Contact

Academic counselling

PD Dr. Stefan Uppenkamp

0441-798-3955

Counselling for bachelor’s programme

Counselling for master’s programme

Other links

Study and Career Counselling Service

International Student Office (EU or international students) 

Student Service Centre (SSC)

Campus Haarentor A12
26129 Oldenburg
0441-798-2728 

uol.de/en/students/service-advice/

Facts and figures

Start date:

Winter semester

Duration:

4 semesters

Degree:

Master of Science

Further information

Offers for prospective students
uol.de/study/study-decision

Master's degree in Physics, Technology and Medicine (PTM)

A career as a scientist in medical research, industry or the clinic with a focus on medical technology, neuroscience or acoustics requires an education with a suitable mix of theory and practice.

The Master's degree program "Physics, Technology and Medicine" teaches and combines the practical and interdisciplinary skills of physics and electrical engineering with the theoretical skills of medicine, biology and psychology. The focus on hearing and speech research as well as neurophysics, neurotechnology and medicine provides students with an excellent education in the field of medical technology and an entry into an excellently recognized field of research and a wide range of career options in industry, clinics and universities.

As a location, the University of Oldenburg offers an excellent link to the "Hearing4all" cluster of excellence and thus demonstrates a high degree of interdisciplinarity between physics, medicine, acoustics and neuroscience. The course offers early research contacts and the opportunity to work at university and non-university institutes such as Fraunhofer, HörTech and Hörzentrum Oldenburg.

Occupations and fields of activity

The medical technology sector is one of the most rapidly developing industries in the Federal Republic of Germany.

There is a particular demand for specialists with a background in physical engineering and a medical overview in order to be able to solve medical problems on an equal footing with doctors. Graduates of the PTM Master's degree course can fill precisely this gap and, due to the high demand for specialists in this field and the very good development opportunities, have excellent career prospects, e.g. in

  • research and development
  • medical device systems engineering
  • medical-physical practice areas such as medical imaging, neurotechnology or hearing technology and audiology

You also have very good prerequisites for transferring to doctoral studies in Germany and abroad, very good employability due to the international recognition and the possible specialization in the elective and professionalization area.

Course content

The four-semester Master's degree course in "Physics, Technology and Medicine" comprises 120 credit points (CP) and is completed with a Master's thesis.

Of the 120 CPs, the subject-specific part (theory, hearing and speech research, neurophysics and neurotechnology and medicine) accounts for 48 CPs. The remaining credits are made up of interdisciplinary professionalization modules and soft skills (9 CP), practical modules/laboratory (18 CP), an area of specialization (15 CP) and the Master's degree module (30 CP).

Elective areas in the specialist modules and the specialization area, which is intended as preparation for the Master's thesis, allow students to steer their studies in different directions. This enables students to tailor their studies to different areas in which they see their future after graduation.

Study structure

The Master's degree program "Physics, Technology and Medicine" consists of the following modules:

Theory
Machine Learning 6 CP
Compulsory elective theory 6 CP
Area of listening and language research
Psychophysics and audiology 6 CP
Compulsory elective Hearing Research 6 CP
Neurophysics and Neurotechnology
Introduction to Neurophysics 6 CP
Compulsory elective Neurophysics and Neurotechnology 6 CP
Medicine
Problem solving in medicine 6 CP
Advanced seminar in physics, technology and medicine 6 CP
Laboratory section
Block practical course 6 CP
Project internship physics-technology-medicine 12 CP
Area Soft Skills & Professionalization
Soft skills 3 CP
Professionalization 6 CP
Area of specialization and Master's thesis
Specialization (preparation for Master's thesis) 15 CP
Master's thesis 30 CP
Total credits 120 CP

Rolemodels PTM Master

The models listed below are exemplary courses for the PTM Master to give interested parties ideas and an outlook. It is not necessary to choose one of these options.

Basically, the PTM Master is made up of the subject areas (PTM-) on a theoretical level, hearing and speech research, neurophysics and neurotechnology, medicine, laboratory and soft skills and professionalization.

The four areas of theory, hearing and speech research, neurophysics/technology and medicine each take up 10% of the degree course; the 15 CP optional specialization is not taken into account due to the elective option. Laboratory (practical) courses take up 15% of the course work with 18 CP.

The specialization can be considered a specialized competence together with the Master's thesis module. Together this amounts to 45 CP, i.e. 37.5% of the Master's degree course.

This should only help to classify the approximate weighting of the individual areas. The following are examples of courses of study and perspectives.

In professional life, you are not expected to be able to immediately start working competently. You will always be given the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the specific topic. The only thing that matters here is a favorable educational background.

 

Data Scientist

A possible and modern career path for a PTM Master's graduate is a career as a data scientist. This can include professions with analytical tasks, data utilization or machine learning/AI skills. Other keywords are handling large amounts of data, programming, pattern recognition and interpretation.

There are a number of courses on offer during your studies to develop these skills.

Field

Module

Arguments

Compulsory elective theory

Machine Learning II - Advanced Learning and Inference Methods

  • Advanced competence in the field of machine learning
  • Application of general pattern recognition up to the recognition of "sensory stimuli" such as seeing/hearing
  • tbd

Processing and analysis of biomedical data

  • Scientific statistics
  • Significance testing, deepening the validation of hypotheses, classifying data situations
  • Classification of data streams and noise

Information processing in biomedical research - inf522 (does the module still exist?)

  • Competencies in medical IT
  • Analysis of medical systems and design skills

Compulsory elective hearing research

Information processing and communication

  • Skills in handling and structuring data

Elective neurophysics and technology

Computational Neuroscience - Statistical Learning

  • tbd

Introduction to Data Analysis with Python

  • Another programming language, always good
  • SciPy, NumPy, pandas good data/analysis packages
  • Concrete handling of data sets on the computer

Block practical course

Neural networks

Specialization

The modules mentioned above as well as supplementary modules in the subject areas

 

 

Medical engineering career

A very applied career after the PTM Master's degree would be a career in medical technology. For this, engineering specializations and general skills in relation to medical technology are more worthwhile.

You can be employed in the field service of medical technology companies. This includes providing technical advice to medical facilities and personnel. Alternatively, services such as setting up and maintaining equipment can be a task. For specific skills (e.g. competence to train staff in device XY), separate training courses are offered in professional practice.

There are a number of courses on offer during the course to develop these skills.

Field

Module

Arguments

Compulsory elective theory

Machine Learning II - Advanced Learning and Inference Methods

  • Advanced competence in the field of machine learning
  • Application of general pattern recognition up to the recognition of "sensory stimuli" such as seeing/hearing
  • tbd

Digital Signal Processing

  • In-depth understanding of signal processing is helpful when dealing with technical devices that have to process signals

Information processing in biomedical research - inf522 (does the module still exist?)

  • Competencies in medical IT
  • Analysis of medical systems and design skills

Compulsory elective hearing research

Information processing and communication

  • Skills in handling and structuring data

Advanced Topics Speech and Audio Processing

  • Similar to Digital Signal Processing
  • Signal filtering for audio signals, generally improved understanding of audio processing (Sony etc. would love to hear from you)

Neurophysics and technology elective

Imaging techniques in medicine

  • Understanding of imaging good for working with technology such as EEG, MEG, MRI etc.
  • Plays a major role in everyday clinical practice

Information processing and communication

  • Skills in handling and structuring data

Introduction to Data Analysis with Python

  • Another programming language, always good
  • SciPy, NumPy, pandas good data/analysis packages
  • Concrete handling of data sets on the computer

Offer from ENT and neurophysiology/neurosurgery

  • Experience and knowledge from everyday medical practice
  • Applications of medical technology
  • Impressions of where technology is needed in medicine

Block practical course

fMRI, brain computer interface with EEG, image reconstruction from projection data

Use cases of medical technology with practical application

Specialization

The modules mentioned above as well as supplementary modules in the subject areas

robotics

professionalization

Medical technology

 

Clinical research / medical research

For research, there is no specific course comparable to the previous examples, as personal interests play a much greater role here. Courses in the targeted subject area as well as statistics and data processing are important. Programming skills are also generally useful.

