Education for Students

Successful university-based translational cancer research requires a solid academic foundation that assures basic medical research is consequently linked with clinical research. As part of the curriculum in Frankfurt and Marburg, students of Medicine and the Life Sciences are offered additional study programs for specialization in research and oncology. The goal is to ignite interest in diverse aspects of translational cancer research early on in students’ academic careers.

Medical students at the Goethe University Frankfurt who are interested in cancer research can set a focus on oncology by choosing the elective module “Profil Forschung” (Focus on Research) as part of their major course of study. Alternatively, medical students can apply for a place in Marburg’s well-established and highly competitive Comprehensive Studies in Oncology curriculum. Accompanying students over a period of three years, the comprehensive studies program educates students in topics pertinent to the field of oncology and serves to introduce students to understanding the complexity of the disease, therapeutic strategies, current areas of research as well as addressing social and ethical issues.

Similarly, both universities prepare students of the Life Sciences for a career in translational research through additional medical studies programs. Run through the Departments of Medicine, ongoing scientists can acquire basic medical knowledge with a focus on oncology. During the course of the program, students frequently join UCT Frankfurt-Marburg investigators  working on established research projects in the laboratory. This curriculum is offered as part of the Master's Degree in Molecular Medicine at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In Marburg, the program forms part of the Bachelor's and Master's curriculum in Biomedical Science, which allows a specialty focus on tumor biology at a very early stage, and provides excellent training for later work in translational cancer research.

A variety of doctoral programs, structured doctoral programs and scholarships are available for post-graduates through the Departments of Medicine at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Philipps University Marburg. Post-graduates of medicine interested in acquiring an additional qualification in science can enroll in one of the interdisciplinary MD/PhD programs offered through the Goethe University Frankfurt.

Learn more:

Doctoral Studies at the Department of Medicine in Frankfurt

Doctoral Studies at the Department of Medicine in Marburg