How is QuantBio different?
QuantBio is not a traditional bachelor's programme. Instead of being structured around separate domains of biology (such as zoology, botany, and microbiology), you will learn biology bottom-up from first, general principles: evolution, biochemistry, biophysics. And again in contrast to traditional programmes, QuantBio not only teaches the important experimental techniques, but puts a very strong emphasis on the quantitative methods central to modern biomedical research: mathematical models and data science, including artificial intelligence.
The professional requirements for biologists have changed fundamentally in the last decade, driven by technological progress in high-throughput experiments and the accompanying establishment of data- and computater-intensive methods. Industrial and academic research need graduates of an interdisciplinary Biology programme, with a curriculum that tightly integrates biological and quantitative-analytical elements (mathematical models, bioinformatics, data sciences). QuantBio is this programme.
In QuantBio you start with the basic principles in biology that underlie all life. These include the biochemical and biophysical principles, but most importantly, the principles that govern the evolution of life. Based on these laws, different types of organisms have evolved different strategies and solutions to similar problems.
In QuantBio, you will not only acquire in-depth knowledge of biology, including mastery of important experimental, mathematical, biostatistical, and bioinformatics methods. Rather, the central goal of the program is to enable you to integrate biological and quantitative analytical thinking. Therefore, all modules have been completely redesigned to provide the necessary quantitative skills in biological contexts.
To be able to offer such a unique study program, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of Cologne (UzK) have pooled their teaching capacities and resources. The Jülich Research Center and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding are also on board. QuantBio students thus benefit comprehensively from the excellent framework conditions for bioscientific research in the Rhineland.
The courses are planned in such a way that all events on one day take place either only in Düsseldorf or only in Cologne; a train ride between the two cities takes about 20 minutes, covered by the semester ticket for local public transport.
The language of instruction is English throughout, allowing QuantBio to integrate motivated international students and consistently prepares all students for activities in an international scientific environment.
40 students can study QuantBio per academic year. 40 lecturers from the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the University of Cologne teach together in QuantBio. This excellent supervision ratio allows us to respond particularly well to the individual needs of the students and to provide you with optimal support. In addition, the program coordinator can help you with questions and problems at any time.
