Explore your career options
Your KI education can lead to many different roles, sectors and career paths. Some programmes lead to clearly defined professions, while others open up a wider range of possibilities. Explore career options related to your programme, get inspired by the paths others have taken and reflect on which directions might suit you.
Explore career options related to your programme
Career opportunities differ between programmes. Open your programme below to explore examples of career areas, roles and sectors, and see where KI alumni have continued their careers.
The examples are intended to help you discover possible directions and are not a complete list of what you can do with your degree.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates work at the intersection of life science, business and innovation. Career opportunities can be found in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, consultancies, investment and support organisations, as well as start ups and other organisations working to commercialise research and new technologies.
Examples of roles
Business developer, product manager, project manager, market access specialist, marketing specialist, quality assurance specialist and regulatory affairs specialist.
Career stories
Magnus Willem Meyer: combining science and business
Magnus co founded a medical start up before studying at KI and continued into a graduate role at Lundbeck after the programme.
Read Magnus's story
Adam Marták: working with health technology assessment and regulation
Adam combines a life science background with business expertise and has helped build Slovakia's first health technology assessment agency.
Read Adam's story
Andrea Aviles: a career in business development
Andrea graduated from the programme in 2021 and now works as Associate Director of Business Development. Her interview focuses specifically on how the programme influenced her career path.
Read Andrea's story
Ajdin Jakupovic: building an advanced therapy consultancy
Ajdin graduated in 2020 and went on to co found an advanced therapy consultancy, combining science, strategy and commercialisation.
Read Ajdin's story
Career areas and sectors
A bachelor's degree in biomedicine provides a foundation for careers in research and the life science sector, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Graduates can also work in areas such as clinical research, quality assurance, medical affairs, business development and science communication.
For many students, the bachelor's degree is also a step towards further studies. A master's degree can open up more specialised roles, while doctoral studies are a common route for those who want to pursue a research career.
Examples of roles
Research assistant, clinical research associate, quality assurance associate, laboratory engineer, business development associate and roles in research and science communication.
Career stories
Peter Solsjö: from biomedicine to life science investor relations
Peter started his career in biotech and pharma, working with laboratory operations, quality and process development. He later moved into research and healthcare policy and now works with investor relations for life science companies.
Read Peter's story
Carlos Valverde: combining biomedicine, further studies and entrepreneurship
After graduating from KI, Carlos continued with a master's in immunology at the University of Oxford and started a project developing AI based personalised vaccine technology. His path combines research, further studies and entrepreneurship.
Read Carlos's story
Career areas and sectors
Many graduates continue into research and doctoral studies, but a degree in biomedicine can also lead to careers in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical research, healthcare, public agencies and other organisations working with biomedical research and development.
Examples of roles
PhD student, research assistant, regulatory affairs manager, clinical trial coordinator, data analyst and project coordinator.
Career stories
Rafael Galupa: continuing into an international research career
After graduating from the programme, Rafael continued with doctoral studies and later became a postdoctoral researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg.
Tanya Malik Syed: building a career in the life science industry
After graduating from the programme, Tanya pursued a career in the life science industry. At biotech company Wilson Therapeutics, she gained broad experience across areas such as clinical operations, marketing, finance, legal affairs and patient outreach.
Giorgia Dalla Libera Marchiori: finding a path into global health
Giorgia discovered an interest in global health alongside her biomedicine studies. Her experiences took her from laboratory research into work with NGOs, infectious diseases and planetary health.
Susanna Appel: moving from biomedicine into science communication and industry
Susanna continued in research after her studies before moving into project management and science communication. Her career has since expanded into communications, marketing and product management in the life science sector.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can pursue careers in areas where statistical methods and data science are used to analyse complex data and support data-driven decision-making. Opportunities can be found in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, healthcare and medical research, public health and government agencies, universities and research institutes, as well as in insurance and other data-intensive sectors. Although the programme has a strong focus on life science, many of the skills are applicable across other fields.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include biostatistician, data scientist, statistical or data analyst, and research roles involving statistical and computational methods. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue a research career.
Career stories
Career stories from graduates of the programme are coming soon.
