SE · Master's
Lund University
MSc in Biology
Lund University
Deadline detail: 15 January through universityadmissions.se (the application round opens in mid-October); tuition-fee students should apply in this first round rather than any late round
Course Overview
Lund's Master's Programme in Biology is deliberately unlike most taught master's degrees: rather than a fixed syllabus, you build a personal study route from roughly thirty second-cycle biology courses and finish with a substantial degree project in a research group. The available depth runs across ecology — conservation biology, animal ecology, ecotoxicology and biological environmental monitoring — and physiology, including sensory biology and neurobiology, with molecular, evolutionary and computational options alongside. Students who want a named specialisation can shape one; students who want breadth can keep it.
The Department of Biology at Lund is one of the strongest in Northern Europe, and two of its research clusters are internationally distinctive. The Centre for Animal Movement Research works on bird migration, navigation and orientation — Lund has been a world centre for migration research for decades. The vision and sensory biology group studies how animals see and sense the world, including work on nocturnal vision in insects that is genuinely famous within the field. If either of those areas interests you, this is one of a handful of places on earth to pursue them.
For a Sri Lankan biologist the fit is strong in a specific way. Sri Lanka sits inside one of the world's most concentrated biodiversity hotspots, with extraordinarily high endemism in amphibians, freshwater fish, reptiles and flowering plants, and it has serious applied problems — human-elephant conflict, habitat fragmentation in the wet zone, coral reef and mangrove degradation, agrochemical impacts on aquatic systems, and a species inventory that is still incomplete. Those are ecology, conservation biology and ecotoxicology problems, which is exactly what Lund is set up to teach. Sweden also offers a 12-month post-study residence permit to look for work, and Lund is a compact university town twenty minutes from Malmö and forty from Copenhagen. Be aware that Lund's entry requirement is unusually specific about prior credits — read the academic requirements below carefully before you apply, because this is the most common reason otherwise good applications are rejected.
Entry Requirements
Academic
- check_circle A Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits including 90 credits in science subjects — specifically at least 60 credits in biology, 15 credits in chemistry and 5 credits in statistics.
- check_circle The biology credits must cover cell biology, genetics, microbiology, ecology, botany and zoology. Check your transcript against this list before applying; a degree that is heavy in one area and empty in another is the usual reason a strong candidate is screened out.
- check_circle Sri Lankan applicants with a BSc in Biological Sciences, Zoology, Botany, Molecular Biology, Environmental Science or Agriculture from Colombo, Peradeniya, Kelaniya, Ruhuna, Jaffna, Sri Jayewardenepura or Wayamba typically satisfy this, but the statistics and chemistry components are worth verifying line by line.
- check_circle A four-year Sri Lankan BSc (Special) degree is a comfortable fit; a three-year general degree can work if the credit distribution matches.
- check_circle Applications go through Sweden's central portal, universityadmissions.se, with a SEK 900 application fee for fee-paying applicants — this is separate from tuition and non-refundable.
- check_circle Certified copies of transcripts and degree certificates plus proof that the degree is complete; Sweden's central admissions is strict about documentation format, so follow their country-specific instructions for Sri Lanka exactly.
- check_circle A Swedish residence permit for studies requires proof of paid first-instalment tuition, comprehensive insurance and guaranteed funds for living costs at the annually set rate — apply as soon as you have your offer, since Migrationsverket processing times are long.
- check_circle No GRE is required, and no interview is normally held.
English Proficiency
- check_circle The requirement is Swedish 'English 6' — evidenced by IELTS Academic 6.5 Overall with no section below 5.5.
- check_circle TOEFL iBT: 90 Overall with at least 20 in written.
- check_circle Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency is accepted.
- check_circle Sweden's central admissions service also grants exemptions where your previous degree was taught and examined entirely in English — Sri Lankan applicants from English-medium degree programmes can often qualify, but universityadmissions.se applies its exemption rules narrowly and by country, so check its Sri Lanka page rather than assuming.
- check_circle The entire programme is taught in English and Swedish is not required.
- check_circle Free Swedish courses are available to enrolled students, and basic Swedish helps considerably with part-time work and with the 12-month job search after graduation.
Estimated Cost of Study
| Expense Category | Amount (SEK) | Approx. LKR |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition Fee (per year, non-EU) | SEK 185,000 | Rs. 7,400,000 |
| Living Expenses in Lund (per year) | SEK 120,000 | Rs. 4,800,000 |
| Residence Permit, Insurance & Application Fee | SEK 8,000 | Rs. 320,000 |
| Airfare, Books & Field Equipment | SEK 20,000 | Rs. 800,000 |
| Total Year 1 Investment | SEK 333,000 | Rs. 13,320,000 |
*LKR conversion based on current bank rates. Subject to change.
Career Outcomes & PR
Sweden allows graduates of a Swedish higher education programme to apply for a residence permit of up to 12 months to look for work or start a business, converting to a work permit on a qualifying offer, with a route to permanent residence after several years of qualified employment. Lund biology graduates move into doctoral research across Europe, into environmental consultancy and impact assessment, into government environmental and food-safety agencies, into the pharmaceutical, biotech and agri-science sectors around Lund and Copenhagen — the Medicon Valley cluster is on the doorstep — and into conservation NGOs and international organisations. The degree project frequently turns into a PhD position with the same group, which is the most common outcome for research-minded students. Sri Lankan returnees are strongly placed at the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Forest Department, the Central Environmental Authority, the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, IUCN Sri Lanka, the Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust and similar research NGOs, in university teaching and research at Peradeniya, Colombo, Ruhuna and Sri Jayewardenepura, and in environmental and sustainability roles in the plantation, apparel and tourism industries.
Related Programs
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MSc Environmental Sciences
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MSc Marine Sciences
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ඔබට සුදුසු විශ්වවිද්යාලයක් තේරීම, අයදුම්පත් යොමු කිරීම, SOP සකස් කිරීම සහ වීසා ලබා ගැනීම ඇතුළු සෑම පියවරකදීම, ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් සියලුම වගකීම් විශ්වාසවන්තව අප භාර ගනිමු.