You’ll develop an in-depth knowledge of topics relevant to the field of pharmaceuticals, their design, development, quality control, and manufacture. In the first year, you will study a variety of modules which will provide you with a strong grounding in chemistry that will prove invaluable during the rest of your degree and working life. To begin to understand the biological action of drugs and their impact, you will also be introduced to fundamental human biology and biochemistry. All of these modules involve practical work and you will gain hands-on experience using equipment in our state-of-the-art laboratories. You would also be taught mathematics to enable you to understand the relevance of mathematics and statistics in the field of chemical and pharmaceutical science.

The second year of the Pharmaceutical Science course focuses on chemical synthesis, drug design, drug action and chemical analysis. In your third year you will continue to develop your knowledge and skills in chemical synthesis and analysis, quality control and quality assurance regulatory affairs, advanced drug design and use of molecular modelling. You would also work on a research project (in-house or industry based) that would involve working with complex and specialised instruments.

Year One: Pharmaceutical Science Degree

• Microorganisms and the Dynamic Cell
• Biological Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Fundamental Inorganic Chemistry
• Your Skills, Your Future

Year Two: Pharmaceutical Science Degree

• Introduction to Pharmacology
• Spectroscopy
• Analytical Chemistry
• Synthetic Organic Chemistry
• Heterocyclic Chemistry and an Introduction to Drug Design
• Bioinorganic Chemistry

Year Three: Pharmaceutical Science Degree

• Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology
• Advanced Analytical Chemistry
• Professional Practice, Employability and Project for Pharmaceutical Science
• Advanced Organic Chemistry
• Quality Control and Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry
• Advanced Drug Design and an Introduction to Formulation Science

The BSc (Hons) Pharmaceutical Science degree provides you with the scientific background and industry knowledge that will make you highly marketable to employers in the pharmaceutical sector. Being one of the largest employers of scientists in the UK, jobs for scientists within the sector are quite varied. You could work in research and development, but scientists may also find themselves in roles that may range from a purely lab-based position, to marketing, patent filing, quality assurance/regulation, or even as a sales representative.

Employers regularly comment on our graduates’ excellent analytical skills, enhanced by hands-on experience of industry-standard instrumentation. The Pharmaceutical Science degree could also lead to careers in other chemical-related industries (e.g., materials, adhesives, paints, inks, fine chemicals etc) or enable you to pursue further studies in a related field.