Career areas and sectors
Global health graduates work across government, international organisations, NGOs, research organisations, public health authorities, ministries, international development, health equity organisations and the private sector. Career paths can involve policy, programme implementation, analysis, research and project management.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include policy officer, project manager, public health analyst, researcher, programme officer, consultant and other roles in global health programmes and organisations. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue an academic research career.
Career stories
Yeunji Ma: working to strengthen health systems at WHO
After graduating from the programme, Yeunji built an international career in global health and now works as a consultant at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, supporting initiatives to strengthen health systems.
David Humphreys: combining humanitarian, clinical and consultancy work
After graduating from KI, David combined clinical work with global health consultancy and humanitarian work. His career has included research, programme evaluation and consultancy linked to international health and development.
María del Rosario Alsina: pursuing an academic career in global health
After graduating from the programme, Rosario worked as a research assistant at KI before continuing to doctoral studies at the Department of Global Public Health. Her career illustrates the research and academic path available to global health graduates.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work across healthcare, government, international organisations, consulting, academia and the life science industry. Career paths may involve health economics, health policy, healthcare management, analysis, strategy, programme development and evaluation.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include health economist, policy analyst, healthcare consultant, project manager, programme officer, analyst and roles within health technology assessment, healthcare management and public health.
Career stories
My Fridell: pursuing a career in healthcare management consulting
After graduating from the programme, My joined Sirona Health Solutions as a management consultant, working with projects related to healthcare development and management.
Rahul Kanjilimadom: working with public health training at ECDC
After graduating from HEPM, Rahul joined the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, where he worked as an instructional designer developing training and e-learning within public health.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work at the intersection of healthcare, technology and digitalisation in both the public and private sectors. Opportunities can be found in hospitals and healthcare organisations, regional and national authorities, health tech and life science companies, consulting firms and research organisations.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include health informatics specialist, clinical informatician, project manager, systems specialist, requirements analyst, application expert, clinical data analyst and interaction designer. With experience, graduates may also move into roles such as IT manager, Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) or Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO), or continue to doctoral studies and research.
Career stories
Winner Ng: working as a health informatics specialist in the health tech industry
Winner was recruited before graduating from the programme and now works as a Health Informatics Specialist at Encare in Stockholm. His role bridges clinical knowledge and technology, translating clinical guidelines into formats that can be used in the development of digital healthcare solutions.
Ismat Mohd Sulaiman: using health data and AI to support healthcare in Malaysia
After graduating, Ismat returned to the Health Informatics Centre in Malaysia, where she became lead for the Health Informatics Standards Unit and led an AI project within the Malaysian Health Data Warehouse. Her work combines health information standards, clinical data and AI to support healthcare decision-making.
Godfrey Nyombi: applying health informatics to public health and health systems
After graduating, Godfrey pursued opportunities in public health informatics and later joined USAID Tanzania as a Health Governance Specialist. His work has involved health systems strengthening, project implementation and collaboration with government and other organisations to improve health service delivery.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can pursue careers in academic research and the life science industry, particularly in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The programme’s combination of molecular biology, biotechnology, medicine and data analysis also provides opportunities in areas such as computational biology, bioinformatics and other data-driven fields within life science.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include research engineer, scientist, bioinformatician, computational biologist and regulatory affairs specialist. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue an academic research career.
Career stories
Thanadol Sutantiwanichkul: applying molecular and computational skills as a research engineer
After graduating from the programme, Thanadol became a research engineer at SciLifeLab, where he applied skills in life science, technology and data analysis. His work illustrates how molecular techniques and computational approaches can be combined in a research environment.
Carolina Savatier-Dupré Bañares: taking scientific and data skills into business
After graduating, Carolina moved beyond traditional scientific research into project management and big data analysis in business. She highlights how skills such as programming, data analysis and scientific problem-solving can be transferable to careers outside academia and the laboratory.
Dorinês Rosário: continuing to doctoral studies in computational life science
After graduating from the programme, Dorinês worked briefly as a research engineer before starting a PhD at King’s College London. Her doctoral research used systems biology and bioinformatics to study host-microbiome interactions in neurodegenerative diseases.
Career areas and sectors
The programme provides advanced scientific expertise in nutrition rather than training for one specific profession. Graduates can apply their knowledge of nutrition, health and scientific methods across both the public and private sectors, including governmental agencies, NGOs, the food and pharmaceutical industries, consulting, public health, sustainability and research.
