MSc in Biomedical Engineering
Southampton, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 32,500 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* EU and international students | £10,400 - UK students
Combine biology and medicine with engineering on our MSc Biomedical Engineering degree. Study human biology in your chosen specialist area and learn the skills to develop new engineering solutions. Prepare to take on a leading role in helping healthcare practitioners and providers to improve and maintain people's health.
This UK master’s degree is ideal if you're an engineering, mathematics or physical science graduate who wants to specialise in Biomedical Engineering or support your continued professional development.
Biomedical engineers work in the fields of engineering, biology and medicine to solve medical and healthcare challenges facing society. This work helps to create medical procedures, imaging systems, and devices for observing and controlling body functions.
A range of optional modules is available, from materials engineering to biological-inspired robotics. We also offer 5 pathways for those who wish to specialise:
- musculoskeletal
- cardiovascular
- imaging
- diagnostic systems
- audiology
You'll study with teams of physicians, scientists, engineers, business people and other professionals. In this environment, you’ll learn to monitor, restore and enhance normal body function, abilities and outcomes. You’ll also develop and evaluate products such as artificial organs, prostheses and instruments.
Throughout your studies, you’ll improve your understanding of the ethical, safety and societal implications of developing medical technologies.
This course draws on expertise from leading departments within the University of Southampton, brought together through the:
- Institute for Life Sciences
- Engineering and the Environment
- Medicine
- Health Sciences
- Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Electronics and Computer Science
In this biomedical engineering master’s, you’ll study compulsory modules across two 12-week semesters. At the end of each semester, you'll take exams.
You’ll also choose from optional modules in both semesters, allowing you to focus on your preferred specialism.
The final 4 months of the course are spent full-time on your research project, where you’ll combine engineering skills with an understanding of the complexity of biological systems. Example research projects include:
- the design and performance evaluation of new devices to replace joints
- the development of new imaging methods to study bone or lung diseases
Your research project must contain your own ideas and proposals. It should represent a problem with a new element that requires the application of new information and concepts.
Modules
The modules outlined provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our course to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
You must study the following modules:
- Human Biology & Systems Physiology
- Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
- MSc Research Project
- Translational Medicine
You must also choose from the following modules:
- Active Control of Sound and Vibration
- Advanced Computational Methods I
- Advanced Electrical Systems
- Advanced Finite Element Analysis
- Advanced Sensors and Condition Monitoring
- Biological Materials and Biomedical Devices
- Biomaterials
- Biomedical Application of Signal and Image Processing
- Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging
- Computational methods in biomedical engineering design
- Control and Instrumentation
- Design Search and Optimisation (DSO) - Principles, Methods, Parameterisations and Case Studies
- Failure of Materials and Components
- Finite Element Analysis in Solid Mechanics
- Fundamentals of Auditory Implants
- Heat Transfer and Applications
- Human Factors in Engineering
- Human Responses to Sound and Vibration
- Image Processing
- Manufacturing and Materials
- Medical Electrical and Electronic Technologies
- Numerical Methods
- Orthopaedic Biomechanics
- Physiology and Psychology of Hearing
- Rehabilitation of Auditory Disorders
- Robotic Systems
- Vestibular Audiology
Employability Skills
This degree will allow you to develop and evidence subject-specific and targeted employability skills. This includes the required skill set for a range of future careers, further study, or starting your own business.
The skills you can expect to focus on and gain from this course include:
- Research
- Critical thinking
- Commercial awareness
- Self-management
- Confidence
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- EDI leadership
- Adaptability
- Problem solving
- Resilience
The employability and enterprise skills you'll gain from this course are reflected in the Southampton skills model. When you join us, you'll be able to use our skills model to track, plan, and benefit from your career development and progress.
Career Pathways
Graduates commonly work in a range of organisations or sectors, including Information and Communication, Education, Public Administration and Defence, Scientific and Technical, and Manufacturing.
Careers directly related to this course:
- Prosthetic device engineer
- Biomedical engineer
- Rehabilitation engineer
- Biomechanical engineer
- Biomaterials engineer
- Physiological modeller
- Research scientist
Wider career opportunities:
- University lecturer
- Management consultant
- Data analyst
- Financial analyst
- Science teacher
- Project manager
Example job titles of Southampton MSc Biomedical Engineering graduates*:
- Medical laboratory assistant
- Biomedical support worker
- Associate Practitioner
- Account executive
- Medical writer
- Biomedical engineer
- Secondary school teacher
- Data engineer
- Software engineer
- Research coordinator
Learning
To help you succeed as a biomedical engineer, the course features:
- ‘problem-driven’ seminars
- site and hospital visits
- workshops and training sessions by experts from industry and national laboratories
You'll need to contribute your own professional experiences and thoughts to the learning of the whole class through a free exchange of ideas. You’ll gain an understanding of the limitations of current knowledge and the changing nature of technologies and society.
Your research project is intended to bring together the full range of skills in the course. while demonstrating in-depth knowledge and understanding of Biomedical Engineering. To prepare for it, we’ll teach you how to:
- gather and handle information
- critically analyse and evaluate evidence
- present your findings
Assessment
We’ll assess you through:
- your research project
- coursework, laboratory reports and essays
- a dissertation
- essays
- group essays
- individual and group projects
- written exams