A Master’s degree programme aims to enable students to acquire advanced scientific qualifications with an emphasis on systematic critical thinking. This programme offers students a high-level, career-orientated qualification in a specialised area within the field of biosciences. 

The primary focus of the Master thesis is the student’s independent research project. With this, students will develop the ability to apply current scientific methods and insights specific to their chosen subfield. This includes enhancing their ability to formulate specific research questions based on general concepts, and to analyse and experimentally test them, both theoretically and practically. 

Master students may also conduct experimental work in one of the DBM’s research laboratories. Since the local graduate programme is run by the Biozentrum, the DBM supervisor for a Master thesis must be recognised as a faculty representative by the Faculty of Science, and the students must to be enrolled in the Master's degree programme in Molecular Biology at the Biozentrum Basel (Biozentrum Master of Science in Molecular Biology).

Students from other institutions who want to do a Master thesis at the DBM have to follow the regulations of their respective universities/faculties.