Chemical biology is the application of chemical tools and ideas to biological and medical problems. This programme is designed to build on an existing knowledge of chemical structure and reactivity to give you a thorough grounding in contemporary chemical biology and drug discovery as well as introducing you to topics from the research frontier.
You’ll be taught by experts from across the Astbury Centre in chemical biology, biophysics and medicinal chemistry using a "problem-based" approach. Visiting lecturers from the pharmaceutical industry will share their expertise in industrially-relevant applications of chemical biology and drug design with you.
Bridging the gap between your undergraduate degree in a core subject, and interdisciplinary research in chemical biology, you’ll develop the skills to solve real-life research problems, benefitting from a multi-million pound investment in fantastic research facilities. Rather than focusing on a single discipline, you’ll learn to use either chemical or biological approaches to tackle the problem in hand.
Royal Society of Chemistry Accreditation
The University of Leeds launched the first taught MSc degree in Chemical Biology in the UK. The course was one of the first two MSc courses in the UK to receive accreditation from the Royal Society of Chemistry; graduates from the programme with an appropriate first degree in chemistry satisfy the academic requirements for the award of Chartered Chemist (CChem) status.
In the first half of the year you’ll cover a core range of modules designed to build on an existing knowledge of chemical structure and reactivity to give you a thorough understanding of chemical biology and the techniques required for drug design. In the second half of the year you’ll spend the majority of your time working on an interdisciplinary research project which will allow you to work with and gain advice from two supervisors with complementary expertise.
This project will contribute 50% of the mark for your degree. The School will help you to select the project that is right for you, in an area that interests and motivates you. The project will provide you with key research experience to take your career forward. With the core modules behind you, you’ll be ideally positioned to choose an exciting problem to investigate.
The breadth of expertise available at Leeds means that you will be able to combine a wide range of techniques from computational ligand design to synthesis, protein engineering and laser spectroscopy. These techniques might span one of more of the following general areas;
You’ll receive training in the generic skills that are required for the module, including scientific writing and giving oral presentations. You’ll select your project at the start of the second semester,undertaking a programme of directed reading before writing an initial report. You’ll then spend over four months in your supervisors' research laboratories working alongside PhD students and experienced postdoctoral researchers. During the research project, you’ll have access to the outstanding research facilities in chemical biology that are available in Leeds.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
You will be taught by experts across the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, meaning you’ll learn from both chemists and biologists to gain the skills and knowledge to work in a multidisciplinary environment. You’ll be taught through a series of lectures, small group workshops and practical lab sessions. You will also get involved in student led activities such as literature presentations.
The wide range of continual assessment formats will allow you to improve your generic skills, and to hone your ability to solve problems. As part of the continual assessment of modules, you will give a wide range of oral presentations; prepare short articles, essays and research reports; perform computational exercises; and undertake group-based problem solving activities. Your research project will be assessed through your practical work and a written research report.
On graduation, you’ll be ideally placed to undertake interdisciplinary research in academia and the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry. You’ll also be in a strong position to pursue a science-related career, such as patent work, scientific publishing or scientific administration.
In addition, this course will leave you well-placed to forge a career at companies working at the interface between chemistry and biology. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are increasingly seeking researchers with a strong interdisciplinary background.
Further study
Many of our graduates have secured positions on Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry PhD programmes in the UK and internationally. The Astbury Centre hosts a wide range of PhD programmes incorporating Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, offering many opportunities for students graduating from the MSc course. The MSc provides tailored training at the interface between chemistry and the biological sciences, and will enhance your prospects of securing a place on one of these highly competitive postgraduate programmes.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
The MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences programme was developed in response to the need for enhanced skills by employees within pharmaceutical research, development or manufacturing.
The programme will generate graduates with in-depth theoretical knowledge and extensive laboratory skills, allowing students to be involved in many disciplines of pharmaceutical sciences from drug discovery and medicinal chemistry through to product development and manufacture and including pharmaceutical analysis, quality control and quality assurance.
Delivery on this programme involves a series of lectures, seminars, workshops and lab-based exercises. Many of the lectures on this programme are delivered by leading industrial experts. Problem-based learning and case studies will provide students with experience of team-working that simulates an industrial setting. Students will develop team-working, critical thinking and analytical problem solving abilities which are important in the modern pharmaceutical industry.
The main part of the programme is a research project that runs over the whole academic year and gives students the opportunity to work with modern research equipment to carry out novel research. Project work will help students enhance practical skills, analytical thinking, time management, communication skills and independence.
