Life Science Engineering is a new bachelor programme for students who want to explore the links between science and living systems. After a joint introductory course, students can specialize in biotechnology, biomedicine, or bioinformatics.
Life science is the study of everything living around us. On DTU's new BSc programme, Life Science Engineering, students will learn how to use their knowledge of living organisms to design tomorrow's biology, biotech, and healthcare solutions.
Life Science Engineering is targeted at various MSc programmes and can lead to work on, among other things, the development of new medicines and a more sustainable production of food, energy, and materials. Students who choose the bioinformatics track can work on analysing large amounts of biological data, for example in connection with disease outbreaks such as the current pandemic.
Focus on sustainability and innovation
The first three semesters of Life Science Engineering will provide a broad knowledge of life science, with courses in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, chemistry, bioinformatics, and mathematics. From the outset, students will also learn to use programming tools and apply statistics to large data sets generated in the laboratory.
"The focus throughout the programme will be on applying the things you learn in practice. We combine laboratory work with what we call design build projects, where you have to use your theoretical knowledge to work on a specific engineering problem inspired by what is going on in real life," says head of studies Professor Mads Hartvig Clausen.
The programme will have a strong focus on sustainability. It will be integrated into all aspects of the programme, and students will be taught to always consider sustainability when choosing materials and working with food or medicines.
Innovation will also be a recurring theme throughout the programme; students will learn how to create new solutions and put them into practice to benefit society.
In the last half of the programme, students will specialize in one of three main areas: biotechnology, biomedicine, or bioinformatics. Here they can choose their courses and design the programme to suit their individual interests.
