Master's Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology: Digital Health

A. Common studies 20 ECTS
B. Core module in Medical Analytics and Health IoT or Bioinformatics 20 ECTS
C. Compulsory advanced studies in Medical Analytics and Health IoT or Bioinformatics 10 ECTS
D. Master’s Thesis in Technology module 30 ECTS
E. Thematic module / minor subject 20-25 ECTS
F. Elective courses module 15-20 ECTS

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.

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 of 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 digital health.

In the Digital Health specialisation track, the applicants also have the possibility to apply for a double degree option (Health Technology specialization), where a part of the degree studies is completed at the Fudan University, Shanghai, China. In this double degree option, during the first year, autumn semester will be organized at Fudan University, Shanghai. Rest of the studies, spring semester in the first year and the whole second year will be taken place at University of Turku, Finland.

Tuition fee in the double-degree programme: Free for citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland, for citizens of non-EU/EEA countries €2,000/academic year.

Digital Health specialisation track gives interdisciplinary knowledge in health technologies and biomedical engineering both from theoretical and practical perspective. Hence, giving 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 employment percentage of those holding an M.Sc.(Tech.) degree is high in Finland. 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 different 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 a wrist of the user, for example.

Health technology is an area where there is a 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, consult sectors or even continue studies towards PhD degree. Digital health track emphasis is on contemporary technologies and gives tools and knowledge to work with the near future ICT technologies making sure that at the time of graduation students have acquired up-to-date skills in the field, paving way to really make difference to society and human kind at large.

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. 

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 to 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 programme page 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 considered eligible to the University of Turku. No exceptions will be made. Read more about the language requirements here.

The applicant’s previous degree on the basis of which s/he is seeking admission to the Master’s Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology must be in a relevant field of study. Relevant fields of previous studies for the Digital Health specialisation track are:

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

In addition to the education and language certificates you should include certificates of any relevant work experience into your application.

You may apply to maximum two of the four specialisation tracks offered at the Master’s Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology. The choices must be prioritized. When applying to the Health Technology specialisation track you can also apply for the double degree programme jointly organized with the Fudan University (Shanghai). However, due to the regulation of The Ministry of Education of China, an applicant with Chinese nationality (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao) is not able to get study right to the Fudan University, if application has been submitted through the University of Turku, Finland. Therefore, the admitted student with Chinese nationality can be awarded only a degree from the University of Turku.

The contents of formally eligible applicants' previous degrees do not always correspond to the academic level of the programme. Therefore admitted students can be advised or required to complete up to 60 ECTS of additional, Bachelor level studies while studying for the Master's Degree. The extent and contents of the supplementary studies are defined individually for each student when a personal study plan is formulated in the beginning of the studies. The supplementary studies may be part of the Master's Degree only up to 20 ECTS and they may therefore extend the targeted study time.

Since the language of instruction in Bachelor’s level at the University of Turku is Finnish, an applicant needing supplementary studies available only in Finnish can be required to submit proof for Finnish skills during the application process. In case such proof is not submitted, the applicant needing supplementary studies available only in Finnish must be rejected.

Annually 60 students are admitted to the Master's Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology, of which 5 students to Digital Health Double degree with Fudan University. 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
• possible answers to the optional questions included in the application
• possible relevant work experience
• possible interview

Please tell in the motivation letter why you are applying to the Master's Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology at the University of Turku, and especially why you are applying to the chosen track(s). If you apply for two tracks, please specify your answer for each of them.

It is possible to have only one Bachelor’s or Master’s study right at the Faculty of Technology. Therefore, when accepting an offered study place, the student will lose any previous BSc. or MSc. study right at the same faculty.