Bioinformatics

Biology

MEME – Evolutionary Biology

To apply for our Master's programme in Biology, you must choose one of our specialisations. While your degree will be a Master in Biology, you have the option to take courses from more than one specialisation to include in your degree. The courses you take will be listed on your transcript. See below for more information on the courses offered.

* Please note that Uppsala University offers approximately 80 master's programmes, but only the three listed above are run by IBG. Other programmes may also be related to biology, such as Biomedicine, Chemical Biology, Palaeobiology, and Infection Biology.

Most information is available here

When filling out any application form, make sure to write your name exactly as it appears in your passport. Failure to do so may cause problems at a later stage, during your time in Sweden.

You can apply for our Master's programme between mid-October and mid-January and will receive admission decisions during the spring, typically at the end of March. Ensure that you rank your choices in order of preference as you may be deleted from lower ranked choices once admitted to a higher rank (with highest being rank 1). This will give you time to apply for permits, look for housing, and make other necessary arrangements well in advance of the start of your studies in late August.

If you have not yet obtained your bachelor's degree at the time of application, you will be conditionally admitted until you can provide evidence of your degree. If this applies to you, please make sure to upload the Statement of Enrolment Status form for students in their final year.

Please note that in order to commence your master's studies, you will need to provide evidence that you have obtained a bachelor's degree no later than the program starting date (typically late August/early September).

See here if you need to apply for a residence permit

You are not required to upload your thesis, letters of recommendation, or CV. However, you must fill in our Application Summary Sheet (see below).

Each Master's program/specialisation at Uppsala University has its own admission requirements.

To find the admission requirements for a particular program, search for the program and click on top expandable box (“Uppsala, 100%, On-campus, English”). Under "Entry requirements," you will find information about the educational background required for admission including requirements for English. Please note that we generally only count formal education, so experience from volunteer work, paid work, or professional experience is not included in the assessment. However, if you have additional credits from another Master's program or PhD program, those credits may be considered.

If you have relevant education and/or experience outside of a credited university, you may upload this information with supporting documents. However, please be aware that we may choose not to take it into account when assessing your application.

Due to the large number of prospective students, we do not assess qualifications prior to admission. You will need to perform a self-assessment (see below) and make your own determination of the probability of being admitted.

To give you an idea of the educational background expected for any of our master programmes (except Bioinformatics Computer Science entry), please refer to the study plan for our own Bachelor program in Biology/Molecular Biology.

Please note that from Semester 5 onwards in this program, students only take one course per period, and many of these courses are offered at the Master’s level as well. Therefore, the course names may be similar to master level courses even if the course codes differ.

If you do not meet the minimum credit requirements but are close, we still recommend that you apply as we will assess your qualifications. We may also count credits to your benefit. For example, if you lack enough biology credits but have enough chemistry credits, we may count biochemistry credits towards biology. Similarly, if you have courses that do not explicitly state the subject but contain a significant portion of a relevant subject, you may upload an official course curriculum outlining how many credits of the relevant subject the course contains. We may then count those credits towards the relevant subject if your program requires it. We do not count degree project credits towards the requirements.

We understand that you would like to know about your chances of admission to our program. For that reason, we here provide you with a general guide on how to, yourself, assess your qualifications before submitting your application. We will conduct a formal assessment once you have submitted your application.

First, assume that the bachelor's program you completed or are about to complete, whether it was a 3-year or 4-year program, is equivalent to 180 ECTS. Then, translate these 180 ECTS into the system used in your transcript. For example, if your BSc degree is comprised of 160 credits, convert each of your course credits to 180/160 = 1.125 ECTS. Thus, a course in Zoology that is worth 8 credits in your system may be considered equivalent to 8 x 1.125 = 9 ECTS in our system.

Another example pertains to cases where courses are listed in units of academic hours rather than credits. In such cases, sum up all the hours in your BSc program and convert them into ECTS. For instance, if your hours add up to 2080 academic hours for your entire BSc, convert this into 180/2080 = 0.09 ECTS/academic hour. A course consisting of 68 academic hours will then be evaluated as corresponding to 0.09 x 68 = 6 ECTS.

