This MRes Neuropharmacology course explores the concepts and current research in cognitive neuroscience, including perception, brain structure and organisation, cognition, memory and the functional basis of certain human neurological and psychiatric illnesses. You will also study a number of hot topics in molecular and cellular neuroscience, selected from current scientific literature.
The MRes courses are divided into a taught element (60 credit points) and a laboratory-based research project (120 credit points). You will complete the extended research project in one of our highly rated research teams.
This stimulating MSc Neuropharmacology course is designed to give you the theoretical and practical skills needed to enter a career in a neuropharmacology either in an academic institution, a research institute or in the industrial/business sector.
This course will give you the opportunity to develop your practical skills through an extended laboratory-based research project. It will also enable you to develop an ability to plan a research project, apply effective data analysis skills to your results, and to communicate your findings in an articulate and professional manner.
The MSc is divided into 60 credit point taught modules and the research project is worth 60 credit points.
Visit us on campus throughout the year, find and register for our next open event on http://www.ntu.ac.uk/pgevents.
This course will give you a detailed understanding of the practical and theoretical aspects of pharmaceutical science and help develop the skills needed for individual and collaborative research in areas such as drug development.
Pharmaceutical Science is at the interface of biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, toxicology, analytical and medicinal chemistry, all of which will be studied in the degree course. Your studies will take place in laboratories fitted with the latest analytical equipment. Within the research area of drug development you will focus on both drug design, drug discovery and drug awareness as well as neuropharmacology and bioinformatics. You will complete four taught modules, and an independent research project.It will offer you the chance to study a core MSc alongside a specialisation within different areas of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
This course is designed and tailored to your own preferred specialism in either of the following: Pharmaceutical Analysis; Pharmacology; Physiology; Phyto-pharmaceuticals or Toxicology.
Teaching will be based on lectures, seminars, workshops, independent web-based learning and laboratory-based learning in our state-of-the-art facilities.The broad field of learning also suits people who are simply interested in furthering their knowledge of the subject.The course can be worked around a full-time job and there are intermediate awards available – a PG Diploma and a PG Certificate.
From inhalers that ease breathing to pills and injections that destroy cancer, pharmacology affects billions of people around the world as a powerful force for good. In our MSc Pharmacology programme, you’ll discover how to harness that power to save and improve countless lives.
At GCU, you'll develop a comprehensive understanding of the science behind drugs and their effects on the human body – and master the cutting-edge techniques, laboratory bench skills and critical thinking approaches you need to succeed.
As part of our thriving, diverse and globally networked research community, you’ll investigate how the body works and what goes wrong when a disease strikes – and learn how drugs are engineered to reverse and even prevent a wide range of medical conditions.
You’ll get a world-class education through a variety of teaching methods – including lectures, seminars, practical laboratory classes and a laboratory-based research project. The programme prepares you for industry and academia alike, whether you choose employment or pursue your PhD.
Skills for Professional Practice in Bioscience 1; Skills for Professional Practice in Bioscience 2; Current Topics in Pharmacology; Drugs and Cellular Communication; Advanced Topics in Neuropharmacology; Biomolecular studies; Drugs and Disease; Systems Pharmacology; and MSc Research Project.
The learning and teaching methods we use ensure that our programme is both vocationally relevant and academically challenging. Our approach is student-centred, practical, participative and relevant to the needs of employers.
We've moved away from the traditional teacher-centric learning to a more independent learning approach, where you are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills.
We use a wide range of learning and teaching methods to ensure that you have both the necessary knowledge and understanding of business and management and a portfolio of intellectual and personal skills.
Each module on the programme uses its own learning, teaching and assessment strategy to achieve learning objectives. Assessment methods vary between modules and may include unseen examinations, class tests, essays, management reports, case studies, presentations, and group work.
With an MSc Pharmacology, you’ll have the skills and knowledge you need to choose from multiple career paths.
Research pharmacology: Many of our graduates go on to work in laboratories at universities, government research institutes or in industry, conducting experiments to gain new insight into disease and developing life-changing new drugs.
Clinical pharmacology: After drugs are developed in the lab, clinical pharmacologists take the next step – focusing on application for human use. Our MSc Pharmacology prepares you for the additional training required to pursue a career in this field.
Pharmacology teaching: You might also choose to work at a university, college lecture theatre or laboratory – sharing what you've learned with the next generation.
This programme teaches advanced experimental approaches to dissecting the mechanisms of drug action (pharmacology), a science that has seen innovative theoretical and technical development at UCL for over a century.
In addition to providing experience of both classical and modern pharmacological techniques, the programme will help develop skills for literature search-based data acquisition and analysis; written and verbal communication of science; abstract writing; poster preparation; graphical processing; image preparation for publication; writing a scientific paper; and giving research presentations.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of three core modules (75 credits), one optional module (15 credits), and a research project (90 credits).
Core modules
Optional modules
Students choose one of the following:
Dissertation/report
Students undertake an original research project which culminates in a 15,000-word dissertation and an oral presentation.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, journal clubs, practicals, tutorials and a laboratory project. Student performance is evaluated through formal examination, coursework, and the research project.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Experimental Pharmacology and Therapeutics MSc
This programme is likely to lead to careers in biomedical sciences, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and clinical laboratories, and extend to clinicians interested in moving towards a scientific career. Students will obtain a thorough knowledge of and practice in pharmacological assessment, drug design and development pathways. It is anticipated that graduates will move onto PhD programmes and/or build careers in industry or clinical investigations through employment as research associates/scientists in the pharmaceutical industry or academia.
