Curriculum
Under the Dual Master’s Program in the field of Synthetic Biology in collaboration with McGill University, eligible students shall complete an integrated curriculum jointly developed by the University of Thessaly and McGill University and, upon successful fulfilment of the respective degree requirements of each institution, shall be awarded two separate diplomas:
- the degree of Master of Science in Synthetic Biology, awarded by the University of Thessaly (120 ECTS) in accordance with its national legislation and academic regulations, and
- the degree of Master of Science in Biological and Biomedical Engineering: Synthetic Biology (Thesis) (45 credits), awarded by McGill University in accordance with its institutional regulations.
1st Semester: Foundations & Core Skills
Foundations of Synthetic Biology
ECTS: 7
Engineering principles in biology, BioBricks and standardization of biological components, orthogonality and modularity, genetic circuits and logic, chassis and model organisms, minimal and synthetic cells.
Genome and DNA Engineering
ECTS: 8
DNA synthesis and assembly technologies, CRISPR genome editing, genome engineering, cloning methods (Gibson, Golden Gate, MoClo), replicon and vector design, sequencing technologies.
Synthetic Biology Experimental Design Lab
ECTS: 4
Hands-on laboratory skills including molecular cloning, sequencing, cell culture, flow cytometry, imaging, and cell-free systems.
Responsible Innovation & Biosafety
ECTS: 4
Bioethics, biosafety, social dimensions, and science communication in synthetic biology.
Introduction to Computational SynBio
ECTS: 7
Biostatistics for synthetic biology, introduction to R/Bioinformatics, sequence databases and analysis, introductory modeling of biological systems, Python for biological engineering.
1st Semester Totals
ECTS
2nd Semester: Engineering, Modeling & Applications
Protein & RNA Engineering
ECTS: 6
Protein engineering, directed evolution, de novo protein design, RNA engineering, riboswitches and aptamers, RNA logic and biosensors.
Metabolic & Microbial Engineering
ECTS: 6
Metabolic engineering, synthetic microbial communities (SynComs), metagenomics, biomanufacturing, biofuels, and sustainability.
Applied Machine Learning & AI for Synthetic Biology
ECTS: 6
Introduction to deterministic and stochastic systems, network biology, machine learning applications in synthetic biology design.
Electives / Specialization
ECTS: 12 | (3 modules X 4 ECTS/module)
Green Biotechnology – Blue Biotechnology – White Biotechnology – Yellow Biotechnology – Plant Metabolic Engineering – Computational Protein Design – Metagenomics – Synthetic RNA Therapeutics and Ribodiagnostics – Synthetic Microbial Ecology – Cell-free SynBio Systems – From Lab to Industry: Scale-Up Considerations – Synthetic Biology in Gene Therapy and Vaccines