For the first time, two cell culture labs and a biochemistry lab have been created specifically for educational purposes, offering modern, spacious facilities that enable students to put their classroom knowledge into practice. Finding the labs is easy: just step through the double doors near the large lecture halls in the central atrium, and you'll enter the corridor where these state-of-the-art teaching spaces are located.
Overseeing the project was Moniek van Beest, Operations Manager Research at BmE, who coordinated the development of the new facilities. The transition of the labs for teaching use was carefully prepared by Marloes Janssen, Laboratory Manager of the Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering, in collaboration with Education and Research Assistant Freek Blanke. Together, they ensured the labs were fully equipped and ready to welcome students from day one.
Hedda Somsen, lecturer in Regenerative Engineering and Materials, played a key role in shaping how these labs are used for teaching, ensuring that students gain hands-on experience while understanding the day-to-day operations and educational approach of the new facilities.
In addition, Inge Snoeren, Experimental Research and Education Instructor, together with Blanke, supports teachers in preparing lab space, equipment and materials, and supervises practical sessions.
Our goal was to create labs that offer more students hands-on experience and prepare them for careers in experimental biomedical engineering
Hedda Somsen, lecturer in Regenerative Engineering and Materials
Hands-on opportunities for students and staff
Starting this academic year, the new labs host a wide range of Bachelor's and Master's courses. From Chemical Biology Skills Experience and Racing with Cells to Tissue Engineering and Cell Biological Techniques, students practice essential lab skills in a professional environment - directly reinforcing and expanding upon the theory covered in lectures.
Students conducting their Bachelor's Final Project (BEP) also gain access to the labs once they have demonstrated familiarity with the safety regulations.
Facilities and Equipment
The new labs are spacious and professionally equipped. The biochemistry labs can accommodate larger student groups working with fume hoods, centrifuges, pipettes, scales, and water baths, enabling a wide range of biochemical and cell biological experiments.
The cell culture labs feature multiple biosafety cabinets, allowing up to 10 students per lab to perform cell culture simultaneously. They are equipped with incubators, microscopes, and cell counters, providing students with all the facilities required to grow cells independently. In the same wing, a new autoclave has been installed, ensuring materials can be sterilized safely and efficiently.
Courses and Instructors
Chemical Biology Skills Experience
Led by Edith Brusselaars and Femke Heezemans, giving students hands-on experience with various biochemical techniques --
Racing with Cells
Led by Hedda Somsen and Nicholas Kurniawan, where students determine cell culture conditions to stimulate wound healing in vitro
Tissue Engineering
Led by Hedda Somsen and Miguel Dias Castilho, offering practical insight into engineering tissues using 3D biofabrication
Cell Biological Techniques
Led by Hedda Somsen and Janine Grolleman, helping students build essential cell biology skills
Bringing theory and practice together
These labs give students the opportunity to turn theory into practice. While theoretical courses often focus on literature and experimental design, the hands-on sessions let students perform experiments, analyze data, and see concepts come alive.
Janssen emphasizes the impact of the new facilities: "The new labs really take education to the next level. Students now gain hands-on experience with techniques and equipment that were previously only available in our heavily used research labs. This strengthening of the curriculum helps them make a smoother transition from theory to practice - something they will greatly benefit from later on as MSc or PhD students. And that is incredibly motivating for both students and their teachers."
Students gain hands-on experience that bridges the gap between theory and practice
Marloes Janssen, Laboratory Manager of the Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering
With their arrival, the program advances BmE's broader vision, where challenge-based learning and hands-on experimental skills are emphasized from the first year. The expanded capacity and modern facilities encourage students not only to follow protocols but also to design, carry out, and interpret their own experiments - fostering creativity and independent thinking.
Concrete benefits for students
The labs also prepare students for future careers. They learn sterile techniques, in vitro cell culture, precise protocol adherence, and critical evaluation of data and unexpected results. Beyond technical expertise, students develop independence, problem-solving, and meticulousness.
This hands-on experience prepares students for their BEP, advanced studies at the Master's or PhD level, and careers in research or industry.
Why these labs were needed
The new labs were designed to meet students' growing demand for hands-on experience while ensuring that ongoing research in Vector remains uninterrupted. By providing dedicated educational spaces, the research labs can stay focused, allowing researchers to work without distraction.
"Our goal with these labs was to create spaces that give more students hands-on learning experiences - in line with our ambition to include real-life challenges in the curriculum and prepare them for careers in experimental biomedical engineering," says Somsen.
Van Beest emphasizes the strategic value: "The shared labs of BmE have proven to be a fruitful way to collaborate and interact, regardless of background or experience level. However, in our highly used labs, combining top-notch research with education can be challenging. By starting from scratch with dedicated student labs, students benefit from an environment tailored to their needs. This approach lets students enter the research labs later, already equipped with stronger foundational knowledge, so both education and research profit from these newly established facilities."
Janssen highlights the practical and educational design: "The student labs were designed with education in mind - from the layout of the benches to the selection of equipment. Everything is tailored to give students the space and support they need to build confidence and skills in a safe, structured environment. It's a setting where they can make mistakes, ask questions, and really grow before stepping into the high-tech, fast-paced research labs."
The expansion also provided much-needed extra space and several dedicated rooms that were previously missing, including a biochemistry lab, an ML-II engineering lab, a precision measurement room, an engineering workshop, and an ultrasound in vivo lab. These additions fill critical gaps in the lab infrastructure, supporting both cutting-edge research and high-quality education.
Dedicated student labs give students a strong foundation, benefiting both their learning and research
Moniek van Beest, Operations Manager Research
Long-term vision
Looking ahead, plans are underway to create similar facilities at the heart of the campus, for example in Gemini. These future labs will provide students with a safe, dedicated environment to gain hands-on experience before entering the high-tech, fast-paced research labs for their final training.
"At Biomedical Engineering, research and education are intertwined, and we invite our students into proper lab environments as early as possible," says Van Beest. "Having a safe space to learn, gradually progressing to the full research labs, allows students to take on the responsibilities of lab work within an environment that matches both their experience and developing research talents."
These new facilities are expected to further integrate hands-on learning into the broader curriculum, giving students practical experience while maintaining a clear balance between teaching and ongoing research.
