MSc In Protein Science

Detailed knowledge of proteins and other biomolecules is crucial to our understanding of living processes. By studying protein science, you will be prepared for challenges such as unveiling the molecular causes of disease, designing tools for early and reliable diagnosis, and finding effective therapies.

This master’s program will give you deep insights into mechanisms of protein action, based on complex structural aspects and mediated through binding dynamics, selectivity, and catalytic function. You will also study pharmacology and drug development.

Strong research environment

The education is offered in an internationally successful research environment focusing on the behavior of misfolded proteins causing neurodegenerative diseases, interaction patterns of cancer-related proteins, and the design of antimicrobial peptides for the replacement of traditional antibiotics. The courses are taught by teachers who are all active researchers and are just as eager to share their expertise as they are responsive to student ideas.

Extensive lab skills

You will have access to large instrument facilities, giving you the opportunity to develop extensive lab skills and participate in exciting projects. You will also practice your communication and teamwork abilities. The program concludes with a degree project carried out in close collaboration with researchers in academia or at a company.

Syllabus

Purpose

The Master’s program in Protein Science aims to provide the students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for a professional in the field or for further postgraduate studies. The program meets both national and international needs from universities, industry, and society in general. The training intends to provide an in-depth understanding of the chemical and biophysical properties of proteins and other biomolecules and the role these molecules play in primarily the biomedical field, but also for applications in biotechnology.

Students graduating from the Master's program in Protein Science shall:

• be well prepared for advanced scientific communication with different target groups
• be able to contribute to the sustainable development of society
• be well prepared for both further postgraduate studies and for the national and international labor market.

Aim

Disciplinary knowledge and reasoning

Graduates from the Master’s program in Protein Science demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the field of protein science, including a broad knowledge of the area and considerable in-depth knowledge in certain parts of the area. The graduates are also acquainted with current research in the field.

The program builds upon a Bachelor's education, where fundamental knowledge in Chemistry, Chemical Biology, or equivalent has been acquired. Entry requirements include at least 10 ECTS credits in Biochemistry.

A graduate student from the Master's program in Protein Science has in-depth knowledge in protein chemistry, proteomics, biomolecular design, structural biology, and pharmaceutical chemistry. This includes knowledge of

• structural biological methods, including experimental methods for studying the structural-functional relationships of proteins and other biomolecules
• important concepts and theories for interactions and reaction mechanisms of biomolecules
• methods and strategies for global, quantitative, and comparative protein analysis
• concepts, methods, and theories used in rational biomolecular design
• biomolecular processes important for protein misfolding diseases, cancer, viral diseases, and drug function.

In addition, the graduate student from the program can plan, perform, and evaluate laboratory experiments in protein science, as well as use modern software for the analysis of related data.

The Master's program in Protein Science is conducted in close collaboration with strong research environments, which gives the student insight into current research issues in the molecular life sciences based on protein chemistry, structural biology, proteomics, and biomolecular design. During the Master's thesis work, the student can work for a full year with a research group, a company, or a public authority, getting very well acquainted with research findings within one of the areas. The graduated student is also able to design a scientific study and is skilled in critically reading relevant research literature.

Personal and professional skills and attributes

Students who graduated from the Master's program in Protein Science have achieved the individual and professional skills and attitudes required to be able to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and to analyze and evaluate complex issues even with limited information. The graduates can also take responsibility at work or during post-graduate studies concerning work ethics, reliability, and respect for the expertise of other professionals. Students from the program can make relevant judgments regarding scientific, social, and ethical aspects.

Interpersonal skills: Teamwork and communication

Students having graduated from the Master's program in Protein Science can collaborate with other people. This requires the ability to actively participate in a project with designated roles, tasks, and responsibilities. The graduates can also initiate, plan, lead and evaluate larger projects. Students who graduated from the program are skilled in written and oral communication. The students can present information, problems, and solutions in a structured way with relevant techniques, in English or in their native language, to different target groups.

Planning, execution, and presentation of research or development projects with respect to scientific and societal needs and requirements

Students who graduated from the Master's program in Protein Science shall have knowledge about the natural scientist and the role of natural science in society. The graduates also understand the social and economic conditions in the field and in the related research area. They can initiate, conduct, and present advanced development projects with established methods.

Teaching and working methods

The program comprises four semesters of full-time studies and leads to a Master of Science (120 credits) in Chemical Biology. The teaching language is English. The included courses are found in the curriculum. Normally the content of the courses is presented at lectures, laboratory work, and seminars. Laboratory projects and other assignments are parts of some courses and will be reported orally and/or in writing. Participation in lectures and problem-solving classes is usually voluntary while laboratory work and seminars are compulsory.

The Master thesis is mainly performed during the second year and comprises 30, 45, or 60 högskolepoäng (equivalent to ECTS credits). This means that the student may choose a less extensive master thesis and combine this with further course studies in other related areas, or more in-depth courses in the same field.

In the curriculum, it is specified which courses are mandatory (m), elective (e), or voluntary (v). Also, the notation m/e could be found, which means that one of a group of courses should be selected. Courses not included in the curriculum must be approved by the program board after consultation with the study counselor. The courses should be relevant to the program.

Two alternative curricula are used, depending on the educational background of the student. They are presented as two profiles:

• "Internal" is for students with a Bachelor's degree in Chemical biology from Linköping University and other students with knowledge corresponding to the learning outcomes from TFKE37 Biological Measurements, TFKE38 Gene Technology, TFKE60 Project Course, Chemical Biology, and NKED15 Protein Chemistry.
• "External" is for students who meet the specific admission requirements to the program, but who do not have knowledge corresponding to the learning outcomes from TFKE37, TFKE38, TFKE60, and NKED15.