Possible employers here are research institutes directly at the university, clinics, Fraunhofer institutes or in the pharmaceutical industry. Tasks may include study planning, data acquisition and processing as well as evaluation. However, conception, development of new ideas and basic research are also possible tasks.

Another important aspect of this occupational field is the writing of publications (of research results) and the classification of patent law.

In this role model, the table shown below should be understood as an example only, as personal interests should also define one's own area of specialization. In this case, one interest and specialization is in the field of neuroscience.

Field

Module

Arguments

Compulsory elective Theory

Processing and analysis of biomedical data

  • Scientific statistics
  • Significance tests, deepening the validation of hypotheses, classifying data situations
  • Classification of data streams and noise

Compulsory elective Hearing research

Information processing and communication

  • Skills in handling and structuring data

Compulsory elective Neurophysics and Technology

Offer from the Neurocognitive Psychology degree program

  • Individual specialization in the field of neuro-psychology
  • Working with data in the context of personal interest

Computational Neuroscience - statistical learning

  • Statistics important for neuroscience and the statistical analysis of neuronal (population) data
  • Practical work with data sets in the field of neuroscience

Introduction to Data Analysis with Python

  • Another programming language, always good
  • SciPy, NumPy, pandas good data/analysis packages
  • Concrete handling of data sets on the computer

Offer from ENT and neurophysiology/neurosurgery

  • Experience and knowledge from everyday medical practice
  • Applications of medical technology
  • Impressions of where technology is needed in medicine

Block practical course

Brain-computer interface with EEG, neural networks

Specialization

The modules mentioned above as well as supplementary modules in the subject areas

Professionalization

Neurobiology

  • Biological background knowledge of the applied subject

 

Medical physicist

Further training is required for a DGmP-certified medical physicist. In hospitals, the profession of medical physicist is comparable to that of a doctor. Tbd: Ask Birger about requirements.

Examples of Master's thesis topics

Students in the 4th semester of PTM have written their theses on the following topics:

  • Evaluation of the use of EMG sensors as a measurement tool for rotational misalignments and strain on the lower extremities, based on the analysis of study data using artificial intelligence
  • Investigation of possible derivation sites of electrodermal activity in OR personnel to assess stress in the workplace
  • Measurement of bound attention during preoperative planning of liver surgery with AR and VR
  • Compensation patterns after gait perturbations - differences between younger and older people without and with fall experience

Curriculum and module handbook

All files are in German. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the contact persons.

Accreditation

The degree program "Physics, Technology and Medicine" (Master of Science) was originally accredited by ASIIN until September 2023. For the period October 2023 to September 2030, the course was evaluated as part of a system accreditation and was awarded the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg's Quality Seal for Studies and Teaching in June 2024.

Your studies in detail - by students for students

Finding a degree course is not easy for many people and that's perfectly fine. After all, you want to stay on this course for the next two years and not realize after one or two semesters that you don't like physics, medicine, etc. at all. We assume that you do like these subjects and that's why you're here. Because we didn't have an easy time choosing our degree course either, but definitely don't regret it now, we would like to share our impressions and experiences of the Physics, Technology and Medicine degree course with you. Since not everything we can and would like to say fits on an A4 flyer, we will do so here in detail. We hope that we can help you with your decision.

Your O-Week

The University of Oldenburg offers an orientation week so that you don't feel overwhelmed in your new Master's program at the beginning. During this week, you will get to know your student council, which helps plan and run the orientation week, as well as important university officials and the student council.

Afterwards, you will be personally introduced to your degree program at a welcome event and shown around the campus so that you don't get lost on the way to lectures so often. Your new fellow students from the higher semesters will be able to help you set up your timetable if necessary. If you still have questions and uncertainties about your studies, we can certainly help you with our experience.

