Master's Degree Programme in Health Technology

General Requirement

You are an eligible applicant for Master’s-level studies if

• you have a nationally recognized first cycle degree – normally a Bachelor’s degree – from an accredited institution of higher education,
• your degree corresponds to at least 180 ECTS (European credits) or three years of full-time study,
• your degree is in a relevant field for the Master’s degree programme that you’re applying to. Please check the section on programme-specific admission requirements for detailed degree requirements.

Language Requirements

Applicants must have excellent English language skills and a certificate that proves those skills. You can indicate your language skills by taking one of the internationally recognized English language tests. 

Applicants must reach the minimum required test results to be eligible for the University of Turku. No exceptions will be made. Read more about the language requirements here.

Study right

It is not possible to have more than one Bachelor’s or Master’s study right at the same Faculty. Therefore, when accepting an offered study place, the student will lose any previous BSc. or MSc. study right at the Faculty of Technology at the University of Turku.

Before you start preparing your application, always read the full admission requirements on the application portal Studyinfo.fi

The applicant’s previous degree based on which s/he is seeking admission to the Master’s Degree Programme in Health Technology must be in a relevant field of study. 

Relevant fields of previous studies for admission are:

• Computer Science
• Computer Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Information Technology
• Other relevant fields of studies where sufficient knowledge of computer science and/or biomedical engineering is achieved.

The decision of admission will be based on

• the relevance of the applicant’s awarded degree(s)
• the amount, relevance, and grades of the courses in the degree(s)
• the language test result (see Language requirements)
• the motivation letter (see full entry requirements for the obligatory motivation letter template)
• Curriculum Vitae including details on your academic and professional career
• possible relevant work experience
• possible interview

The academic evaluation is made only for complete applications received during the application period. Any preliminary assessment of suitability or chances for admission will not be given.

Common Studies 20 ECTS
Core module in Health Technology 20 ECTS
Language studies 0-5 ECTS
Master’s Thesis in Technology & Project module 40 ECTS
Thematic module / minor subject 20-25 ECTS
Other studies module 10-20 ECTS

The degree programme is organized with ecological and economic sustainability in mind, targeting eco-efficient solutions and minimizing material consumption through, for example, online teaching, e-learning materials, electronic exams, and virtual laboratory environments. See the curriculum.

The University of Turku fosters students' professional growth and global perspective by promoting internships and student exchanges. Every degree student can take advantage of these opportunities – all internships come with a guaranteed subsidy, and every exchange programme includes a grant.

The programme is a member of both the EIT Digital Master School in Data Science and the EIT Digital Master School in Emotion Artificial Intelligence. The EIT Digital Master School is a two-year Master's programme jointly run by 20 Top European universities, renowned researchers, and leading businesses. The programme leads to a double degree and an EIT-labeled Certificate, which certifies the innovation and entrepreneurial skills acquired during their studies. The Health Technology Programme acts both as an entry and an exit site for both the Data Science and Emotion Artificial Intelligence Programmes of the EIT Digital Master School. The students start their studies in one of the universities offering entry year studies, and move to another university in another country for the exit (specialization) year. The exit year specialization at the University of Turku is Medical Technology for the Data Science Programme and Emotional AI in healthcare and medicine for the Emotional Artificial Intelligence Programme. For more information, including how to apply for the double degree programmes, please see https://masterschool.eitdigital.eu/data-science and https://masterschool.eitdigital.eu/emotion-ai

Does this page answer your questions about the programme's content and academic matters? If not, contact infoscitech@utu.fi.

Future technologies and digital society, as well as health, diagnostics, and drug development, are central strategic themes at the University of Turku. Health technology education and research support these teams, and provide skills that allow the development of computational AI-based methods for wider and more efficient usage of health data.

Digital Health Technology Group (utu.fi)

In the Master's thesis, the student must prove his/her ability to do scientific work, management of research methods, knowledge of the research field, and skill in scientific writing. The work is performed according to an accepted research plan, independently but under supervision. Thesis topics may be provided by companies, offering employment possibilities after completing the thesis. A thesis may also be completed working for one of the research groups affiliated with the university, preparing the student for a research-oriented position or for applying to doctoral studies. The possible topics cover a wide range of subjects related to health technology.

Topics of previously completed Master’s theses include:

• A Review of the Current Methods and Challenges of Facial EMG-Based Gesture Recognition 
• Detecting sepsis in the ICU using machine learning 
• Generative Adversarial Network for Photoplethysmography Reconstruction
• Geometric Sample Area Correction of an IEF Gel in a Newborn Screening Application Using Image Processing Methods
• Identification of myocardial infarction by high-frequency serial ECG measurement
• Remote monitoring of an infant’s breathing motions using a smartphone to prevent crib death 
• Using an LSTM network to detect R-peaks from noisy ECG signals

The programme gives interdisciplinary knowledge in health technologies and biomedical engineering from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Hence, it gives the possibility for employment in different health technology sectors, ranging from wellness and sport to personalized medical solutions and computational data analytics of biomedical data.

The students graduating from this cross-disciplinary programme will have acquired scientific and analytical skills, expertise in present theories and up-to-date technologies, as well as practical skills including teamwork, leadership, and interpersonal skills in an international environment. The acquired methodological skills and advanced knowledge allow the students to continue their career paths in academia or industry.

After completing the programme, you will obtain the following technical proficiencies:

• Understands the principles and limitations of using machine learning and AI approaches for analysing biosignals and health data
• Knows how sensor technology and information technology can be exploited in the healthcare sector.
• Can select and apply suitable data analytics and signal processing methods for different types of biosignals
• Knows the principles of embedded programming in medical applications and can apply this knowledge, for example, by building simple medical embedded sensor systems and interfacing them with a smartphone
• Knows medical measurement systems and can implement sensor systems for measuring medically relevant signals such as heart rate and EKG, respiration rate, movement, and blood oxygen saturation level.
• Has the ability to design evaluation protocols for validating machine learning models on data having complex dependencies, which are commonly encountered in health applications

The employment percentage of those holding an M.Sc. (Tech.) degree is high in Finland. The health technology-related industry is today increasingly important globally and particularly in Finland. Fields of health technology are expanding fast, offering a wide range of career opportunities. In addition to companies that are focused on wellness, medical or biomedical analytical solutions, this also includes other industries that are utilizing health technology in their products, like global enterprises producing wearable devices capable of measuring heart-related signals from the wrist of the user, for example.

Health technology is an area with good employment possibilities or, if you want to be more independent, to launch your own start-up. There are also possibilities to work in the research, education, or consulting sectors, or even continue studies towards a PhD degree. The Health Technology programme’s emphasis is on contemporary technologies and gives tools and knowledge to work with near-future ICT technologies, making sure that at the time of graduation, students have acquired up-to-date skills in the field, paving the way to really make a difference to society and humankind at large.

As a Health Technology expert, you may be working, for example, as:

• Biomedical Engineer
• Health Data Analyst
• Machine Learning Specialist in Healthcare
• Medical Device Software Developer
• Healthcare Technology Consultant
• Start-up Founder in Health Tech
• Doctoral Researcher

A Master's Degree (Technology) provides eligibility for scientific postgraduate degree studies. Postgraduate degrees are doctoral and licentiate degrees. Degrees can be completed within the University of Turku Graduate School.