Course summary

Pharmaceutical chemistry plays a huge role in drug design and discovery, from treating diabetes to curing cancer. With a strong emphasis on gaining practical laboratory experience and employability skills, our programme offers a comprehensive view of this exciting field. Learn how drugs are designed and optimised from lead compounds, their modes of action and pharmacology, and how they are developed through trials and into manufacture. Teaching centres on synthetic organic chemistry, but we’ll also give you a strong grounding in physical and inorganic chemistry and spectroscopy. You’ll learn about pharmacology, biochemistry and cancer chemotherapy too. In your final year, you’ll conduct your own supervised research project, either laboratory- or literature-based. Choose your own pathway through this degree — apply for a year in industry or studying abroad, or carry out an additional year of advanced study to graduate with an MSci. Our Pharmaceutical Chemistry MSci is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry – a mark of quality that employers understand and value.