The programme has been assembled on the true imaging strongholds of Turku and comprises a truly interdisciplinary array of prominent research groups and departments to share advanced imaging techniques in

  • basic cell and molecular biology
  • in disease characterization at the molecular level
  • in patient diagnostics

The two-year programme is jointly administered and run by the two universities in Turku, the University of Turku and the Åbo Akademi University. The programme is administered by the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Åbo Akademi University and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Turku. Successful completion of this two-year full-time programme results in the award of a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree (Swe: Filosofie magisterexamen) 120 ECTS.

Both Finnish and foreign students who have completed a lower university degree equivalent to a Finnish B.Sc. degree are welcome to apply for the programme. The education is given in English.

The tuition fee is 12 000€/year for students applying outside the EU/EEA -area. Scholarships are available. No tuition fee for European students.

Programme structure
How to Apply
Career possibilities
Studying in Turku

The studies consist of mandatory courses in biology, physics, engineering, microscopic applications, image processing and ethics. They aim to give the student the required basic knowledge in the field of biomedical imaging.

Students can select elective courses from a variety of applicable topics according to their interests.

The programme curriculum covers the following topics:

  • Light microscopy, basic and advanced techniques
  • Electron microscopy
  • Tissue imaging and histopathology
  • Nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance in imaging
  • Tomographic imaging techniques
  • In vivo non-invasive imaging
  • Nanotechnology
  • Imaging probes for light microscopic and nuclear imaging modalities
  • Bioimage informatics and use of various image analysis tools
  • Data analysis methods, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence

See Biomedical Imaging course structure for detailed information about the mandatory and selectable courses.

Application for the next academic year will be open 8.1. – 22.1.2025.

The MSc Programme in Biomedical Imaging is jointly administered by Department of Biosciences at Åbo Akademi University and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Turku. In order to increase the chances of being admitted, applicants are advised to apply to both Universities.

The eligible applicants should have sufficient background knowledge in medical, biological and/or natural sciences, and they should have completed a lower university degree equivalent to a Finnish B.Sc. degree in the Life Sciences or in a relevant field (biomedical sciences, physics, engineering or chemistry).

Applications for the programme are evaluated by the admission committee. The admission committee scores the applicants according to their background and selects maximum of 50 applicants for the interview round.

No tuition fee for European students. The tuition fee is 12 000€/year for students applying outside the EU/EEA -area. Scholarships are available.

APPLYING STEP-BY-STEP:

1. Please read the admission criteria of the universities carefully: 
Åbo Akademi, University of Turku.

2. Book and take the language test in advance.
All applicants to the International Master’s Programmes taught in English must always prove their level of proficiency in the English language. Please find more information about language requirements in Åbo Akademi and the University of Turku.

3. Application through Studyinfo portal to both Åbo Akademi University and  University of Turku.

Fill in the required information with care. Please note that to apply to both universities you must complete an online application to both universities and send in two sets of enclosures.

In the online application form, it is enough that you attach your enclosures electronically. In case one of the universities need the hard copies, they will contact you personally.

4. Submit the application and send all the required enclosures.
The application has to be admitted before January 22nd 2025 3.00pm.

Possibilities after graduation

After the studies students can work in several fields in Finland or abroad. The students can select courses to support their own career goals.

Some career paths of our graduates:

  • continue as postgraduate students to pursue career as scientist
  • work in imaging core facility
  • work in science administration nationally or internationally
  • work in hospital research laboratory
  • industry and industrial research
  • popular science projects

Why to Choose Turku as your next city

Education from the top of the world

Finland is a Nordic welfare state where equality is the fundamental ideology behind education. International rankings agree with us, Finland is a great place to study. Finnish higher education consists of two complementary sectors: universities promoting research and academic education, and universities of applied sciences offering professional higher education with close ties to the working life. In Turku there is six higher education institutes.

Accommodation

Turku offers a wide range of housing options for students near the campuses and the centre. The price of housing is more student-friendly than in many other cities in Finland.

The Student Village Foundation of Turku (TYS) was founded by the Student Union of Turku University and it specially builds, renovates, maintains and rents apartments for students in the Turku area. TYS has around 7 300 apartment places and 19 housing locations. As these apartments are specially directed to students, the rent prices are affordable. All TYS apartment rents include water, electricity, Internet connection and sauna turns.

