History of the master
EMMaH is a two-year joint Master degree covering a rich multidisciplinary curriculum, from biomedical technologies and clinical research to healthcare business. The healthcare diagnostics sector is challenged by novel disruptive technologies and healthcare practices toward a patient-centred vision. This fast-moving sector, boosted by innovation and demographic evolutions, must confront changes in the healthcare and business landscapes.
The European Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business EMMaH is a joint programme awarded by four HEIs: Université de Lille in France (ULille), Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg in Germany (HAW), Instituto Politécnico Do Porto in Portugal (IPP) and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan (TMU).
The Faculty of Life Sciences at HAW Hamburg, the UFR3S- Engineering and Management in Healthcare Business (ILIS), at the ULille University, have a long history of academic cooperation and already run a joint degree programme at master level in biomedical engineering.
In 2013, the idea of developing a new joint master programme emerged by including a third partner in order to broaden the content of the curriculum and to aim at an even more international studentship.
The idea of adding a new partner emerged and in January 2015, they welcomed IPP in Porto. The partners were guided by the idea that Europe's strength lies in its diversity.
The new partnership was founded to encourage students to study within an international group in different European settings for a better mutual understanding of cultural diversity. The three institutions also brought three different fields of expertise to the partnership: HAW puts emphasis on technical aspects, IPP on clinical aspects and ULille on economic aspects of medical technology and healthcare business.
Thanks to these specificities, the programme overcomes traditional disciplinary boundaries. The design of the new joint programme European Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business started in 2015. A trilateral cooperation agreement was signed in 2016 to manage the joint curriculum and its implementation. The first intake of students took place in September 2017.
In 2021, the steering committee decided to include a new partner to the EMMaH programme: Taipei Medical University in Taiwan (TMU) ; based on the already existing cooperation between TMU and ULille. A new cooperation agreement was signed in July 2023.
The EMMaH programme is taught in English and starts in October each year with a group of students that stays together during the whole cycle. From the beginning, all partners valued EMMaH for being in line with the international framework of joint programme and the definition from the Lisbon Convention.