The aims of the programme are to:
Visit the website http://www.gre.ac.uk/pg/engsci/mps
Full time
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses:
Colloids and Structured Materials in Formulations (30 credits)
Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry (30 credits)
English Language Support (for Postgraduate students in the Faculty)
Analytical Methods and QA/QC Principles (30 credits)
MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Project (60 credits)
Modern Pharmaceutical Technologies and Process Engineering (30 credits)
Part time
- Year 1:
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses:
English Language Support (for Postgraduate students in the Faculty)
Analytical Methods and QA/QC Principles (30 credits)
Modern Pharmaceutical Technologies and Process Engineering (30 credits)
- Year 2:
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Colloids and Structured Materials in Formulations (30 credits)
Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry (30 credits)
MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Project (60 credits)
Your time at university should be enjoyable and rewarding, and it is important that it is not spoilt by unnecessary financial worries. We recommend that you spend time planning your finances, both before coming to university and while you are here. We can offer advice on living costs and budgeting, as well as on awards, allowances and loans.
Find out more about our fees and the support available to you at our:
- Postgraduate finance pages (http://www.gre.ac.uk/finance/pg)
- International students' finance pages (http://www.gre.ac.uk/finance/international)
Students are assessed through examinations, coursework and a dissertation.
Graduates from this programme can pursue careers in the NHS, the pharmaceutical industry or industries manufacturing other health care products.
Find out how to apply here - https://www.gre.ac.uk/study/apply
This course aims to provide a balance between theoretical, practical and biomedical skills, and develop your levels of critical enquiry. You will be encouraged to pursue creative approaches to contemporary research in biomedical science and communication through creative thinking, research methods, computer systems, case studies and practicals. You will evaluate how these various approaches can assist you in formulating your own experiments and research project, increasing your skill set and future employability.
This course has both full-time and part-time routes, comprising of three, 14-week semesters or five 14-week semesters, which you can take within one or three years respectively.
Teaching sessions include lectures, laboratory practicals, tutorials, guest lectures and guided reading. Lectures provide a thorough theoretical basis for the course subjects and are delivered by internationally recognised, research active staff. A variety of other teaching approaches including tutorials, case studies, and workshops reinforce theoretical knowledge and facilitate the development of individual and group based research and transferable skills.
Practical sessions demonstrate techniques and methods used in biomedicine, and provide an opportunity for you to learn complex experimental approaches and operate laboratory equipment. Guided reading will recommend key articles and other materials to help you learn. Guest expert seminars from clinicians and academics will provide insight into modern biomedical research.
The research project will enable you to start your own research and be part of active, internationally recognised research teams, where you will practice the application of relevant biomedical techniques and skills valuable for your future employment in biomedical sector.
Assessment is by a combination of written examinations, oral presentations, coursework, laboratory reports and submission of the dissertation.
We have newly refurbished and well-equipped teaching and research laboratories for practical work in molecular biology and biochemistry. State-of-the-art instrumentation includes cell culture facilities, FACS, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, FTIR and FTNMR spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.
At the University of Salford we aim to produce graduates who meet the needs of their future employers: highly skilled practitioners and excellent communicators who are seeking to push the boundaries in the rapidly growing biomedicine sector.
Many of our biomedical science graduates are employed in roles such as research assistants and research laboratory technicians, across various sectors including clinical and research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology organisations. Some have gone on to pursue the field of education, working as lecturers and teachers in universities and schools.
A number of our graduates choose to continue their education by pursing PhD studies, with areas of research including microbiology, parasitology, medicinal chemistry, cancer and cell biology- to name a few! Furthermore, graduates of this course have been accepted into medical schools as students on completion of this degree.
Guest speakers provide a valuable contribution to the course, and bring a real world perspective to the academic delivery of the modules. The School of Environment and Life Sciences has a regular Postgraduate Research Seminar Series in which experts from outside the University share their knowledge and latest research findings. This Series not only augments scientific knowledge and progresses students’ understanding of effective science communication, it also allows for networking and the formation of valuable academic and industrial contacts.
There are over 50 fully research-active academic staff and a number of early career researchers engaged in a range of innovative research fields and in advancing the boundaries of theoretical investigation. Research in the School focuses on understanding disease processes and applying this information to understand pathology and develop new diagnostics and treatments. Research areas include microbiology, parasitology, medicinal chemistry, rational drug design, cancer, molecular endocrinology, pharmacology, physiology, immunology, proteomics, molecular diagnostics and cell biology. The School offers several fully funded Graduate Teaching Studentships for studying in these areas.
For more information about our Biomedical Research Centre visit http://www.salford.ac.uk/research/brc
The Thouron Award - Typically, 6 to 10 awards are made each year to British graduates. Each award provides funding in excess of US$90,000 per year