Getting around is easy and cheap

In Turku everything is close. Turku is a fantastic city for cycling. Distances from place to place are short and traffic design favours bikes. The vast majority of people who live in less than ten kilometers from the city center cycle on a daily basis to work and school. In addition, the movement is easy thanks to a comprehensive local transport.

With the valid student card you will automatically get a discount of bus and train tickets in Finland. One month bus card for the whole Turku area costs 33€ (for student) and it can be used unlimitedly.

Student lunches

As the university students you will have an opportunity to offered government-subsidised student lunches for €2.60, which usually includes the main dish, side salad, bread, water and a non-alcoholic drink (e.g. milk or juice). Students are expected to show a valid student card each time to get the student-priced lunch. You can find dozens of student cafeterias around the campus area.

Freely available courses

As a student of the University of Turku or Åbo Akademi you have a right to take any courses provided by the universities freely. Both universities provide high quality education in English language in many fields of study. There is also a great possibility to study various languages in the university’s language centre. Some limitations may occur with some of the practical courses where the amount of participants is more limited.

Healthcare

With a valid Finnish university student card you have the right to free Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). The health services provided are general practitioners and specialists, nursing care and physiotherapy as well as x-ray and laboratory work. FSHS also provides assistance in managing yourself during your studies. FSHS mental health services include mental health counselling, psychotherapy and psychiatric care.  Dental care is also included to FSHS and fees are from 16€ to max. 30€.

For the special care such as hospital care and some specialist services, students who have Turku as their place of residence have the right to municipal health care.

Outdoor wonders

Turku is city by the sea. The Turku Archipelago has more islands than any other archipelago in the world. It has also been described as the world’s most beautiful archipelago. In addition there is three other national parks in Southwest Finland. Nature in near, it’s clean and magnificent – and it can be reached easily.

City of students got it all

Turku offers plenty of historical attractions, contemporary art and incredible nature. Explore the city’s many restaurants, shops, bars and other free time activities. As a popular student city you get to meet people from different cultures all over the world. Student culture is active: 20 percent of Turku residents are higher education students. People of Turku, “turkulaiset”, are warm hearted, open minded and kind people.

Student experiences

  • Toiba, India
    (started 2018)

  • "Now when studying in the Biomedical Imaging program, I am even more convinced that this is the right path for me."

  • Imran, Pakistan
    (started 2015)

  • "BIMA challenged me to step out of my comfort zone by and helped me to think outside the box. Without this program, I wouldn’t be living my dream of doing a doctorate in Neurology."

  • Leon, Estonia
    (started 2016)

  • "BIMA is an exciting opportunity to go beyond the familiar limits of your field and be at the forefront of the modern scientific research."

  • Hanna, Finland
    (started 2017)

  • "Earlier I have studied Biotechnology. From the BIMA Program, I get the crucial expertise to my career and in addition, I am able to see the invisible."

  • Dado,Bosnia and Herzegovina
    (started 2018)

  • "It's been a wonderful experience and I love being in Turku. Just go for it and don’t be afraid of the unknown."

  • Sadaf, Iran
    (started 2019)

  • "Even though we have different academic backgrounds, I have decided to follow my sister, who also graduated from Biomedical Imaging few years ago. This proved to be a great decision, and I have no regrets making this life choice”

Programme Graduates

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Habib Baghirov

“Permeability of mesoporous silica nanoparticles across an in vitro blood-brain barrier model”

Sergio Rondinelli

“Sub-cellular distribution of syndecan-4 adhesion receptor”

Ahmed Musrati

“Dental CT Scanners and Physical Quality Parameters”

Jonas Silvander

“Subcellular Localization of Keratins in Colonocytes”

Joanna Pylvänäinen

“Lymphatic and vascular endothelium as barriers for transendothelial migration of breast cancer cells”

Neeraj Prabhakar

“Nanodiamonds as novel optical probes in Bioimaging”

Petra Miikkulainen

“The effect of HIF prolyl hydroxylase PHD3 on activating migration and growth of carcinoma cells”

Susanne Vainio

“Evaluation of a novel TSPO PET radioligand for neuroinflammation”

Mueez U Din

“Differentiation of Metabolically Distinct Areas within Head and Neck Region using Dynamic 18F-FDG Positron Emission Tomography Imaging”

Yaqi Qui

“Dietary factors affecting human aromatase gene reporter expression in normal tissues and cancer; focus on mammary gland and breast cancer”

