Human Biology – Principles of Health and Disease

The Elite Gradua­te Pro­gram “Human Biology - Princip­les of Health and Disease” is an inter­discipli­nary, rese­arch- and compe­tency-ori­ented program. Due to the societal challen­ges in biomedi­cal sci­ences today, there is an ever-increa­sing de­mand for high­ly-skilled, qualified young scien­tists. The program is desig­ned to meet this demand by edu­cating distin­guished students at the intersec­tion of biology and me­dicine at the fo­refront of bio­medical sciences.

The Elite Graduate Program at a glance

DegreeMaster of Science
Duration of studyFour semesters
Place of studyMunich
Admission requirementsBachelor’s degree with at 180 ECTS credits in biology or related subject with a written final research project of at least 10 ECTS-credits.
Language of instructionEnglish
Application deadlineFebruary 28th
Begin of studiesWinter semester
HeadProf. Dr. Heinrich Leonhardt, Prof. Dr. Thomas Gudermann 
CoordinatorIrini Bassios
Contact the coordinator
Further informationWebsite Human Biology – Principles of Health and Disease

Connection to current biomedical research

The Elite Gradu­ate Pro­gram “Human Biology – Princi­ples of Health and Dis­ease” is charac­terized by excel­lent fa­cilities for con­tempo­rary re­search in Munich and just outside of Mu­nich at the modern HighTechCam­pus in Mar­tinsried, where the main part of the study program takes place. Together the Fac­ulty of Biology and the Faculty of Medi­cine rep­resent a thriving research network whose out­standing research output is interna­tionally recog­nized and which gives signifi­cant im­pulses to the basic research in bio­medical sciences. All research projectsare with­in the scope of the five main topics of the Elite Gradu­ate Pro­gram, such as “Cell Biology, Stem Cells and Epi­genet­ics”, “Mo­lecular Microbi­ology and In­fection Biolo­gy”, “Mo­lecular Oncolo­gy”, “Neuro­sciences” and “Cardio­vascular and Lung Re­search”.


Students can also benefit from taking ad­vantage of fur­ther teaching and re­search opportu­nities by tapping into the addi­tional expertise of our collabo­ration partners. In addi­tion to exper­tise, the curricu­lum in­cludes interdis­ciplinary courses, in which students will have the pos­sibility to choose courses based on their interests. In trans­ferable skills courses, students will ac­quire cross-curricu­lar abili­ties.

Portrait photo: Prof. Dr. Thomas Gudermann

The new master’s program in the field of biomedical sciences organized by both the Faculties of Biology and Medicine allows us to offer our students a state-of-the-art and interdisciplinary study program by combining the best of two worlds.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Gudermann

The re­search-oriented Elite Gradu­ate Pro­gram adresses highly motivat­ed and dedi­cat­ed stu­dents. Our aim is to pre­pare our students the best way pos­sible to meet future chal­lenges in a sci­en­ce-related profes­sional career in the field of bio­medi­cine.

Mentoring System

The Elite Gradu­ate Pro­gram “Human Biology – Princi­ples of Health and Dis­ease” is accom­panied by a compre­hensive mentor­ing pro­gram. From enroll­ment until gradua­tion, students will be support­ed by several people depend­ing on their specific needs. Each student will be assigned a profes­sor as a mentor, who will foster the de­velop­ment of both the personal and in­dividual scientific pro­file.

Professors involved in this program are at the cut­ting-edge of their respec­tive fields and have an inter­national profile. During regular stu­dent-mentor meet­ings, students receive support in their scientific and per­sonal career devel­op­ment.

Snippets of the program

iGEM Munich 2024 presents ProgRAM

The iGEM Munich 2024 team earned a Gold Medal at the Grand Jamboree in Paris for their innovative RNA-based molecular recording system, advancing the field of synthetic biology.

Read the report

A group of students in front of an iGEM logo at the Paris Expo during 2024 Grand Jamboree.

iGEM Munich wins Best Diagnostics prize

A team of students from Munich developed InkSight, a tattoo-based diagnostic system, for which the team received the award for the Best Diagnostic project at the iGEM Grand Jamboree.
Read the report

 iGEM Munich team standing in front of the iGEM logo at the Paris Expo during the Grand Jamboree 2025.

Snippets of the research

Balancing Act: Axon Health in MS

In a laboratory internship, Jonas Huber explored calcium-mediated mechanisms in the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis.

Fibrinogen uptake in cancer cells : good or bad?

In this study, Manasvini Sridharr investigates the link between the uptake of fibrinogen by pancreatic cancer cell lines and the resulting effects. It was completed during an 8-week research internship at Walther Straub Institute.

Pancreatic cancer research

Leon Heffinger investigated sex differences in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer during his master's thesis.