Working in Amsterdam’s life sciences and health sector

Updated 13 January 2026 at 14:27

With more than 4000 innovative life sciences and health companies, the Amsterdam Area is a dynamic centre for businesses and research in the field. There’s a high concentration of research institutes, medical centres, global businesses and startups. These are often located in specialised hubs, encouraging partnerships between research and knowledge-driven businesses.

Amsterdam: a thriving centre for life sciences and health

The Amsterdam Area’s LSH community drives global advancements in healthtech, medtech and AI-powered innovation in healthcare. Amsterdam is home to leading institutions such as Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and plays host to several annual life science and health conferences. Across several specialised hubs such as the Life Sciences District and the Health and Innovation District, a strong ecosystem of businesses, research institutes, medical centres and science labs has evolved, and cross-sector cooperation is at its heart.

Innovation hubs and districts: centres of business and research in LSH

The Amsterdam Life Sciences District in the southeast of the city is home to Amsterdam UMC – the unifying title of the city’s two major university hospitals – as well as the Amsterdam Health & Technology Institute (AHTI) and the Amsterdam Skills Centre for Health Sciences (ASC). An innovative ecosystem of businesses and scientific research, the district cultivates advancements in med-tech, e-health and gene therapy.

The Health and Innovation District (HID) is located in Amsterdam Nieuw-West and home to the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and Sanquin.

The Zuidas Innovation District houses numerous life science and healthcare organisations and is a centre for advanced oncological research.

Amsterdam Science Park is internationally recognised as a hub for research, education and entrepreneurship, with numerous businesses and research organisations working in in LSH.

Life sciences and health employers in Amsterdam

The Amsterdam Area is home to industry leaders taking advantage of its position at the heart of the European life sciences and health sector. Major players include:

LSH employers: innovative companies, startups and scale-ups

Startups and scale-ups in the healthtech sector are thriving too, as AI’s role in health is rapidly growing – particularly in diagnostics. Significant companies include Pacmed, Aidence, Lumicks, Castor, Confocal, Kepler Vision, WSK Medical, uniQure, Leyden Labs, DEBx Medical, Healthplus.ai and Neogene Therapeutics.

Career opportunities and jobs in life sciences and health

There is strong demand in Amsterdam’s LSH sector, making for a thriving job market. There are various career platforms with a focus on vacancies for non-Dutch speakers, such as the I amsterdam Job Search. Among the most in-demand skills and roles in the field are medical research expertise, regulatory and compliance specialists, business development roles focused on drug development and healthtech, R&D & clinical research, hybrid roles combining science and tech, medtech manufacturing experts, AI/machine learning specialists for drug discovery, data scientists, bioinformaticians, cancer research specialists and gene editing and cell therapy experts.

Research and education

Amsterdam is home to a dynamic research community that includes two internationally renowned universities, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Main centres and institutions include:

The Amsterdam University Medical Centre (AUMC) – formed in a merger of the VU University Medical Center and the UvA’s AMC merged to form Amsterdam University Medical Centre (AUMC). AUMC is now a leading institution that combines advanced patient care, research and education and is home to eight research institutes, including Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, the Cancer Center Amsterdam and the Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism institute
The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) – founded in 1913, the NKI is the Netherlands’ leading centre for cancer research and care in the country. It combines advanced research with dedicated patient care
Sanquin, the Dutch national blood bank, is a not-for-profit organisation in the Netherlands that provides blood services. It also serves as an important centre for scientific research in blood transfusion medicine, haematology and immunology as well as the development of pharmaceutical and diagnostic services
The Amsterdam Science Park is home to many academic labs specialising in life sciences, smart health, medtech and AI-supported healthcare solutions
The Amsterdam Health & Technology Institute (AHTI) is the driving force behind the Life Sciences District; it aims to enhance healthcare through tech innovation
The Amsterdam Skills Centre for Health Sciences (ASC), launched by Amsterdam UMC in 2019, enhances patient safety through advanced medical training and education. In partnership with industry and education sectors, it trains 4,000 surgeons annually
The ADORE Research & Diagnostic Centre is a state-of-the-art research centre aiming to achieve breakthroughs in cancer and neurological disease research.
The Imaging Center UMC offers an integrated, multidisciplinary approach using the latest hybrid imaging technologies to understand complex diseases. As a partner in pharma and biotech R&D and drug development, the Imaging Center offers opportunities for collaboration in both fundamental research and applied technology
The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is a multidisciplinary research institute that applies a systems biology approach to life sciences, supported by various expertise centres. Its main focus is on microbiology, neurosciences, green life sciences and cell and systems biology.

The LSH community

Amsterdam’s outstanding quality of life and large international community make it easy for newcomers to find their way around. The innovation districts and LSH hubs often host meetups, talks and social events. And those working at the cross-section of healthcare and tech should not miss the city’s tech event calendar.

Key facts & highlights

The Netherlands occupies 4th position in the 2024 World Index of Healthcare Innovation
The Amsterdam’s Area’s LSH has over 4,000 innovative R&D Life Sciences & Health companies located within a 200 km radius
Amsterdam consistently ranks highly among various LSH indices, such as the Nature Index Research Leaders (4th in Europe for health sciences research output, per 2024 data), Health Consumer Powerhouse's Euro Health Consumer Index (2nd since 2018) and Statista’s ranking of European health systems (5th in 2023)
The Netherlands has more than 300 life sciences and health public-private partnerships in biopharmaceuticals, oncology, cell therapy and digital health
The Netherlands is the top European importer and exporter of medical devices. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has a specialised pharma zone and the Port of Amsterdam has biomass transhipment facilities