- Mission Statement
- Career Opportunities
- Study path
- Admission requirements
- Admissions procedure
- Programme Structure
- Legal basis
Mission Statement
The masters’s degree programme in Molecular Precision Medicine is a joint program of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna. The program is dedicated to an understanding of human pathogenesis and the treatment of disease at a molecular and mechanistic level. The course brings basic, translational, and clinical scientists together with doctors to educate students in the opportunities, challenges, and future perspectives of precision medicine.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the MSc in Molecular Precision Medicine will be qualified to pursue careers in basic, clinical, or translational biomedical research, either in academia or industry, armed with a deep molecular and mechanistic understanding of human disease.
Graduates will have core competencies in bioinformatics, including programming, data mining and interrogation, and statistical analysis that will allow them to pursue careers in data science.
Graduates will also have a basic knowledge of clinical presentation, the processes of target identification, drug development, manufacture, and clinical testing, and the evaluation of therapeutics that will enable them to bridge the gap between the bench and the clinic.
Finally, graduates will be familiar with the ethical and socio-economic issues associated with the practice of precision medicine in the domain of public health.
Study path
Admission requirements
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Completed bachelor degree in the biological sciences or medicine from an accredited University or higher-education establishment.
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Basic knowledge and competencies in Molecular Biology.
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Working knowledge of English (B2 level, Common European Framework of Reference).
Admissions procedure
Written application
A written application comprising the following parts is to be submitted online:
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Academic curriculum vitae
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Personal motivation statement (max. 500 words)
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Short essay (max. 500 words) on the following subject: ‘Discuss a recent example of the value of Molecular Precision Medicine in treating disease’
You will need to upload the following documents to complete your application:
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Bachelor (and, if applicable, post-bachelor) degree certificate(s)
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Academic transcripts
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Certificate of English language proficiency
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Contact details for one academic reference letter
Interview
Candidates will be shortlisted for interview on the basis of the written applications. Shortlisted candidates will be expected to participate in a 30 min online interview comprising three parts:
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Description of research project / course of study undertaken (5 min + 5 min questions)
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Presentation of a recent paper in the field of Molecular Precision Medicine (5 min + 5 min questions)
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Motivation and career goals (10 min)
Deadline for next admissions call is April 15th 2022.
Programme Structure
MPM1 Chromosome, Gene and Defective DNA Repair Disorders
Many diseases are the result of gross chromosomal rearrangements or genetic lesions, often resulting from defects in the repair and maintenance of our genetic material. This module will develop a deep and mechanistic understanding of how DNA is faithfully replicated and repaired, how and where these lesions typically arise, and what their consequences are. Paradigmatic diseases will be used to illustrate what can go wrong, how defective repair manifests itself in disease, and therapeutic strategies.
MPM2 Diseases of Proteostasis
Many diseases are the result of dysfunctional protein biogenesis, folding, quality control, trafficking, or degradation. This module will develop a deep and mechanistic understanding of protein synthesis, folding, protein quality control, trafficking and protein turnover, which will be illustrated in the context of precision medicine by paradigmatic diseases, their diagnosis, and their treatment.
MPM3 Diseases of Enzymatic Insufficiency
Many diseases are the result of enzymatic insufficiency. This module will develop a deep and mechanistic understanding of enzyme function, including those involved in drug metabolism, as well as the role of pharmacogenomics in precision medicine. Paradigmatic diseases will be used to illustrate the diagnosis, manifestation, molecular etiology and precision treatment of enzymatic insufficiencies.
MPM4 Diseases of Pathological Signal Transduction
Many diseases are the result of pathological signal transduction. This module will develop a deep and mechanistic understanding of intra- and extracellular signaling, the consequences of pathogenic lesions, and therapeutic avenues to their treatment. Pathological signal transduction will be illustrated in the context of precision medicine by paradigmatic diseases, their diagnosis, and their treatment.
MPM5 Diseases of the Immune System
Many diseases are the result of failures or dysfunction in our body’s defense mechanisms. This module will develop a deep and mechanistic understanding of our immune system. The module will examine primary immunodeficiencies, autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, allergies, and emerging concepts in immune regulation. Paradigmatic diseases will be used to illustrate what can go wrong in our immune system, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic strategies.
MPM6 Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine
Molecular precision medicine builds on technological advances that enable the profiling of genomes, epigenomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes in a high throughput manner. Analyzing and interpreting such data requires adequate working knowledge in bioinformatics and applied statistics. This module will develop the necessary skills and knowledge to interrogate large datasets.
MPM7 From Bench to Bedside
All therapeutics can trace their origins to basic discoveries in biology. This module will develop a rigorous understanding of how basic discoveries are translated into precision therapeutics that are administered to real patients. In addition, this module will examine the role of model systems in both basic research and clinical science, from the discovery viewpoint and the evaluation of treatment regimens respectively.
MPM8 Elective Course
Students will have the opportunity to gain practical lab experience in a participating basic or clinical research lab. Alternatively, students may elect to take a course from one of the qualifying Master programmes of the University of Vienna in:
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Drug Discovery and Development
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Chemistry; Biological Chemistry
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Molecular Microbiology
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Microbial Ecology and Immunobiology
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Molecular Biology.
MPM9 Ethics, Policy, Legislation and Health Economics
Precision medicine raises a multitude of ethical, policy, legislative and economic and value-judgement issues that have to be confronted.
This module will expose students to these problems and the interface between ethics and health economics. The goal is to promote awareness of and prepare students to critically evaluate some of the challenges facing modern medicine from a societal perspective.
Legal basis
You can find detailed information on the master’s program "Molecular Precision Medicine" as well as the requirements and admission procedure on the website of the Medical University of Vienna.
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Stephan Krämer
Sharon Bone