Research

Hammarström Lab

We are interested in protein misfolding, amyloid formation, and disease, both on the molecular level and in the cellular perspective.

Elusive cancer-related protein captured in flight

Scientists have for the first time seeing how the MYC protein, which plays a central role in cancer, binds to a key protein and controls important functions in cells. The new discovery may in the long term help in the development of new cancer drugs.

Tracer molecules can distinguish between very similar brain diseases

Two diseases that affect the brain, Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy, show the same characteristics. Scientists have now shown that tracer molecules developed at LiU can distinguish between these diseases.

Laboratory of molecular materials

We are a multidisciplinary team with a passion for science. Our research is focused on the design and development of molecules, soft materials, and hybrid nanoscale components and devices for a wide range of biomedical applications.

_Are you curious about what it is like to study at LiU? Join us for a chat about what it is like to live and study on our campuses in Sweden. We offer free webinars and recordings for both prospective and admitted degree students throughout the year. Visit our _ _Meet us online _ _page. _

About Linköping University

Linköping University will never rest on its laurels.

In close collaboration with the business world and society, Linköping University (LiU) conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in fields including materials science, IT and hearing. In the same spirit, the university offers many innovative educational programs, many of them with a clear vocational focus, leading to qualification as, for example, doctors, teachers, economists, and engineers.

The university has 32,000 students and 4,000 employees on four campuses. Together we seek answers to the complex questions facing us today. Our students are among the most desirable in the labor market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.

LiU achieved university status in 1975 and innovation is our only tradition.

History of Linköping University

In 1975 Sweden’s sixth university was founded in Linköping. Since then Linköping University (LiU) has grown considerably, expanding to Norrköping and Stockholm.

Linköping has been an important center of learning since medieval times when Linköping Cathedral offered a school with extensive international contacts and its own student hall in Paris. In 1627 the Cathedral School became the third upper secondary school in Sweden and in 1843 a college for elementary school teachers began operations. In Norrköping, the Fröbel Institute – Sweden’s first college for training pre-school teachers – was founded in 1902.

From university college to university

What would later become Linköping University began to take shape in the mid-1960s. Higher education in Sweden was expanding and in 1965 the Swedish Parliament decided to establish a branch of Stockholm University, together with a university college of engineering and medicine, in Linköping.

In the autumn of 1967, the branch of Stockholm University moved into premises in central Linköping. There the first students could take courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Two years later the units for engineering and medicine got underway.

In 1970 education and research started moving into the recently built Campus Valla, a short distance from the town center. Buildings A and B were the first to be completed. The same year the various parts were merged to form Linköping University College, including faculties of engineering, medicine and arts, and sciences.

The new university college was the first in Sweden to offer study programs in Industrial Engineering and Management and Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, both starting in 1969. A few years later, in 1975, Linköping University launched Sweden’s first Computer Science and Engineering program.

1975 was also the year when Linköping University College became Linköping University, the sixth university in Sweden. In line with the 1977 reform of the Swedish higher education system, teacher education was also transferred to Linköping University.

Interdisciplinary research and problem-based learning

Linköping University has always worked with innovation in education and research. In 1980 the newly formed Department of Thematic Studies adopted an approach that was new in Sweden. Research was organized in interdisciplinary themes, such as Technology and Social Change or Water and Environmental Studies. Scientists worked across boundaries to solve complex problems. LiU was also first in Sweden to introduce graduate research schools for different themes. The model later spread to other parts of the university and became a national success.

The new Faculty of Health Sciences (Hälsouniversitetet), formed in 1986, combined governmentally and regionally funded education. It introduced a radically changed methodology, being the first in Sweden to use problem-based learning, PBL. Later, LiU became the first university in the world to allow students from different health sciences programs to treat actual patients on a student-managed training ward.

Expansion to Norrköping – and Stockholm

A significant milestone in the history of the University was the opening of Campus Norrköping in 1997. Some programs had previously operated from Norrköping, but the number of students now grew drastically in line with government efforts to expand higher education. Historical factories in the former industrial district were again filled with life, as they were filled with classrooms, laboratories, cafés, a library and of course students.

Linköping University also expanded to Stockholm when the reputable Carl Malmsten School of Furniture sought a collaborative partner from the academic sector. The Malmsten furniture design and handicraft programs became part of LiU in 2000. After almost 60 years at Södermalm in central Stockholm, Malmstens moved to new premises on the island of Lidingö in the autumn of 2009. LiU got its fourth campus.

Buro Millennial / Pexels

LiU in figures

Some important figures for Linköping University.

Education

• 32,000 students (full-time equivalents 17,907)
• 21,400 on Campus Valla
• 5,500 on Campus Norrköping
• 3,900 on University Hospital Campus (US)
• 2,100 distance students and students in other locations, including Campus Lidingö

(Some students take courses on more than one campus.)

• 120 study programs, of which 27 are international programs in English
• 550 single-subject courses
• Exchange agreements with 400 universities in 50 countries
• 2,400 international students
• 2,200 first cycle degrees
• 2,700 second-cycle degrees

Research and scientific training

• 300 professors
• 1,200 PhD students
• 40 licentiate degrees
• 140 doctoral degrees

Staff

• 4,000 employees (full-time equivalents 3,156)