During the first two years, you will develop an understanding of the foundations of pharmaceutical science and of the relationships between the different disciplines and their distinct roles in drug discovery and development. In your third year, you will have the opportunity to choose elective units that excite and inspire and represent the state-of-the-art in pharmaceutical science education.

You will then develop specialist knowledge and techniques and an understanding of the application of pharmaceutical methods and professional practices required in the workplace.

In the final year, you will gain practical skills through a major research project or industry placement and be ready for a career in pharmaceutical research, the biomedical industry and many other fields both nationally and internationally that require advanced chemical formulation skills.

Drug discovery biology
You'll have the opportunity to align your interests with particular aspects of the drug discovery pipeline. You might be attracted to drug discovery biology, which is about gaining an understanding of what causes different types of diseases and how current medicines work at a molecular level to treat them. You'll receive hands-on experience designing experiments to identify and assess new biological targets for the development of novel drugs.

Medicinal chemistry
You'll integrate your knowledge of how drugs work into the design of new medicines in medicinal chemistry, which represents the intersection of biology and chemistry. You'll learn contemporary approaches to the design of new bioactive molecules and their development into potential medicines from conception through to their clinical use. By applying the principles and techniques of organic chemistry, medicinal chemists discover and develop compounds that prevent, treat, or cure disease.

Pharmaceutical formulations
Formulation science enables you to understand the principles of designing pharmaceutical products and how medicines are absorbed and travel around the body to the site of action. Drawing on techniques used in the pharmaceutical industry, we'll teach you how to formulate chemical products in a wide range of applications, such as consumer products, cosmetics, paints and food.