Now that my journey is almost coming to an end, I thought it would be the proper timing to share some of the enlightenment I experienced during my (so far) 18-month journey as a master’s student in the Bioengineering programme at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Technology.
The Starting Point
With an academic history loaded with experience in pharmaceutical sciences and drug delivery systems, I decided to take a leap and jump into the world of bioengineering. However, I had one concern; I wanted to study bioengineering to build upon my previous academic and professional background. I had no intention to shift my research interest. Here in, lies the problem. I spent months searching for bioengineering master’s programme in various universities around Europe, but all lead to one result. Bioengineering programmes were either about environmental applications or informatics and data science, with no sign of pharmaceutical applications. The latter was mainly part of either biotechnology or molecular biology programmes, but not bioengineering.
A Shining Star of Hope
One day while discussing my despair regarding search results with a friend (who was studying computer science in Tallinn), he advised me to check a master’s programme of bioengineering that was (at the time) newly being offered by the University of Tartu. Although he didn’t know much about the programme, I was intrigued. With not much hope and minor expectations, I googled the University of Tartu website and started to check out the programme. At that point in time, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel! The programme exceptionally provided three specialization tracks: drug design, environmental studies, and data science. Personally, I considered it to be a brilliant design for a study programme. Not only did it make my dream come true, but it also covered all applicable fields of bioengineering. In addition, it allows students from various applied sciences backgrounds to join the programme. Most importantly, it equally permits the study of the three fields of specialization and provides a full broad picture of bioengineering and its practical applications in life.
Why Bioengineering in the First Place?
If one took a fine journey through the history of science and had a closer look at scientists whose discoveries shaped the milestones of our life nowadays, one would notice that a multidisciplinary approach was adopted at that time. As time passed, people realized that a mono-disciplinary approach would be more efficient. A mono-disciplinary approach allows the ability to dig deep into each field or scientific branch and know as much as possible about it. Then, with the rise of 21st-century technological evolutions and globalization, the urge for an interdisciplinary approach appeared on the horizon of science. This urge emerged to enable efficient harvesting of the best of each field through their merger and even interaction. This is how it has been going and we can all testify to the wondrous outcomes.
Bioengineering is one of these wondrous pathways, where one can make use of engineering in modifying biological systems. Without going into too much detail, I can provide some simple but crucial examples. On the environmental aspect, (namely in response to global warming) biofuels were produced as a sustainable source of energy that is both environmentally friendly and would replace the non-renewable sources of energy as fuels, that the world is already running out of. On the medical level, bioengineering played an important role in the design of COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to the discovery of several targeted anticancer drugs. Most importantly, thanks to bioengineering, “The Synthetic Yeast Genome Project – Sc2.0” will one day achieve its promised goal of building the first eukaryotic genome. In general, our lives revolve around bioengineering applications that are making life easier by finding solutions to many of our day-to-day problems.
What is After Graduation?
One basic path would be contributing to academia by proceeding further to Ph.D. studies. It is worth mentioning that universities around the EU are offering several diverse Ph.D. programmes for bioengineers. Moreover, paid internships and traineeships are also available. On the industrial level and from the market perspective, the Nordic region is one of the fastest-growing hubs in the world in industrial biotechnology. Simultaneously, bioengineering supports the fast-growing fields of industrial biotechnology and circular bioeconomy that represent the key solution to climate change problems through achieving biosustainability. Furthermore, the Nordic and Baltic region is becoming a booming job market for synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology professionals.
Finally, I am glad for what I have learned so far and would encourage you all to take the chance to discover more about the wonders of bioengineering.
YES, IT IS WORTH IT!