In some cases, transcripts may not provide information on the extent of courses. If this is the case, you may provide this information on a separate sheet. However, we are not obligated to use this information in our assessment. You may upload explanations of how you see your system should be converted to ECTS, and we may or may not use it in our assessment. Formal university guidelines are more likely to be used by us than your own personal conversion system.

The Application Summary Sheet will serve as your Statement of Intent or Statement of Purpose, which is a document that outlines your reasons for applying to the programme and what you hope to gain from it. You can find this document under “Supporting documents” on the page with the Application and requirements (see Admission requirements above).

Please note that this document's purpose is not to test your writing ability but to gain insight into your motivations for applying and how our program can meet your expectations. We value your honest and sincere opinion, and we will not use your response as a reason for disqualifying you from the program. However, if we find that your expectations differ greatly from what our programme can offer, we may contact you to discuss whether our programme is the right fit for you. Thus, feel free to use AI to improve clarity but not to write what you think we want to hear.

The application process may require some applicants to pay a fee.

In addition, if you are admitted to a program, you may be required to pay a tuition fee. If you have any questions about fees at Uppsala University, you can contact Student Fee Master. In general, you need to pay the fee for an entire semester (30 credits) before you will be able to start a course.

Please be aware that some nationalities may face difficulties transferring money from their country of residence to Sweden due to reasons beyond the university's control, such as political blockades. If you are in this situation, you may be unable to pay tuition and may not be granted entry to Sweden, or you may be asked to leave Sweden if you are already here.

It is essential to have a good command of English to benefit from the education at Uppsala University, as all master-level courses are taught in English by both Swedish and non-Swedish instructors. Fluency in English in terms of listening, speaking, reading, and writing is necessary for successful completion of the courses. We have noted that applicants who struggle with writing coherent emails often face difficulties in completing the courses as well. When reaching out to us, please ensure clear and concise communication by clearly stating your needs.

We have also noted that it is becoming increasingly common for emails to be written by AI tools. We recommend that you write your emails yourself, using AI tools to assist with language if needed. This way, you can improve your English rather than rely entirely on AI tools.

The formal requirements for each programme can be found on the webpage mentioned under Admission requirement. If you have any questions or concerns about fulfilling the requirements in a way that is not part of the official instructions, please contact study@uu.se directly.

Once the application period has ended, the handling of the applications begins. Firstly, the Uppsala University central administration performs a formal check of general eligibility, such as English language requirements and completed/in progress bachelor's degree. If your application successfully passes this stage, the staff at the Biology Education Centre will evaluate your application against the specific requirements of your chosen programme/specialization.

During this evaluation period, we are very busy and are unable to respond to queries regarding individual applications. You will receive a notification through the application portal once the evaluation process is complete. If your application is complete and you are deemed qualified, you will be admitted to the programme, or possibly placed on the reserve list if there are more qualified applicants than seats available. If you have not yet completed your bachelor's degree, you will be ‘admitted with condition’. If you are not deemed qualified, your application will be rejected. This can happen if we find that you do not have sufficient credits in a required subject.

Occasionally, there may be errors in the assessments, and if you feel that this is the case, you can submit an informal appeal by sending an email to master@ibg.uu.se, explaining what you believe was missed by our evaluators. Please ensure to include your application number in your appeal.

The week before courses start in late August (or in some years early September), IBG will run a Welcome Programme for new master students. These three days will provide a lot of useful information on how the Swedish educational system works, Swedish standards, how Uppsala University works, how to navigate around campuses, how to register for your courses, obtain a student account, what to consider during a master programme, etc. It will also serve an important social function, giving you the opportunity to meet IBG staff and your fellow students. There will be sessions providing information about your specific master programme, and you will have the chance to meet your programme director. Make sure not to miss this Welcome Programme! More information will be sent to all admitted students during the summer.

Once you are admitted and have obtained a student account, you will be able to access a page in our study system, Studium (Canvas). There, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with relevant information that can help before you arrive at Uppsala University or during your studies.

Each master's programme has a set of courses that most students in that programme will take. However, you may want to replace one or more of these courses. Therefore, during our welcome programme, which takes place the week before the regular semester starts, you will have the opportunity to discuss your own study plan with the programme director. The programme director will contact all admitted students well in advance to discuss the choice of courses. The first semester courses are chosen in discussion with the programme director. In addition, we offer individual courses such as literature projects, research training, and project work.