Patrik Hollos

“Use of novel photonic tools for spatio-temporal studies in neurons”

Daniel Ebot

“The role of keratin intermediate filaments for the function of pancreatic islets and type 1 diabetes”

Eric Kaaru

“Imaging the development of testicular inflammation and fibrosis in vivo”

Shkar Maruf

“Evaluation of myocardial perfusion imaging using positron emission tomography and 15O-water in myocardial infarction and heart failure”

Yonas Mekuria

“Clinical Application of of Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) and its quality control”

Beril Yildis

Mohamed El Missiry

“Combination of leukocyte phenotype with phosphoflow and cell size in the study of hematological conditions.”

Mehrbod Mohammadian

“Anatomical references and image analysis software in small animal brain imaging with PET tracers”

Muhammad Arsalan Khan

“Rotating Frame Relaxation Measurements in Experimental Acute Phase Cardiac Infarct in vivo”

Pranshu Sahgal

“Regulators in Integrin trafficking”

Karthik Chary

Shaila Ferdous Ahsan

“Effect of Exercise on Skeletal Muscle Mass in Frail Elderly Women”

Peter Ngum

“Prevalence of Perfusion-Diffusion Mismatch in Acute Stoke Patients”

Mojtaba Jafari Tadi

“An Accelerometer-Based Method for Simultaneous Extraction of Respiratory and Cardiac Gating Signals for Nuclear Medicine Imaging.”

Bettina Hutz

“Protein interactions in mitochondrial nucleoids before and after the knock-down of the mitochondrial inner membrane protein ATAD3”

Sanaz Nazari Farsani

“Precision and Accuracy of Marker-Based and Model-Based Radiostereometric Analyses in Determination of Three Dimensional Micromotion of a Hip Stem”

Wajiha Bano

“Accuracy and Precision of Advanced T2 mapping in Cardiac Magnbetic Resonance Imaging"

Alexander Morin

“On the mechanics of regummed Bombyx mori silk composites”

Basit Iqbal Butt

“Stromal interaction molecule 1 and its role in the regulation, proliferation and protein expression in follicular ML-1 thyroid cancer cells”

Behnoush Foroutan

“Myocardial free fatty acid uptake before and after bariatric surgery induced weight loss”

Madis Lõhmus

“Morphology of the Inner Mitochondrial Membrane”

Elnaz Fazeli

“Signaling at Cell-ECM Contact of Resorbing Osteoclasts”

Dareen Mustafa Fteita

“Ultrastructural changes of Fusobacterium nucleatum as a defense mechanism against human neutrophil peptide-1 – A Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) study”

Prince Yaw Dadson

“Effects of bariatric Surgery on Abdominal Adipose Tissue Distribution in Severely Obese Patients”

Shereif Haykal

“Evaluation of Transcatheter Aortic Implantation candidates using Computed Tomography”

Marika Vainio

“Antigen uptake and intracellular processing in B cells”

Natalia Tong Ochoa

“Mapping of AMACR and TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene expression in human prostate”

Elena Tcarenkova

“Developing Correlative Optical-Photoacoustic Microscopy for high-resolution in vivo imaging”

Sheyla Estefani Cisneros Montalvo

“Analysis of testicular cell populations using flow cytometry”

Henok Karvonen

“Insights into skeletal muscles of Nestin deficient mice”

Hend Abdelkader

“The role of vimentin in lymphangiogenesis using 3D and chorioallantoic membrane systems”

Natalia Gurvits

“Optimization of immunofluorescence protocols for detection of biomarkers in colorectal and breast cancer tissues”

Guru Prasad Padmasola

“Exploring the feasibility of Al18F-nota folate tracer for assessment of atherosclerotic plaques in mice”

Ezgi Özliseli

“Development of novel imaging probes and related methods for cellular labeling and tracking”

Kai-Lan Lin

“A Study on the Recycling Mechanism of Dap160, a Scaffolding Protein in the Neuromuscular Junction of/Drosophila melanogaster/ Larvae”

Sina Tadayon

"In Vivo Imaging of Experimental Animal Model of MS Using Novel VAP-1 Targeting Radiotracer”

Marjukka Elmeranta

“Stimulated emission depletion microscopy of sub-diffraction polymerized structures fabricated with two-beam direct laser writing lithography”

