current capstone topics include:

• Epigenetics
• Structural Biology
• Protein Structure as Molecular Basis of Disease
• Molecular Biotechnology
• Cellular Protein Trafficking

Biological Chemistry

Summary

In this track the focus is on the interaction of cells, cellular structures and individual proteins with their "chemical environment". Special focus will lie on the characterisation of new drug targets and tools to find small molecules as leads in the development of new medicines. Furthermore, the bioactivation of and cellular responses to drugs will get special attention. This programme gives a thorough grounding in the subjects and methods of the Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Toxicology as well as providing a solid preparation for one or more research internships.

If you choose the Biological Chemistry track, you’ll take two compulsory courses: Protein Science and Genomes and Gene Expression. You’ll also choose from a variety of electives, including:

• Drug-induced Stress and Cellular Responses
• Signal Transduction in Health and Disease
• Microbial Genomics
• Biophotonics
• Dynamics of Biomoleculars and Cells
• Chemical Biology
• Biomolecular Screening

Plus, you’ll take academic skills courses that will prepare you for getting into the lab. These include professional training for a scientific career as well as scientific writing skills.

Your internships are a very important part of the programme, with one shorter placement and one longer placement of around six months. You’re free to carry out internships at VU Amsterdam, off campus, or even abroad in your second year.

You’ll also carry out a literature survey in your chosen research area, under the mentorship of a local expert. You can decide on your own topic and the research questions you want to investigate.

And finally, you’ll have the chance to supplement your coursework with selected capstone projects, which aim to provide you with in-depth knowledge and discussion of various research topics. While these projects are optional, they’re a great opportunity to discover the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject as well as completing assignments. Some current capstone topics include epigenetics and structural biology.

This track is unique in that you also get the chance to take supplementary courses: the Drug Discovery and Safety Program and the Molecular Toxicology and Medicinal Chemistry groups offer two in-depth courses covering aspects of high-throughput analysis, protein modelling and analytical chemistry: Chemical Biology, and Computational Design and Synthesis of Drugs.

Molecular Bioinformatics

Summary

If you choose the Molecular Bioinformatics track, you’ll take four compulsory courses: Protein Science, Genomes and Gene Expression, Fundamentals of Bioinformatics, and Statistics with R. You’ll also choose from a variety of electives, including:

• Cell Structures and Functions
• Molecular Infection Biology
• Drug-induced Stress & Cellular Response
• Signal Transduction in Health & Disease
• Structural Bioinformatics
• Bioinformatics for Translational Medicine
• Algorithms in Sequence Analysis
• Biosystems Data Analysis
• Introduction to Programming (Python)
• Dynamics of Biomolecules and Cells
• Introduction to Systems Biology
• Project Computational Design and Synthesis
• Biophotonics
• Microbial Genomics

Plus, you’ll take academic skills courses that will prepare you for getting into the lab. These include professional training for a scientific career as well as scientific writing skills.

Real-world experience is an important part of this programme. You’ll take a six-month lab-based internship, which you can carry out at VU Amsterdam, off campus or even abroad in your second year. In addition to the internship, you’ll complete a bioinformatics project, comprising analyses and computer-based work.

And finally, you’ll have the chance to supplement your coursework with selected capstone projects, which aim to provide you with in-depth knowledge and discussion of various research topics. While these projects are optional, they’re a great opportunity to discover the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject as well as completing assignments. Some current capstone topics include molecular biotechnology and epigenetics.