University Heidelberg

Testimonials

Former students of the MCB program tell about their experiences:

 

Former student Manuela Aguirre:

 

"The Molecular and Cellular Biology Master of the University of Heidelberg is an all-round program that offers a huge variety of topics for you to explore. To me it was really important to find a master that helped me to orientate myself towards the direction of research I want to do in the future. The program itself is really flexible and allows you to choose the location and subject area of the obligatory internships. Something that I love about being here is to be able to work and study in a multicultural environment with people from all over the world, whilst at the same time being given the opportunity to locate yourself somewhere around the globe to do some research abroad."


Former student Robert Frömel:

 

"Already during my bachelor I had the opportunity to study abroad and was able to get to know the international side of science. For me it was clear that the master program I wanted to join, should also give me the possibility to bridge amongst the nations, so starting in Heidelberg was a good choice. Besides the international character of the city and the campus, also the molecular biology sector in the area does a really good job and tries to be always state-of-the-art, improve and progress. Especially the Molecular and Cellular Biology program, hosted by the ZMBH, caught my interest, since it is a well rounded program, which tries to give insights from several points of view about the beauty of cellular life. Starting with a big focus in methodology, you are able to show your learned skills as a rotation student later in the program. For me Heidelberg has two additional important features, which I recognized after I started here. One the one side it is easy to find a research assistant job at the campus and you can earn some money. On the other side the students of the Molecular Bioscience master and the faculty of biosciences try to improve together and work hand-in-hand. This offers for us students the opportunity to explore new areas besides our master program and strengthen our character."

 

Former student Ioannis Sarropoulos is now a PhD candidate in the group of Prof. Kaessmann:

 

"The main advantage of studying biology in Heidelberg is its large collection of top-quality research groups in practically every field of life science research. Being the most broad and interdisciplinary major in the Molecular Biosciences MSc program, MCB allows its students to focus on a wide range of topics depending on their own personal preferences and interests. As an example, during my studies I was able to undertake both experimental and computational projects in research groups hosted at high-profile institutes such as ZMBH, DKFZ and EMBL. These diverse experiences ultimately helped me to make much more informed decisions regarding my MSc and PhD theses. Besides its curriculum, another crucial aspect of this program is its lively and highly international student community, which is actively participating in the organization of numerous social and scientific events. Overall, I think that MCB represents an ideal choice for students interested in developing a wide range of scientific and soft skills, which will be essential for any research field they choose to specialize in."

Ioannis Sarropoulos


Johanna Koddebusch

Former student Johanna Koddebusch is now works as Drug Safety Associate at PRA Health Sciences in Mannheim:

 

"The reason I enrolled in the MCB program after my bachelor’s studies in biology was the diversity of included topics and participating labs. The MCB program is an ideal opportunity for everyone who has broad interests and wants to explore various aspects of (molecular) biology before specializing on a particular topic in their future career. The program includes a lot of practical experience, which is mainly organized in individually chosen “lab rotations”. In these rotations, students are given the opportunity to work independently on their own projects, which is a great chance to grow professionally and personally. The excellent reputation of Heidelberg University attracts experts from all over the world, so that students can do a lab rotation in state-of-the-art labs of renowned researchers. For everyone who is more interested in working in the industry, the program allows you to do lab rotations in non-academic labs as well. After graduating, I chose to pursue a professional career outside of academia. In my experience, graduating from the MCB program can be the basis for a career in academia, industry, pharma or any kind of life sciences."


Former student Sophie Winter is now a PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Medical research in Heidelberg:

 

"MCB is a very flexible master programme. In series of lectures a broad overview of different research fields and opportunities to work at excellent research institutes in close proximity is provided (i.e. through lectures held by scientists from the ZMBH, BZH, DKFZ, COS, HITS and EMBL). The internships (“lab rotations”) are chosen individually, which allowed me to work in outstanding research groups both in Heidelberg and abroad. This helped me to define my scientific interest and find a PhD position in an exciting, international environment."

Sophie Winter

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