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The track Physics of Life a Health focuses on the physics aspects of systems at molecular, cellular, and larger (e.g. organ) scales. It combines two areas:

• biomedical physics (physical processes in the human body at cellular to organism levels, and the development of technology for diagnostics and therapy)
• biophysics (physics of biological processes down to the single-molecule level, and down to timescales of tens of femtoseconds).

Is Physics of Life and Health at the UvA the study for me?

It is, if you:

• have a profound knowledge of physics (mechanics, electricity, magnetism, optics, quantum mechanics) and mathematics (calculus, linear algebra, partial differential equations, statistics)
• enjoy doing research in a multidisciplinary environment
• can quickly absorb and integrate biological and physics concepts

and if you are interested in one or more of the following subjects:

• physical processes in the human body, organs, cells and macromolecules
• use of advanced biophysical methods to study macromolecules at the single-molecule level and to study biological processes down to femtosecond timescales
• development and improvement of technology for medical diagnostics and therapy
• interaction of light and/or radiation with cells and tissues (biomedical photonics)
• manipulation of tissues and cells by light or radiation to improve diagnosis and monitoring.

What does Physics of Life and Health at the UvA have to offer me?

This Master's track focuses on current research topics such as:

• quantitative functional monitoring and imaging of living tissue
• working in multidisciplinary research teams with physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers and medical professionals
• biomedical imaging, molecular and cellular biophysics and photonics
• new methods for diagnosis and monitoring (such as optical coherence tomography and magnetic resonance imaging)
• new methods for research in molecular and cellular biophysics (such as single-molecule fluorescence, optical tweezers, stimulated emission depletion microscopy and femtosecond spectroscopy).

The programme is unique in that it involves leading research groups from two major research hospitals (AMC, the Academic Medical Center of the Universiteit van Amsterdam, and VUmc, the VU University Amsterdam Medical Center), along with several research groups of VU University Amsterdam and allied para-university and medical centers in Amsterdam (AMOLF, FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Phyics, NIN, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience of the KNAW, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences; and NKI, Netherlands Cancer Institute).