In addition to subject-related services, it is advisable to take advantage of general advisory services. Among other things, the university offers help and advice on registering your place of residence (the Residents' Registration Office will have a stand on campus during O-Week - just bring your documents with you!) and applying for BAföG (you would have to have studied for this alone...). As you will need it almost every day for your studies, it is also a good idea to attend the introduction to Stud.IP. Stud.IP is a kind of university-internal Facebook in which you register and plan your modules. It is also the way in which you communicate with your tutors and professors via emails and forums.

So that you don't start your studies with lecture halls full of unfamiliar faces, your student council also offers you leisure activities such as a barbecue evening so that you can make important contacts before you start your studies.

Your student council

From the name of the degree program "Physics, Technology and Medicine", you might think that PTM would belong to both faculties. However, PTM is only part of Faculty V - Mathematics and Natural Sciences, which means that you belong to the Physics Student Council, to which every student who studies something physics-related automatically belongs. Accordingly, the Physics Student Council is also responsible for your degree program in addition to the other degree programs of the natural science institutes. In addition to the regular public council meetings, the motivated members, who are also your fellow students, offer you leisure activities such as pub and/or games evenings, where you can put your skills to the test in board games and on the games console.

Of course, in addition to enjoying your studies, the student council is also interested in ensuring that your degree program runs smoothly in terms of planning and offerings. So if you and a fellow student notice any discrepancies in the structure, please contact your council members by email or in person on campus so that they can bring these problems to the next meeting and resolve them. Incidentally, the meetings are open to the public and take place weekly during normal lecture times, so you can contact the student council directly if necessary. Alternatively, you can always come to the student council room in W2 1-161 (you will be shown where this is during the O-week). There is pretty much always someone from the student council there. The room is also a great place to meet up with other people and just chill out.

Your campus

Campus Wechloy, © Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

As part of Faculty V, your studies will not take place on the main campus of the university, but a few meters away on the Wechloy campus. This means that we are not off the beaten track, but take the same bus as all other students just three stops away (by the way, the bus stops right outside the front door ;) ). Of course, there are also plenty of parking spaces nearby.

Campus Wechloy – Mensa, © Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

On campus there is a canteen with a daily changing menu, a library with group rooms where you can practice lectures, and plenty of space to study and work, both indoors and outdoors. There are also several laboratories and research departments on the campus. During the course of your studies, you will not only be able to see some of them from the inside, but also work in them.

Campus Wechloy - In der Universitätsbibliothek. © Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Your fellow students

You end up writing your exams alone, but who said you have to go all the way there alone? A university is a place of exchange and shared learning and offers you the opportunity to network and collaborate with your fellow students and encourages this in the form of group and partner work to prepare you for teamwork later in your career. It is also much easier to learn if you have someone to talk to about the subject matter.

Perhaps an initial working group will later turn into a clique with whom you can go clubbing and bar-hopping in Oldenburg after your exams or play a round of Viking chess outside in the summer.

Your contact persons

If you have not yet met them during the O-week, you will get to know them in their respective lectures the following week at the latest:

Prof. Dr. Dr. Birger Kollmeier and PD Dr. Stefan Uppenkamp launched the PTM course in 2017 and have been responsible for coordinating it ever since. So if you have course-specific questions and your fellow students don't have a plan, don't be afraid to go to them after lectures and ask them about it. Otherwise, you can find their university e-mail addresses in Stud.IP and simply write to them. So far, it hasn't happened that they have ripped someone's head off because of a question.

 

Your lectures

Once you have successfully set up your timetable during the orientation week, you can start your first lectures.

Each lecture has its own page in Stud.IP where you can view and download dates, assignment sheets, uploaded lectures and scripts. You can also write to your professor or tutor if you have any questions that can't wait until the next lecture. If dates and events fall out of line, special information on modules is always collected and published as up-to-date as possible on "Current information on modules".

To ensure that the lectures continue to develop, the Prof-Prüfstand takes place at the end of each semester. You can give your student council anonymous feedback on what you liked or didn't like about the respective module. This allows the professor to see where he or she could improve or what he or she did particularly well.