Examples of roles
Depending on your previous education, experience and interests, possible roles include nutrition or food consultant, nutritional adviser or expert, public health coordinator, product specialist, product developer, quality manager, project leader, regulatory affairs specialist and scientific analyst. Graduates may also work as research assistants or research coordinators, or continue to doctoral studies and an academic research career.
Career stories
Callum Regan: working in health and physical activity research
After graduating from the programme, Callum started working as a project assistant at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), contributing to research within health and physical activity.
My Sjunnestrand: moving from nutrition research into public health
After graduating, My continued working as a research assistant before moving to the Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine in Region Stockholm, where she worked with public health projects involving implementation and evaluation.
Resthie Rachmanta Putri: continuing from a master’s project to a PhD
Resthie continued the research she began during her degree project as a PhD student at KI. Her doctoral research focused on childhood obesity and liver health, illustrating how the programme can lead directly into an academic research career.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work with disaster preparedness, emergency response, disaster risk reduction and public health in humanitarian and crisis settings. Opportunities can be found in government agencies and ministries, local and regional authorities, international organisations such as the EU, WHO and UN agencies, NGOs and research organisations. Career paths can involve both operational work in disaster settings and more analytical, evaluation, strategic and policy-related roles.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include disaster preparedness specialist, emergency response officer, humanitarian programme officer, public health specialist, project or programme manager, risk reduction adviser, analyst and evaluation specialist. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue research in areas such as disaster medicine, humanitarian health and health systems resilience.
Career stories
Daniel Cuetos Suárez: working with disaster preparedness and response at EU level
After graduating from the programme, Daniel moved from clinical work in an emergency department to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). His work involves medical disaster preparedness and response through the EU’s rescEU programme.
Sahar Al-Hakimi: improving nutrition in crises and disasters through the UN
After graduating, Sahar returned to Yemen and her work with the UN World Food Programme. The programme strengthened her ability to combine operational experience with academic and analytical perspectives when working with nutrition and public health in humanitarian crises.
Prinka Singh: pursuing research in disaster preparedness and health systems resilience
After graduating, Prinka continued working with emergency preparedness and health system strengthening before starting a PhD at CRIMEDIM in Italy. Her research focuses on hospital preparedness and health systems resilience in disasters.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work with public health analysis, prevention, health promotion, programme development and evaluation in Sweden and internationally. Opportunities can be found in government agencies and health authorities, international organisations and NGOs, EU institutions, research organisations, pharmaceutical and life science companies, and consulting. The Public Health Epidemiology track has a stronger focus on analysing population health and evaluating interventions, while the Health Promotion and Prevention track focuses more on developing, implementing and evaluating health-promoting and preventive initiatives.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include epidemiologist, public health analyst or specialist, research officer, programme or project officer, public health consultant, research assistant, scientific researcher and roles involving health promotion, prevention, monitoring and evaluation. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue an academic research career.
Career stories
Bakary D Dampha: applying epidemiology to nutrition programmes at UNICEF
After graduating from the Public Health Epidemiology track, Bakary joined UNICEF in the Gambia. His work involves developing and implementing nutrition programmes and using research, data analysis, coordination and partnerships to improve maternal and child health.
Karen Scavacini: turning health promotion expertise into suicide prevention initiatives
After studying public health at KI with a focus on mental health promotion and suicide prevention, Karen returned to Brazil and founded the Vita Alere Institute. Her work has included suicide prevention and postvention, education, public awareness initiatives and collaboration with schools, communities and international organisations.
Shajedur Rahman Shawon: continuing to a research career in epidemiology
After graduating from the Public Health Epidemiology track, Shajedur continued to doctoral studies at the University of Oxford. His research has used large-scale population data to investigate risk factors for chronic diseases, illustrating the programme’s pathway into epidemiological research and academia.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work with toxicology, chemical safety, health risk assessment and research across academia, industry, government agencies and consultancy. Opportunities can be found in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical companies, regulatory authorities, public health and food safety agencies, research institutes and consultancies working with chemical and environmental safety.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include toxicologist, health risk assessor, chemical compliance specialist, safety expert, environmental consultant, R&D engineer, quality assurance officer and clinical trial associate. Graduates may also work in research or continue to doctoral studies and pursue an academic research career.
