Specialized Master in
Public Health Methodology
The Specialized Master in Public Health Methodology (MPHM) aims at the
development and reinforcement of the methodological skills of public health
actors, with a focus on, but not limited to issues of middle- and low-income
countries. The full-time program is such that its graduates can actively
participate in operational projects and scientific research.
Curriculum
The program includes compulsory courses (50 ECTS) and 3 optional courses (5 ECTS
each) as seen below. The student must select two optional courses (10 ECTS) out of
the three proposed to acquire the required 60 ECTS necessary to validate the program.
COMPULSORY COURSES (50 ECTS):
• Biostatistics in public health (2 parts of 5 ECTS each)
• Methods in epidemiology (3 ECTS)
• Clinical decision-making (2 ECTS)
• Contextual factors in public health (1 ECTS)
• Health system and public health research (4 ECTS)
• Health economics & risk management (5 ECTS)
• Management of health services (3 ECTS)
• Protocol development and health examination surveys (2 ECTS)
• Qualitative methods (3 ECTS)
• Research in health: dissemination & systematic reviews (2 ECTS)
• Thesis (15 ECTS)
OPTIONAL COURSES (15 ECTS):
• Advanced methods in biostatistics and epidemiology (5 ECTS)
• International health and rights: organizations and actors (5 ECTS)
• Infectious & environmental diseases: epidemiology & prevention (5 ECTS)
Distinctive features of the program
The program is run jointly by three Belgian universities: Université libre de
Bruxelles (ULB), Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), and Université
de Mons (UMONS).
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All courses are taught in English, and a variety of methods are used; lectures, practical
exercises, field visits (hospital, medical house), self-directed studies, and in-group
works with peers. Students are invited to attend local conferences and seminars (e.g.
Be-cause Health, the Belgian platform for international health, etc.) as well as lectures
on specialized topics, given by invited experts, especially from low- and middle-income
countries.
Assets of the program
This Specialized Master’s addresses public health methodologies required for the
critical analysis and investigation of major health problems while adopting a global
health approach. It intends to give the learner a strong foundation for the systemic
understanding of health and the contextual and environmental factors that may
determine answers to major health issues.
This training program offers a combination of theoretically enhanced specialization in
quantitative methods such as epidemiology and biostatistics with applied learning of
the required tools, culminating in a showcase of these skills at an end-of-year academic
thesis. However, since such methods cannot be used in isolation from a public health
perspective, the program also engages with other complementary methods such as:
analysis of contextual factors; analysis of health systems; epidemiology in conflict and
emergency situations; research in NGOs; health economics; qualitative research;
international rights and institutions. Learners will, therefore, develop transversal skills
in research methodology, scientific writing, and the use of public health actions.
Teaching takes place using diverse methods, often including topical examples with
immediate and concrete applications through in-group and personal work steadily over
the academic year.
Career prospects
The program targets various health professionals working at different levels of the
health system: Medical doctors, Nurses, and other paramedics with complementary
training in research; Social sciences professionals involved in public health;
Biostatisticians; Public health researchers; Decision makers and executives...
The goal is to acquire the high-quality scientific skills needed for the development of
analytical and specialized public health approaches. The overall objective is to
stimulate skills to “ensure proper methodological approaches are used in public health
decision-making processes, consistent with the needs of populations, communities,
and individuals.”
With these skills, future graduates will be able to develop, lead, implement and
evaluate public health programs and projects in international institutions, Ministries of
Health, Hospitals, as managers of health districts or centers, as researchers in
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universities, research institutes, and in the frame of international research projects, for
instance.
Conditions of admission
Master’s degree (5 years of university education, equivalent to 300 credits).
Scholarships
Scholarships offered by the Académie de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur
(ARES) of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation of Belgium are available! If your country is
eligible (see https://www.ares-ac.be/en/international-training-scholarships-2026-2027),
do not hesitate to apply.
Scholarship applications are open until 19th of September 2025.
More information on: https://www.ares-ac.be/fr/specialized-master-in-public-health-
methodology
Complementary information
Registration requests, without an ARES scholarship or from other countries, are of
course welcome, via the ULB registration system
(https://www.ulb.be/en/enrolment). Those for non-European students will open the 16th
of February and end the 31st of March 2026. Those for European students will open in
April and close at the end of September 2026.
Telephone: +32 2 555 40 13
E-mail: mphm.esp@ulb.be
Full programme: http://www.ulb.be/en/programme/MS-STME