Piryanka Motiani

“Exercise and brown adipose tissue activation in humans (EXEBAT)”

Arun P. Venu

"Role of vimentin phosphorylation in cell migration"

Adeleke Amoda

Laura Mairinoja

“Keratin 8 modulates the HIF1α signaling pathway in colon epithelial cells”

Kaveh Nik Jamal

“Three-dimentional fourier analysis of electron microscopy to characterize diffusion tensor imaging data”

Mohammed Shahnoor

Prakirth Govardhanam Narayana

“Development of nanoantibiotics and evaluation via in vitro and in vivo imaging”

Maria Rafaeva

“Metabolism as a regulator of integrin activity and cancer cell metastasis”

Tatsiana Auchynnikava

“68Ga-NOTA-Siglec-9 – a new Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 targeted agent for inflammation imaging”

Jaakko Suominen

“3D printed UV-curable polydimethylsiloxane scaffolds loaded with bovine serum albumin”

Keshav Thapa

“The Role of Keratin 8 Intermediate Filaments on Calveolin-1 Function in the Colon”

Niloofar Hashempour

"Validation of automated infant brain segmentation"

Mahyae Rastgoo Ghamsari

"Pai-probes for bioimaging"

Kumail Motiani

"Two weeks of training reduces liver fat content and improves liver substrate uptake and lipoprotein subclasses"

Anastasiia Driuchina

"Association between intrathoracic adipose tissue mass and metabolic parameters"

Lauren Michele Brothers

Diana Ioana Bocancea

"Computational pipeline for small animal brain PET/CT image analysis"

Maxwell Miner

"Semi-automated Synthesis of High Purity (2S, 4R)-4-[18F]fluoroglutamine and its Use for PET Imaging Experimental Gliomas"

Kalpana Parajuli

"Creating a CT Template-based Attenuation Correction Method for Pelvic PET/MRI Imaging"

Svetlana Bezukladova

"Multimodal approach to the evaluation of diffuse neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis using positron emission tomography and diffusion tensor imaging"

Ciaran Butler-Hallissey

"Uncovering the LINC between cytoplasmic keratin 8 and nuclear lamins using 2D and 3D culture systems"

Leon Riehakainen

"NEMA NU 4-2008 performance evaluation of the Raycan Trans-PET/CT X5 all-digital small animal PET/CT scanner prototype"

Hanna Helminen

"JNK regulation of nerve cell calcium: a possible mechanism in psychiatric disease"

Md Rashedur Rahman

"Identification of glycosylations affected by androgen-regulated process on the surface of extracellular vesicles derived from PCa cell lines"

Aruna Ghimire

"Colonocyte keratins are up-regulated in hypoxia and affects the nuclear translocation of HIF-1a"

Sami Şanlıdağ

"3D Bioprinting of Nanoparticle Incorporated Cell-Laden Bioink for Muscle Tissue Engineering"

Allison McGuire

"Adapting a Fluorescence-Based Superoxide Detection Method in order to Visualize ROS in the Foliar Mitochondria of Arabidopsis thaliana"

Anup Shrestha

"Role of keratin filaments on B-cell mitochondrial behavior and functionality"

Angeli Kumari

"Keratins in β-cells of the pancreas and their role for mitochondria and insulin vesicles"

Uruj Sarwar

"Developing a High-Throughput System for monitoring Zebrafish Behaviour"

Imran Ali Waggan

"Image derived input function for brain [11C]TMSX PET imaging"

Khashayar Ronagh

"Unraveling significance of receptor-ligand interaction on Jagged1 mobility, filopodia and ligand clustering in the Notch signaling pathway"

Nuria Barber-Perez

"Polyacrylamide Stiffness-gradient Hydrogels: A 2D Culture System to Study Cell Mechanoresponsiveness to Substrate Stiffness"

Jedidah Patton

"Imaging and target screening for novel avenues for psychiatric disorder treatments"

Toiba Mushtaq

"Deciphering the molecular composition of tricellular junctions"

Erika Atencio Herre

"Radiosynthesis and biological evaluation of [68Ga]Ga-NOTA-Folate in experimental atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction models"

Sabrina Benoit

"Fluorescence imaging of Drosophila melanogaster tracheal system: investigating the morphology of LUBEL mutant flies"

Defne Dinç

"Quantitative Analysis of Force Transduction in Human Mammary Epithelial Cell Populations"

