Bachelor of Science in Bioscience Engineering

Bioengineers are engineers of living matter: in a unique way, they bring together knowledge of the biological world and of engineering science.  A degree in engineering revolves around the thoroughness with which the different science disciplines are studied and interrelated. The Bioscience Engineering Programme offers a synthesis of chemistry and biology, while mathematics and physics are the stepping stone towards technology. That technological knowledge is always placed in a socio-ethical context and not merely used to support an increase in the production of biological processes. Increasingly, topics like quality, safety, sustainability and public health are given due attention. Initially, the programme focused on agriculture, soil, water, forest and nature management, and agricultural and food industry chemistry. Developments in research, industry and society, however, have gone hand in hand with the development of other fields of study: bioprocessing technology, environmental technology and cell and gene biotechnology. Bioengineers are well-equipped to meet the challenges of having to play a crucial role on a crossroads of several different disciplines such as technology, biology and biochemistry on the one hand, and environment, nature, agriculture, food and health on the other.

Bachelor

The Bachelor’s programme encompasses seven learning pathways leading to the acquisition of a set of competencies. In the third year, then, you choose a specialization. Upon graduating as a Bachelor of Bioscience Engineering, you will be able to: 

• apply basic mathematical techniques for constructing and calculating mathematical models, and for data analysis;
• describe various problems physically and propose technological solutions;
• perform chemical analyses and describe the effects of the various (bio)chemical processes that are important to a bioengineer;
• describe the interactions between organisms and their (changing) environment based on a thorough understanding of living matter (cell, plant, animal, micro-organism) and the system of earth;
• act in a sustainable and ethical manner within society and its economic context;
• describe a problem in a process-oriented manner, translate this into a mathematical model, implement it into a programming language and build models with it;
• interact correctly with colleagues, conduct research in a sound academic manner, and report orally as well as in writing.

Master

After graduating from the Bachelor’s programme, you can map out your further study trajectory yourself. All Bioscience Engineering programmes are open to you. Our two-year Master’s programmes contain a specific set of mandatory course units relating to your choice of discipline. A wide range of elective course units, majors, a possible (industrial) work placement and the Master’s dissertation allow you to put together a curriculum according to your own interests. Another possibility is the Master in Bioinformatics: main subject Bioscience Engineering, which also results in the professional title of engineer. In this English-taught programme, you will be trained to apply, combine and integrate existing (bio)informatics tools and techniques for solving complex problems.

A degree in Bioengineering gives access to a wide range of career opportunities in a diversity of sectors: the industry, government, the services sector, education, research, foreign aid and international relations. Bioengineers mainly make a career in the industry, more specifically food industry, and the pharmaceutical, chemical and (environmental) technology sectors. More and more industries are using biological materials and processes to manufacture their products. Bioengineers have the perfect profile for this. The figures show that many bioengineers (with or without a PhD) usually end up in research, with technical or advisory positions coming second and third. Many bioengineers grow into  management or consultant positions over time.

Find out where our graduates work (Dutch only).