Courses in the bioinformatics programme:

Biology background

Computer science background

and in a graphical interface

Please note that the bioinformatics programme is aimed at students with a background either in mathematics and programming, or in biology. Thus, if your background is in bioinformatics, we suggest you take a closer look at the programme courses to see if our programme is a good fit for your continued education in bioinformatics.

Courses in the biology programme

and in a graphical interface

We encourage students admitted to our master programme in biology to read the course syllabi for any course they are interested in taking. We have a broad master’s programme which means that if you already have a bachelor with a strong focus in a specific biology subject, our programme course in that subject may already have been covered in your bachelor programme. For example, if you have a Bachelor in Microbiology, you should look closer at the course Microbiology to see if it will add to your existing knowledge or not, and possible consider an alternative course. If you are unsure, we will be able to help you once you here in Uppsala.

Course in the MEME programme

Read more on the MEME website

Our system in Uppsala requires you to complete some reading courses before starting a thesis project. For both the biology and bioinformatics master's programmes, you must have completed 30 credits at an advanced level within your main subject before starting a thesis project.

In practice, this means biology students can start a thesis project at the earliest after one semester of reading courses and bioinformatics students after a full year. Therefore, you will have some time to get to know the Uppsala research community and to look for a supervisor and project, so this is not something you need to have arranged before you arrive.

A thesis project can be carried out locally at one of our research departments in Uppsala, or anywhere else in the world, as long as the host and project are approved by the thesis coordinator in Uppsala. You decide on your project and plan together with your supervisor in consultation with the coordinator. For this reason, many students do not start their thesis project as soon as possible but take the time to get to know some of the researchers and projects available in Uppsala, often through an individual course.

If you are eager to plan for your thesis already now, you can read more:

Here for bioinformatics

And here for biology and MEME

The Swedish master's programme consists of 120 credits, divided into four semesters, each of which is split into two periods. The autumn semesters typically run from August to January, while the spring semesters run from January to June.

It is during the summer break, from early June to late August, that you have the time to return to your home country for extended visits. There are also some unscheduled days from late December to early January, which typically turns into a two-week break, or even longer depending on your classes and whether you have re-takes. To plan any trips, you need to consult your specific course schedule to know the exact dates, which may not be available until a couple of weeks before the course starts.

The Biology Education Centre (IBG) does not have any scholarships to offer. We refer to the Uppsala University webpage where some scholarships are available.

Once you are certain about coming to Uppsala to study, start looking for accommodation options. Uppsala is a relatively small city of about 249 000 people but is now growing rapidly and affordable housing can be hard to come by. Public transportation is good and used by many people from all levels of society. Biking is "almost mandatory" for students, and as long as you live in the city of Uppsala, you can get by on a bike more or less all year round (winter tires are recommended for the colder season). When choosing a location to live you may want to consider where most of your classes will be. See the table below for some help in deciding depending on your specific program. Relevant campuses are all west of the city centre.

* The NABis program is very different, and you take distance courses with some campus activities at several universities.

† Read more on the MEME website.

It is not recommended to live in Stockholm and study in Uppsala as the daily commute will be 2-3 h depending on where in Stockholm you live. Many days have mandatory attendance or labs and we do not offer online teaching except for specific courses. However, if living in Stockholm is your only viable option it is possible to study for your master’s degree at Uppsala University.

If you are a fee-paying student, Uppsala University's housing office offers a four-semester housing guarantee. Note that you will be offered housing (single room) but will still have to pay rent. This offer is convenient, and the rooms are typically furnished. However, you are free to arrange housing yourself and so may find cheaper or more attractive housing.

Others will have to find accommodation on their own. The largest providers of student rooms in Uppsala are UppsalaHem and Heimstaden. There are also rooms in the different student nations. Please note that IBG does not offer any housing.

If you have questions that were not answered above, please see below for contact information. Do NOT send the same email to several recipients independently but include all in the same email if you are unsure whom to contact. When you correspond, ensure to write a proper email as otherwise it is often flagged as spam and your message may not be read.

Tuition fee: Student Fee Master Uppsala University

University housing: Housing office Information

Studying at Uppsala University: General questions

IBG Master: Specific questions about your master programme

Plan your stay

Study in Sweden

The migration office