Employability
The knowledge and transferable skills developed on this programme will be advantageous for those considering employment in any pharmaceutical or healthcare setting, or contemplating further studies in related fields. The programme will also provide excellent training in critical appraisal of complex data, which will transfer well to other disciplines.
The programme is jointly taught by UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology (Division of Biosciences), and the Research Department of Pharmacology at the UCL School of Pharmacy. Both departments are historically and currently internationally leading in this field, and together provide cutting-edge education in theory, research practice and innovation in pharmacology.
The programme is designed to impart extensive experimental expertise applied to drug development and subsequent therapeutics. The combination of traditional and experimental approaches in pharmacology, coupled with current innovation in therapeutics and drug discovery and development, fosters a unique set of skills, which will enable graduates of the programme to engage in various aspects of pharmaceutical research globally.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Division of Biosciences
82% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
The Neurasmus program is a full-time Neuroscience study program offering a unique interdisciplinary and integrated approach of normal brain functions and diseases. It strongly emphasizes training in cutting-edge techniques in all major topics of brain research, from molecules to cognition. The Neurasmus curricula are completely embedded in international-oriented local Master programs of the partner universities. Each program features among the best and most reputed national programs in Neuroscience. The Neurasmus program is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree developed under the Key Action 1 of the Erasmus+ program.
At the application stage, students choose the main track they wish to follow. This defines their first year mobility. Depending on the track chosen, students spend their first and second semesters in Amsterdam/Göttingen /Berlin/Bordeaux. The Board of Education agrees on the first, second or third wish according to the selection ranking and intake capacity of partner institutions. At the end of the first semester, students choose a subspecialty which defines the partner university(ies) for the 2nd year. It is part of the student’s Personal Training Plan (PTP).
Main Tracks
Students have up to the end of first year/start of third semester to choose the subject of their Master Thesis. Students then spend their third and fourth semesters in one or two locations: Amsterdam/Göttingen/Berlin/Bordeaux/Laval.
Semester 1 and 2: Core curriculum
Semester 3: Advanced courses
Semester 4: Master thesis
On completion of the Master program, students are qualified candidates for different exchange and training PhD programs currently available among the consortium members.
Graduates will have also the possibility to pursue their studies at PhD level at any of the consortium graduate schools or at any other research institution worldwide.
Graduates interested in starting a career within the business sector, benefit from the industrial network of the consortium.
The scientific goal of the Centre of Cognitive and Neural Systems (CCNS) is to understand information processing by the central and peripheral nervous systems, at several different levels of analysis, from cognitive psychology through cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging, behavioural neuroscience and neuropharmacology, and extending to theoretical models of neuronal networks.
Members of the CCNS are divided into different research groups with a focus on:
Although the CCNS is hosted by the School of Biomedical Sciences, its membership is drawn from several different Schools across all three Colleges.
During their studies, postgraduate students are assigned a personal thesis committee, which monitors progress.
Students attend seminars and the generic skills training programme provided by the Life Sciences Graduate Programme.
Postgraduates can often act as demonstrators for undergraduate teaching.
Students are strongly encouraged to present their findings at national and international conferences and to publish their findings in international journals during their postgraduate training.
The CCNS is based at the Central Campus, and has excellent facilities for cognitive and systems neuroscience, including human cognitive neuroscience and functional MRI facilities, rodent surgical facilities, testing rooms for water mazes, event arenas, single unit recording in freely moving rodents, in vivo and in vitro (slice) electrophysiological recording, histology, confocal microscopy and wet-lab facilities.
We also offer expertise and facilities for functional imaging in animals and excellent genetic models of CNS diseases. Molecular and cellular analysis of cell death and plasticity underpin in vivo investigating.
High standards: The Bordeaux International Master of Neuroscience emphasises training in cutting-edge techniques in all major topics of brain research, from molecules to cognition. Its main objective is to foster Neuroscience education and train new brain scientists, by offering a unique interdisciplinary and integrated approach from normal brain functions to brain disorders.
Excellent teaching: In Bordeaux, about 30 professors and lecturers in Neuroscience are involved in teaching as well as many neuroscientists and colleagues specialized in psychology, cognition, modeling, physiology, genetics, medicine, brain imaging, etc.
Top research/traineeships: Neuroscience in Bordeaux has grown over the last 15 years to become one of the largest Neuroscience scientific communities in France and in Europe, with over 600 people working in the various Neuroscience laboratories of the University of Bordeaux. In order to meet the most important challenges facing Neuroscience research, all these laboratories are grouped within a virtual institute, called the Bordeaux Neurocampus, a multidisciplinary consortium of world renowned scientists. Bordeaux Neurocampus offers, together with our international academic partners, excellent opportunities for traineeships.
Interaction with the professional sector: Students have access to Pharma multinationals for traineeships through internationally oriented consortia such as Pierre Fabre, Sanofi-Aventis, Glaxo-SmithKline etc.
International mobility is highly recommended for at least one of the two traineeships. Mobility fellowships are provided upon application.
Year 1:
Semester 1: September - January (30 ECTS)
Compulsory courses
Semester 2: January - June (30 ECTS)
Year 2:
Semester 3: September - January (30 ECTS)
Compulsory courses
Optional courses
Semester 4: January - June (30 ECTS)
After graduation, students have access to career opportunities in the industrial sector, in clinical research or may carry out further fundamental research as PhD students.
