Students who have completed our BSc Pharmaceutical Science degree will follow Route A; all other students will follow Route B.
The MSc Pharmaceutical Chemistry course is delivered primarily in block mode. A blended learning and teaching approach is used to provide you with key and subject specific skills. Typically all modules will consist of a mix of lectures, tutorials, and workshops/practical laboratory sessions. Students are provided with numerous learning activities including written coursework; project work; group work; practicals (with group sizes tailored to the activity); problem solving sessions; self-study assignments; oral and poster presentations; independent study; work related learning and on-line self assessments.
The pharmaceutical chemistry course is full time for one year, and each module is generally around 48 hours of contact spread over two to three weeks. The first term is spent doing mainly taught modules, the second term is for the work placement/project.
Assessments are undertaken on an individual, pair or small group basis, and include:
Chemistry research at Swansea University is vibrant and covers a wide range of research areas and interests, and will be growing at a fast pace over the next 2-3 years. It is focused on 4 themes: Energy, Health, New and Advanced Molecules and Materials, and Water and the Environment. These research initiatives transcend the traditional discipline boundaries, integrate the core areas of inorganic, organic, physical and analytical chemistries and intersect with other scientific disciplines, engineering and medicine.
The new Department of Chemistry has excellent, purpose-built modern laboratories and has access to a diverse type of laboratories research infrastructures to develop its research. For example, high-quality, high-impact chemistry research is already taking place in World Class Centres based in Swansea such as The Centre for NanoHealth, The Institute of Mass Spectrometry, The Institute of Life Sciences, The Energy Safety Research Institute, Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre, The Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research and The Materials Research Centre. The integration of the new Chemistry Department with Engineering, the Medical School and other departments in the College of Science provides an environment of research excellence and allows our chemistry students and research staff to invent, innovate and develop products in a way that is best suited to research in the 21st century and the need to generate disruptive, step-change advances with impact on current global challenges.
Energy: One of the key areas where advances in chemistry will be needed is in providing solutions to the global energy challenge. Chemistry research in Swansea University is participating in fundamental and applied research initiatives focused on:
Health: Chemistry research provides new routes to more effective, cheaper and less toxic therapies and to non-invasive disease detection and diagnosis tools – a requirement to transform the entire landscape of drug discovery, development and healthcare, which is unaffordable and needs to benefit more patients. The chemistry research laboratories for this theme are adjacent to Swansea Medical School – which ranked 1st in the UK for research environment, and 2nd for overall research quality in the REF 2014.
Current chemistry research includes:
New and Advanced Molecules and Materials: There is major interest in synthesing, designing and controllling molecular and macromolecular assemblies at multiple length scales. In Swansea this research involves use of:
Water and the Environment: Chemistry at Swansea university has a strong profile in the development of analytical tools for measuring environmental impact, environmental impact assessment of polymer-based materials through their lifetime (including the effects of recycling and biopolymers), technologies for the efficient removal of environmentally harmful materials (and thus reduced emissions per output of discharge), membrane technologies and new methodologies for desalination, and for dewatering and killing pathogens for sanitation applications and the use of new molecules and materials for photocatalytic water splitting and development of self-propelled micro and nanomotor systems for environmental remediation. In collaboration with the Biocontrol and Natural Products (BANP) group in the Department of Biosciences, there is also growing research interest around the characterisation and application of natural products, in particular those derived from fungi and microalgae, to provide therapeutics and nutraceuticals and to act as agents for biocontrol and bioremediation.
Our new state-of-the-art teaching laboratories are being built as part of a multi-million pound investment to create a chemistry hub for the high quality Chemical Sciences research being carried out across the Colleges of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
A chemistry qualification opens the door to a wide range of careers options, both in and out of the lab. There are endless interesting and rewarding science-based jobs available – these can be in research, outdoors or in other industries you might not have thought of. Please visit the Royal Society of Chemistry website for details.
Find out more about the huge range of jobs in chemistry by exploring the job profiles on the Royal Society of Chemistry website (eg Cancer Researcher, Flavourist & Innovation Director, Chief Chemist, Sustainability Manager, Fragrance Chemist, Household Goods Senior Scientist, Analytical Scientist, and many more).
In the Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences master’s programme you are trained at the leading edge of drug-design and fundamental research of new drugs, optimization of existing drugs, and personalised medicine.
Despite major advances in drug-research, many common diseases such as cancers, neurological diseases, cardiovascular disease and other auto-immune diseases, lack effective treatment, or are found incurable. You are trained for a scientific career in drug research and development. Depending on your interest, you can choose from seven specialisations to further extend your scientific training and theoretical background.
Read more about our Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences programme.
Find more reasons to study Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences at Leiden University.
The master’s programme of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPS) aims to train you in the research area of bio-pharmaceutical sciences and drug research in such a way that you have extensive knowledge and hands-on experience to be able to work independently as a scientific researcher. Moreover, you have a wide range of other career opportunities bio-pharmaceutical industry, science communication, and education.
The Masters in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry will extend your depth and breadth of knowledge in all branches of chemistry, but with some specialisation in medicinal chemistry, suitable for a professional medicinal chemist capable of conducting research.
From September to March, you will attend lectures and tutorials. You will undertake a 12-week research project from June to August, which will provide practical application and consolidation of earlier work and enhance your ability to do independent work and present results effectively.
Career opportunities in the chemical or pharmaceutical industry, from bench work and instrumentation to regulatory affairs, health & safety, and intellectual property/patents. Research-related jobs usually require a PhD, for which this programme provides an ideal preparation.
Graduates of this programme have gone on to positions such as:
This course aims to:
You will build upon your previous undergraduate studies to develop an in depth knowledge of selected aspects of advanced cutting edge topics in chemistry.