Tzu-Chen Rautio

"Effects of Nanomaterial-Delivered Protein Kinase A on Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells"

Farhad Ahmed

"Analysis of Rab24 protein expression in mouse tissues"

Taina Heikkilä

"Keratins as regulators of colonocyte mitochondria and intestinal barrier function"

Dado Tokic

"Synthesis of mesopoprous silica nanoparticles using droplet microfluidics"

Sonja Granroth

"The role of TGFβ signaling in lymphatic endothelial sprout formation"

Oona Paavolainen

"Vimentin and actin interplay in the osteoclast cycle"

Vincensa Nicko Widjaja

"Developing an in vitro model and quantitation method for bone marrow adiposity research"

Sujan Ghimire

Characterisation of cancer cell adhesion on endothelial cells by super-resolution microscopy

Brajesh Shrestha

Synthesis of CuS@MSN@SpAcDex for Tacrolimus delivery to treat End Stage Renal Disease

Thalla Divyendu Goud

Development of a rotatory device for development of 3D super-resolution tomographic STED microscopy

Ujjwal Aryal

Vimentin associated focal adhesion nanostructure characterisation

Doroteja Bednjanec

Targeted Sequence Delivery Platform with ROS-Response for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Kim Yu Gang

The effects of the combination treatment of AR and FGFR inhibitors in prostate cancer

Anna Jalo

Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp in anesthetized rat: A protocol for rat in vivo FDG PET studies

Siimon Mari

The Role of Arginine Vasopressin (AVP) during Birth Asphyxia

Sadaf Fazeli

Rab24 as a potential biomarker in human cancers

Junel Solis

Computer vision methods for processing images of mouse intestinal epithelia

Yimeng Chen

Identification and Quantitation of Bone Marrow Adipocytes by Immunostaining

Elmeri Kiviluoto

BCR signaling and dynamic micropatterns

Rasha Elmansuri

Visualization of cellular surface and intercellular structures of human pluripotent stem cells using electron microscopy techniques

Seyed Hosseini

Applying Transfer Learning in Classification of Ischemia from Myocardial Polar Maps in PET Cardiac Perfusion Imaging

Shaoxia Wang

The functional role of NOTCH and potential NOTCH associated genes in head and neck cancer

Johanna Jukkala

Zero cost deep learning to enhance microscopy

Alaa Benkherouf

Imaging salmonella at a single cell resolution

Yasaman Anbari Yazbi

"A quantitative and qualitative analysis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in Yttrium-90 radioembolization; investigating the utility of PET dosimetry in identifying sites of necrosis and viable tumor"

T M Arman Hossain Anand

"Folate receptor beta as an imaging target in myocardial infarction"

Fariha Annesha

"A Framework for the Systematic Comparison of Classical Non-Learning, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Cell Segmentation & Nuclei Detection in Histopathological Images"

Afshin Ansari Asl

"The Role of Vimentin in the YAP signaling in Wound Healing and Cancer Invasion"

Circe Carr

"Reconstruction and Analysis of Tissue Types in 3D"

Rafael Diaz

"Review of the CH-STED performance and application range over conventional STED and z-STED"

Heini Hautanen

"Quantification of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in pre-clinical mouse models by applying digital image analysis"

Johanna Hällilä

"Cross-calibration of human PET scanners with phantom studies"

Petar Kosijer

"The role of b-cell keratins in islet histology, glucose uptake, and diabetes susceptibility"

Shiva Latifi

"Effect of breast cancer, doxorubicin chemotherapy and exercise on heart vascularization and cardiomyofibers"

Anting Li

"Performance Analysis of Clustering Algorithms in Brain Tumor Detection from PET Images"

Mohd Malik

"Evaluation of automated organ segmentation for total-body PET-CT"

Marcela Rivera

"Development of 3D Printed Fluorescence and Brightfield Microscope"

Motoki Saito

"Artificial Intelligence-based Lung Cancer Detection Using Histopathological Images"

Jessica Salo

"Intracellular Delivery OF CRISPR/Cas9 Plasmid With Zif-8 Nanocarrier to Liver Cancer Cells"

Maria Tarczewska

"Visualizing intra- and extracellular vesicles of B cells using expansion microscopy"

Monika Vaitkeviciute

"Investigating filopodia formation on fibronectin and cadherin substrates"