Career stories
Norna Gabring: working with regulatory toxicology and chemical safety
After graduating from the programme, Norna started working as a health risk assessor at the Swedish Chemicals Agency. Her role involves assessing chemicals and their potential risks to human health, illustrating a career path in regulatory toxicology and the public sector.
Faria Azad: promoting chemical safety in industry
After graduating, Faria joined Perstorp as a Product Stewardship Specialist in Toxicology. Her work combines toxicological expertise with chemical safety and product stewardship in the chemical industry.
Ziting Wang: continuing to doctoral research in nanotoxicology
After completing her master’s degree, Ziting continued to doctoral studies at ETH Zürich and Empa in Switzerland. Her research investigates how nanomaterials affect barrier organs such as the lungs and skin, illustrating the programme’s pathway into specialised toxicology research.
Career areas and sectors
Graduates can work at the intersection of physiology, pharmacology and translational medicine, with opportunities in academic research, healthcare and the life science industry. Career paths may involve drug discovery and development, experimental and translational research, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and development.
Examples of roles
Possible roles include research engineer, research assistant, scientist and research and development roles within pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Graduates may also continue to doctoral studies and pursue an academic research career.
Career stories
Ellinor Molnár: combining science, product development and business in biotech
After graduating from the programme, Ellinor joined the biotech startup Ebba Biotech as a research engineer. Her role combines scientific expertise with product development, marketing, sales and customer support, illustrating the broad responsibilities that can come with working in a smaller life science company.
Federico Picciao: working at the intersection of research and the pharmaceutical industry
After graduating, Federico became a research assistant at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen. His work in molecular pharmacology involves collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, while he is also involved in initiatives supporting researchers interested in turning scientific ideas into startups.
Silvia Bergt: continuing to doctoral studies in pharmacology
After graduating from the programme, Silvia started a PhD in Molecular and Translational Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on receptor pharmacology and signalling, with potential applications in future drug discovery.
Explore your interests and strengths
Exploring career options is not only about knowing what opportunities are available. It is also about understanding what you enjoy, what you are good at and what matters to you.
You do not need to have a clear career plan from the start. Your ideas about your future can develop as you gain experience, learn more about different roles and working environments, and better understand your own interests and strengths.
Questions you can start by reflecting on include:
- Which parts of your studies make you most curious or motivated?
- What kinds of tasks do you enjoy – for example analysing, researching, organising, communicating, creating or working with people?
- Which skills do you most enjoy using and developing?
- What is important to you in a future workplace or working life?
- Are there roles, organisations or areas you would like to learn more about?
You can return to these questions as you gain new experiences throughout your studies.
Learn from people and explore different paths
Career paths are not always linear. Talking to people with professional experience and seeing how others have moved from studies into working life can help you understand different possibilities and develop your own ideas.
Talk to a mentor
KI's Mentorship Programme gives students the opportunity to connect with an experienced KI alumnus who can share perspectives from working life or research.
A mentor can be someone to discuss career options, working life, professional development and any questions or uncertainties you may have with. The programme can also help you start building a professional network beyond your immediate study environment.
Learn more about the Mentorship Programme
Explore more career stories
The career stories in the programme sections above are only a selection. Explore more alumni career paths through KI Alumni, or read about career choices, experiences and the transition from studies to working life on the KI Student Blogs.
Read career stories and experiences on the Student Blogs
Explore research, innovation and entrepreneurship
Your next step after KI can take different forms. Research and doctoral studies, innovation and entrepreneurship are among the paths you may want to explore.
Research and doctoral studies
If you are interested in research, you can explore what a research career can look like and what is required to continue to doctoral studies. A PhD can lead to careers both within academia and in other sectors.
Explore research and doctoral studies
Innovation and entrepreneurship
If you are interested in developing ideas, solving problems or turning research and knowledge into new products, services or organisations, you can explore opportunities within innovation and entrepreneurship at KI and beyond.
Explore your options in practice
Experiences during your studies can help you discover what kinds of tasks, organisations and working environments suit you. Explore internships, degree projects, research opportunities, student engagement and other ways to gain experience.