MSc Chemistry Level 7 Programme (all modules are 20 credits unless otherwise specified)
*Advanced Topics in Organic Chemistry
*Advanced Topics in Inorganic Chemistry
*Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry
*Advanced Topics in Chemical Analysis
MSc Research Project (120 credits)
*Select three from these four core option modules.
The UK’s chemical industry is one of the leading industrial contributors to the national economy and there are many opportunities to apply chemical knowledge, principles and skills to a successful career in the chemistry, pharmaceutical science, chemical engineering or other chemistry-related disciplines. “Chemistry will underpin economic growth, say industry leaders”, it was reported in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) publication, Chemistry World, on the “Strategy for delivering chemistry-fuelled growth of the UK economy”. Currently the Chemistry-using industries contribute ~£195bn to the UK economy with approximately £10bn coming from chemical manufacturing and £9bn from pharmaceutical manufacturing. The areas of chemical manufacture, process technology, product development and application, and formulation skills are key areas of these chemical sciences. In chemicals (including pharmaceuticals) 95.6% of UK companies are SME’s employing 42% of the total workforce and account for 29% of turnover.
If you choose not to go into the chemical industry there are still extensive career opportunities in teaching and academic research
You will have evidenced good practical skills, be literate, numerate, have high level of IT skills and be capable of logical, scientific, critical thinking and problem solving. You will have developed a great deal of autonomous decision making and research capability and you will be able to evidence a range of professional, personal transferable skills and be well versed with the concept of continuous professional development. These skills will make you well equipped for the workplace, be it in a chemistry environment or the wider world of work in general, or for further research if you so choose.
We are currently working with the RSC to achieve accreditation of our new BSc (Hons) Chemistry degree. This will be an on-going process over the first two years of the course, which started in September 2014, and will mean that our first cohort of graduates in July 2017 will be eligible for Associate Membership of the RSC shortly thereafter. We will look towards accreditation of our MSc courses in the foreseeable future.
The MSc Pharmaceutical Science 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 science 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:
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Year 2
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
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.
Developed in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, the four pathways of our MSc in Pharmaceutical Industrial Advanced Training (PIAT) are postgraduate-level training programmes designed for scientists and managers working in the pharmaceutical industry and NHS in the fields of product development, manufacturing and quality assurance.
Many of our units have been developed to support those seeking to build their QP portfolio and our team includes QPs who are willing to support your development through this pathway.
You can also take individual units as standalone CPD courses. Please contact us for further details of the units that can be taken.
We offer a three-day summer school each year to allow you to meet fellow students and your tutors while attending workshops to support your learning and development in the units.
For our Business Development and Licensing pathway, we offer a two-day winter school held in London that covers the units within this key course for business development executives.
Below are some links that may be useful if you're thinking about studying PIAT.
Example dissertation titles
Below are examples of previous dissertations undertaken on the PIAT course.
All units commence in April and October. You can see a list of units in the table below, or view units specific to each of the four pathways:
Our alumni have used the learning and opportunities gained from this course to advance their careers in a range of roles and areas.
Some have moved to management positions, while others have taken on roles with more responsibility, becoming team leaders, heads of projects or responsible for new and larger areas, regions or territories.
As part of the course, our students build networks of contacts and join a growing community of leaders within the industry.
This course aims to:
You will build upon your previous undergraduate studies to develop an in depth knowledge of selected aspects of advanced cutting edge topics in chemistry.
MSc Chemistry Level 7 Programme (all modules are 20 credits unless otherwise specified)
*Advanced Topics in Organic Chemistry
*Advanced Topics in Inorganic Chemistry
*Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry
#Advanced Topics in Chemical Analysis
#Laboratory Quality Assurance and Management
#Pharmaceutical Analysis
#MSc Research Project (120 credits)
If you are a direct entrant to the University of Wolverhampton you are expected to do the core modules (#) but if you have previously done the BSc Hons) Chemistry degree at Wolverhampton then you can replace Laboratory Quality assurance and Management with one of the three options*
The UK’s chemical industry is one of the leading industrial contributors to the national economy and there are many opportunities to apply chemical knowledge, principles and skills to a successful career in the chemistry, pharmaceutical science, chemical engineering or other chemistry-related disciplines. “Chemistry will underpin economic growth, say industry leaders”, it was reported in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) publication, Chemistry World, on the “Strategy for delivering chemistry-fuelled growth of the UK economy”. Currently the Chemistry-using industries contribute ~£195bn to the UK economy with approximately £10bn coming from chemical manufacturing and £9bn from pharmaceutical manufacturing. The areas of chemical manufacture, process technology, product development and application, and formulation skills are key areas of these chemical sciences. In chemicals (including pharmaceuticals) 95.6% of UK companies are SME’s employing 42% of the total workforce and account for 29% of turnover.
If you choose not to go into the chemical industry there are still extensive career opportunities in teaching and academic research.
You will have evidenced good practical skills, be literate, numerate, have high level of IT skills and be capable of logical, scientific, critical thinking and problem solving. You will have developed a great deal of autonomous decision making and research capability and you will be able to evidence a range of professional, personal transferable skills and be well versed with the concept of continuous professional development. These skills will make you well equipped for the workplace, be it in a chemistry environment or the wider world of work in general, or for further research if you so choose.
We are currently working with the RSC to achieve accreditation of our new BSc (Hons) Chemistry degree. This will be an on-going process over the first two years of the course, which started in September 2014, and will mean that our first cohort of graduates in July 2017 will be eligible for Associate Membership of the RSC shortly thereafter. We will look towards accreditation of our MSc courses in the foreseeable future.