Your PTM top seminar

The purpose of the PTM seminar is to give students an insight into the current research work of the research institutions associated with the PTM degree program and to teach them to understand and correctly classify the scientific
questions and methods.

To this end, short overview presentations will be given for the various research landscapes and then specific topics will be developed in teams of two on thebasis of presentations by the participants on relevant work from the literature and from current research work. This provides an insight into possible research work after graduation.

You can see examples of planned topics from the winter semester 2021/22 here.

Your tutorials

It's completely normal that you can't follow your professors' explanations immediately during the lecture and nobody expects you to do so. This is precisely why the professors encourage you to enrol in the respective tutorials. In some courses you will receive a weekly assignment sheet. This is completely voluntary, but will show you whether you can not only listen to the lecture material, but also apply it. There is hardly a better way to prepare for an exam and it will usually also earn you bonus points, which can significantly improve your grade if you pass the exam. The tutorials are used to discuss the tasks and to help each other work through them. Your tutor will give you (and your partner) feedback on your solutions and help you to understand the material.

Your professionalization and elective area

In addition to your course-specific lectures, you also have the opportunity to further your education outside of your subject area. So why not learn a foreign language from a wide range of courses in addition to the compulsory modules or refresh your knowledge because you know that you would like to work abroad after graduation? Other areas of physics and medicine that you would not cover in the actual course of study are also available to you. For example, you can pursue your interest in the stars and the universe in the "Astrophysics" module or expand your knowledge to other areas of physics and biology. As you can see from your course structure, you need at least 6 credit points from professionalization modules. So it is clear that you have to take them, but what you ultimately want to learn is entirely up to you!

In addition to the professionalization modules, you can determine the direction in which you want to specialize through the modules you take in the elective areas of your degree course.

Your contribution

You can not only study at the University of Oldenburg, but also work. So if you would like to get a taste of what you will be doing after your studies, or if your BAföG is more meagre than you thought and you don't just want to eat pasta with ketchup, you can keep your eyes and ears open for open student assistant positions. Research assistants or student assistants - HiWi or SHK for short - support their professors or other university staff with their work, depending on the field of activity.

The spectrum of jobs is really broad and ranges from laboratory work such as preparing samples to public relations work such as managing the PTM website (these are the jobs that you can do from home in your jogging bottoms :D). Since this part-time job should not keep you from your studies, the working hours are usually only a few hours per week and consideration is given to your lecture times and exam dates so that nothing overlaps.

In addition to a reasonable salary, a student assistant position has another decisive advantage: you already have a good reputation in the respective department! So if you rock your HiWi position, there's nothing to stop your contract being extended or you being offered other, more attractive positions. Normally, as soon as positions are advertised, they are quickly shared in WhatsApp groups or advertised by the professor in circular emails so that people know that there are vacancies. And otherwise it doesn't hurt to ask the professor about it.

That's all we can tell you about our PTM degree program in a nutshell. If you still have questions, you are welcome to contact the responsible lecturer PD Dr. Stefan Uppenkamp, whose contact details can be found at the top left of this page. You can find everything else under the "Apply and enrol" tab.

We hope that we will soon be able to welcome you as a fellow student!

General admission requirements

Admission requirements for a Master's degree course are generally a Bachelor's degree or a comparable degree in the same or a closely related subject and proof of professional and personal aptitude.

Special access requirements

Sufficient German and English language skills must be demonstrated for this degree program:

  • Proof of German language skills at level B2 for applicants whose native language is not German.
  • Proof of English language skills at level B2 for applicants whose native language is not English or who have neither an English university entrance qualification nor a first university degree in an English-language degree program.

For more information on the admission requirements and the application for admission, please refer to the admission regulations.

Application

With a German university entrance qualification: You apply online at the University of Oldenburg.

EU or international applicants: You apply via uni-assist e.V.

Detailed information and deadlines can be found at uol.de/studiengang/bewerben/physik-technik-medizin-master-608/freshman/de

(Changed: 27 Sep 2024)  | 
Zum Seitananfang scrollen Scroll to the top of the page