Cardiovascular Health and Disease

Cardiovascular diseases are a major burden worldwide. This programme challenges you to reduce this burden by unravelling cardiovascular disease mechanisms, developing treatments and therapies, and investigate risk management and preventive strategies.

Cardiovascular Health and Disease positions you at the cutting edge of basic and clinical science, in the cardiovascular research field. You study the cardiovascular system in the broadest sense and learn to conduct cardiovascular-related research on a basic, translational, or (pre)clinical level.

Learn to translate a disease into a scientifically sound experiment or model, and translate your experimental model back to the disease. Expand your knowledge concerning the disease or build bridges towards therapeutic leads by studying underlying mechanisms of the disease. Research projects, courses and writing assignments focus on different cardiovascular subjects, allowing you to gain experience in multiple labs. Examples of subjects covered are arrhythmias, vascular biology and disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, stroke, and cardiovascular risk factors and prevention.

Societal challenges are incorporated in this Master’s programme, such as diversity, health equity, development of animal-free models, prevention, and patient participation in cardiovascular research.

Altogether, this programme allows you to become an expert in the cardiovascular research field, with the opportunity to either fully specialise yourself within a subdomain of cardiovascular research, or to broaden your horizon within the Life Sciences field.

Why you should study Cardiovascular Disease and Health at Utrecht University

• It gives you the opportunity to compose a personalised study programme of multiple specialties within cardiovascular research.
• Carry out one or two hands-on research projects at our research groups, and the possibility to do a general research profile project abroad to gain additional skills and an international perspective on your chosen specialisation.
• In your profile you have freedom to also explore other biomedical research fields, or career paths outside academia.
• Benefit from a solid mentoring system during the programme to optimally meet your personal learning goals and ambitions.
• Collaborate and learn in an international community of fellow students, PhD candidates, research and clinical staff, and stakeholders outside academia.
• Excellent preparation to continue your education in the UU PhD programme Cardiovascular Research.
• Freedom to design your own programme by choosing the research project and electives that best fit your interests. You also select one out of 9 thematic profiles which are designed to equip you with skills for your future career in a direction that appeals you most.

Graduate School of Life Sciences

Life Sciences is one of the four strategic themes of Utrecht University and is organised in the Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS). The GSLS brings together the research expertise and facilities of the faculties of Science, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, in cooperation with UMC Utrecht. Research at the GSLS is highly interdisciplinary, because scientific breakthroughs take place where physics, medicine, chemistry and biology interact.

Introducing Life Sciences 

Every year all new Master’s students of the Graduate School of Life Sciences start their academic year with a mandatory introduction week. Introducing Life Sciences (ILS) is part of the course Life Sciences Academy and covers aspects of academic education, including science integrity, career development and valorisation & industry.

World class university

Choosing Utrecht University means choosing one of the best universities in the country. Several renowned international rankings place Utrecht University among the 100 best universities in the world. Moreover, in a survey among Dutch professors it was proclaimed the best university in the Netherlands. The teaching environment at Utrecht University is international: half of the Utrecht Master's programmes are taught in English. The existing and former academic staff of Utrecht University include twelve Nobel Prize laureates.

City of Utrecht 

The University is situated in Utrecht, a lively student city located in the heart of the Netherlands. It is considered the ‘gateway to Europe’. An inspiring city which nurtures talent and creativity.