THI opens new study field "Health and Life Sciences"

Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt will open the new field of study "Health and Life Sciences" in the winter semester 2020/21. With this, the university is expanding its portfolio of courses of study within the two main subject areas of technology and health.

The field of study "Health and Life Sciences" will be successively established as a cross-sectional topic with new courses of study across all faculties. In 2030, around 1,250 students are to be enrolled in this field of study - specifically in five Bachelor's degree courses followed by Master's degree courses. As engineers, computer scientists or economists, the interdisciplinary graduates of the new field of study combine a subject-specific qualification with basic medical training. In order to provide a more in-depth practical orientation in the medical courses, THI is cooperating with the Ingolstadt Klinikum (general hospital).

The two new bachelor's programmes "Bioelectrical Engineering" (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) and "Computational Life Sciences" (Faculty of Computer Science) will be launched in the winter semester 2020/21:

The bachelor's programme Bio-Electrical Engineering (B.Eng.) combines human biology with electrical engineering and information technology. The course focuses on a professional field with future potential: that of technologies that can be worn on or in the body. Students acquire interdisciplinary knowledge to combine electrical engineering concepts with biological, medical or health-related processes. They learn to develop innovative electronic systems or processes for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, for rehabilitation or for the improvement of personal health - from intelligently controlled prostheses to the regulation of blood sugar levels in diabetics. Students regularly apply their newly acquired knowledge in laboratory internships and practical training phases. Graduates are employed in fields such as medical and health technology or biosensor technology. The language of instruction of the seven-semester Bachelor's programme is German.

The Computational Life Sciences (B. Sc.) course provides interdisciplinary specialist skills from the fields of computer science, health and life sciences relating to human beings. Students learn, among other things, how to acquire, visualise and analyse medical data, simulate human biological processes or recognise patterns from large, unstructured data sets. On this basis, they can develop technical solutions for the great social challenge of our time - a growing and ageing population under the influence of environmental and climate change. Graduates can work as IT specialists, data scientists or software developers in fields such as medicine, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, human biology, but also in nutritional, agricultural or material sciences. The seven-semester bachelor's programme is supplemented by laboratory internships and practical phases. The language of instruction is German.

The start of the two new courses is subject to approval by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art. The expansion of the THI's portfolio is a measure of the planned growth to 10,000 students.