Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering transforms healthcare through the design and development of customised medical devices, prosthetics and the full range of technologies that improve people's lives by restoring or enhancing biological function. The field applies engineering principles to living systems, asking how devices can be designed to interact safely and effectively with the human body, how implants and prosthetics can replicate or supplement what the body can no longer do, and how diagnostic and therapeutic technologies can be made more accurate, less invasive and more accessible. It sits at a frontier that is moving rapidly and with considerable social significance.

At the University of Leicester, this three-year full-time programme integrates practical skills and expertise in engineering and the life sciences, taking you to the forefront of the latest medical technologies. You will develop engineering foundations alongside a grounding in the relevant biology and physiology, building the capacity to understand both what a medical device must do and the biological and clinical context in which it must do it. A sandwich year gives you extended professional experience in an engineering or healthcare technology context, a year abroad broadens your international perspective on the field, and a work placement provides further hands-on exposure alongside your studies.

The combination of engineering rigour and life sciences knowledge, together with substantial professional and international experience, gives graduates of this programme a strong platform for entering a field that continues to grow in economic and clinical significance.

Graduates work in medical device companies, NHS clinical engineering departments, research organisations, healthcare technology start-ups and regulatory bodies. Roles in product design, clinical applications engineering, research and development, quality assurance and regulatory affairs are all natural destinations. Many go on to postgraduate study in biomedical engineering, medical physics or related disciplines, while others pursue chartered engineer status through the relevant professional bodies.

Postgraduate study in medicine is also a route some graduates explore.