EMBESH
EMBESH: European Master in the Behavioural Sciences for Health. The overarching goal of this initiative is to establish a high-quality, research-informed, and socially relevant European Joint Master’s Programme in Behavioural Health, leading to a joint degree.
Category: Incubator Grant
University:
University of Galway, Ghent University, Uppsala University
Period:
2025-2027
The overarching goal of this initiative is to establish a high-quality, research-informed, and socially relevant European Joint Master’s Programme in Behavioural Health, leading to a joint degree. The programme aims to educate the next generation of academics, clinicians, and policy makers with a strong foundation in the biopsychosocial dimensions of health and illness from a lifespan perspective. It will equip students with the skills to understand, evaluate, and influence health-related behaviours and systems at individual, organisational, and societal levels.
The three participating universities bring complementary strengths, academic traditions, and research expertise to the programme.
The joint programme is situated within the broad field of Health Sciences and is grounded in a biopsychosocial framework. The core scientific disciplines covered by the programme are Medical Science (biomedical and clinical sciences relevant to behaviour and lifestyle, broadly defined), Psychology (Clinical, Health, and Behavioral Psychology), and Social Sciences with a Health Focus (including public health, social medicine, and sociological perspectives on health and illness).
The programme adopts both a multidisciplinary and an explicitly interdisciplinary approach. Multidisciplinarity is reflected in the inclusion of complementary disciplinary perspectives that address biological, psychological, and social dimensions of health and disease. Interdisciplinarity constitutes the primary epistemological stance of the programme, whereby theories, methods, and empirical findings from the contributing disciplines are systematically integrated to address complex health-related phenomena. Through this approach, the programme equips students to understand, assess, and intervene in health and illness in ways that cannot be adequately addressed within a single disciplinary framework.
Personal highlight:
A central added value of the programme is its integrated biopsychosocial perspective on health and wellbeing. Psychological and social approaches are combined with relevant biological and medical foundations, and embedded within analyses of health policy, social care systems and behavioural determinants of health.
Participants and Stakeholders
- Coordinator: Uppsala University
- Other Partner Institutions: University of Galway, University of Ghent
Team Composition:
- Coordinator: Professor Erik Olsson,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Uppsala University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health
- Partner: Professor Molly Byrne,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , University of Galway, College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies, School of Psychology
- Partner: Professor Colette Kelly,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , University of Galway, College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies, School of Health Sciences, Health Promotion
- Partner: Professor Els Clays,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Department of Public Health and Primary Care
- Partner: Professor Stefaan Van Damme,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology
- Partner: Dr. Matias Miguel Pulópulos Tripiana,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology
Objectives
An international European programme in behavioural health can serve as a powerful platform to:
- Cultivate cross-cultural competence among future researchers and practitioners.
- Promote evidence-based solutions tailored to diverse national and cultural contexts.
- Inform policy development by translating academic insights into actionable strategies.
- Strengthen interdisciplinary and international collaboration to tackle shared public health challenges.
- Attract highly motivated students and faculty who are committed to making a difference in health outcomes across Europe and beyond.
The consortium has begun mapping existing courses at each university that could be integrated into the joint curriculum, with the aim of building on already accredited and state-funded educational components.
The next steps include the establishment of a joint programme committee, which will oversee curriculum development, administrative coordination, and quality assurance. Each institution will appoint a local coordinator to ensure alignment with internal governance structures and national regulations. The programme will be embedded within existing faculty structures, ensuring institutional ownership and long-term integration.
Formalisation of the joint study programme will involve aligning the curriculum with national qualification frameworks and initiating the necessary procedures for a joint degree accreditation. The consortium will adhere to the recently updated European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes, which will facilitate a single accreditation process across all participating countries.
Contact
- Coordinator: Professor Erik Olsson,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Uppsala University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health
- Partner: Professor Molly Byrne,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , University of Galway, College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies, School of Psychology
- Partner: Professor Colette Kelly,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , University of Galway, College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies, School of Health Sciences, Health Promotion
- Partner: Professor Els Clays,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Department of Public Health and Primary Care
- Partner: Professor Stefaan Van Damme,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology
- Partner: Dr. Matias Miguel Pulópulos Tripiana,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology
