Prerequisites for Biotechnology

Academic requirements for this programme

National Applicants (holding a Bachelor from Denmark)

Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSc Eng) 

The following Bachelor programmes from DTU give students legal right of admission to the MSc Eng programme in Biotechnology, 

• Human Life Science Engineering
• Life Science Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• General Engineering (living systems)
• Biotechnology 

Recommended courses are listed under the description of the individual study lines

The following Bachelor programmes from DTU

• Quantitative Biology and Disease Modelling
• Chemistry and Technology

have access to be admitted, subject to having completed the following 2 courses:

It is recommended that also the following courses (or similar) have been completed:

Bachelor in Engineering (BEng)

The following DTU bachelors in Engineering:

• Chemical and Bio Engineering
• Chemical Engineering and International Business

have access to be admitted, subject to having completed the following courses:

DTU bachelors in Engineering, Food Safety and Quality have access to be admitted, subject to having completed the following courses:

and one of the following mathematics courses:

Other National (holding a Bachelor from Denmark) and International (holding a Bachelor from outside Denmark) Applicants

Students enrolling into the MSc Eng programme need a broad range of competences within the biotechnological field as well as competences within chemistry and physics. A characteristic of engineers from DTU is a strong background in mathematics, so a high level of mathematical competences is also needed.

The minimal set of competences required for entering the MSc Eng programme in Biotechnology, to secure an unproblematic educational process, is:

• Biochemistry competences (corresponding to the 5 ETCS DTU course 27022)
  • Protein structure, function, and purification
  • Central metabolism
  • Enzymology and enzyme kinetics
• Molecular biological competences (corresponding to the 5 ETCS DTU course 27026)
  • Structure and function of DNA and RNA
  • Details of macromolecular synthesis and its regulation: DNA replication, Transcription, Translation
  • Recombinant technology
• Microbiological competences (corresponding to the 5 ETCS DTU course 27026)
  • Microbial growth physiology
  • Structure, reproduction, metabolism, and regulation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and virus
  • Details of DNA exchange, conjugation, transduction and transformation
• Chemical competences (corresponding to the 5 ETCS DTU course 26050)
  • Chemical valence
  • Stoichiometry
  • Acid/base and Red/ox reactions
  • Reaction kinetics
• Physics modeling competences (corresponding to the 5 ETCS DTU course 10050)
  • Models and model design based upon differential equations
  • Systems dynamics
• Mathematical competences (corresponding to the 20 ETCS DTU course 01005)
  • Linear equations
  • Linear differential equations
  • Matrix algebra
  • Analysis of functions (extrema, curve and space integrals)
• Programming competences (corresponding to 5 ECTS DTU course 02633 or Coursera course https://www.coursera.org/learn/python)
  • Basic, hands-on computer programming skills (ability to write very basic code and scripts including loops and conditionals) in Python, R, Matlab, Maple, Mathematica, Javascript, C/C++, or other similar language.

Students with a bachelor degree in Biotechnology, Life Sciences or equivalent from other universities may be admitted to the MSc program provided their education comprises academic elements equivalent to the elements described above. The applications will be evaluated individually based on the documents submitted. In general, it is recommended to have more competencies in biochemistry, and molecular biology, and at least basic knowledge in bioinformatics. A scheme, mapping and documenting the duration of prequisite course modules (in total hours), is supplied as part of the application.

BScs in Biology from the University of the Faroe Islands have access to be admitted but it is recommended that they have passed courses equivalent to those recommended to other bachelors from DTU described above. Furthermore, they may expect that they need further courses in mathematics and physics. 

BEng in Biotechnology from Absalon University College have access to be admitted. 

BSc Eng in Sustainable Biotechnology from Aalborg University have access to be admitted. 

General admission requirements

Only applicants holding a relevant Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a Bachelor in Engineering (diplomingeniøruddannelse) or a Bachelor of Natural Science degree can be admitted to a Master of Science in Engineering programme. The bachelor's degree must be less than ten years old.

The individual MSc Eng programme states in detail which bachelor programmes qualify and whether applicants must complete supplementary educational activities.

Requirements for supplementary educational activities can equate to up to 30 ECTS credits and are specified as a list of courses under the individual MSc Eng programmes.

The specific requirements must be met before graduating from the bachelor's programme or in connection with conditional admission to a particular MSc Eng programme. The courses must be passed prior to the commencement of studies within one year from the conditional admission.

Supplementary educational activities in connection with conditional admission to an MSc Eng programme do not form part of the MSc Eng programme, and tuition fees are charged. If the supplementary courses have not been passed within the specified deadlines, the conditional admission to the programme is withdrawn.

The Master of Science in Engineering programmes are offered in English. Therefore applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English (B-level, IELTS, TOEFL, CAE) https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/admission-and-deadlines/language_test_requirements

DTU offers an Honours Programme as part of all MSc  Eng. programmes. The admission requirements are described at https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/honours-programmes

Specific prerequisites for the Industry MSc Eng Programmes

The prerequisites are similar to the specific ones that apply to the 2-year-programmes, but in addition, the applicant must have a job relevant to the studies with a workload of at least 25 hours a week, or the applicant may be self-employed in a start-up company. Read more about the rules on https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/industry-master-of-science-in-engineering