Biology, General - Master Programme

You will design your personal study route together with the study advisor. Choose from around 30 second cycle courses in Biology. Teaching takes place on modern premises and in laboratories with advanced equipment. Depending on your selection of courses, there are extensive opportunities for excursions and field projects. These are provided at no cost to the student. You will obtain specialised knowledge on experimental design and statistics, as well as training in analysing and interpreting biological data. You will practice both oral and written presentations and obtain ample experience in working in groups, as well as independent.

The Master’s programme has a high proportion of scheduled lessons, and the interaction with teaching staff and course assistants is relaxed. The programme has strong ties with research. All of the teaching staff are researchers, and as a result the courses are continuously adapted based on current research. The Department of Biology has several world-leading research teams and conducts both basic research and applied research. The language of instruction is English (a few of the elective courses are given in Swedish).

If you are interested in the Nordic Master's Programme in Biodiversity and Systematics (NABIS) you can apply to our Biology, General Master’s Programme. The NABIS courses are web-based and are partly located at different research stations in Sweden and Norway.

Programme structure

Our Biology, General Master’s Programme could begin with a course in either population and community ecology, neurobiology or immunology. Thereafter you choose elective courses, based on your interests and plans follow. During the second year you will continue to build your expertise based on your own wishes. Within ecology, you can choose for example, conservation biology, animal ecology, ecotoxicology, biological environmental monitoring or species knowledge (the last-mentioned course is given in Swedish). Within physiology, you can for example focus on sensory biology and neurobiology. Please note that some courses have other prerequisites than those of the programme, and require previous studies in biochemistry and molecular biology.

The degree project is worth 30, 45 or 60 credits and is generally conducted in a research team, but it can also be conducted in cooperation with a public authority or a company. The Master’s programme offers the option of doing an internship, which can provide valuable contacts.

Career prospects

The Master’s programme gives you a good foundation for third cycle studies in biology, but you can also choose a career path outside academia. Our Master’s programme leaves you well-equipped to work with biology-related issues within both public administration and the private sector. As a biologist, you can work with nature conservation and environmental management at a municipal or county level or work as a consultant taking inventory of plants and animals, for example. You can also conduct investigations in the public sector or work in a genetics, microbiology or plant breeding laboratory.