Pharmaceutical Sciences MRes

Course structure

The Pharmaceutical Sciences MRes is typically completed full-time in one year, but can be taken part-time over two years. The course is structured to include a significant research component which you will undertake throughout the course. In addition, a series of supporting taught modules further enrich your learning.

To be awarded the MRes, you must obtain 180 M-level credits: 40 credits from taught and subject-specific modules and 140 credits through the completion of the research project.

Areas of study

Core modules

• Research Project
• Current Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Options (choose three)

Choose two from:

• Advanced Pharmaceutical Analysis
• Industrial Manufacturing Processes
• Real-time Techniques for In Vitro and In Vivo Monitoring
• Novel Medicinal Products: A Clinical Perspective

Plus one from (or third from above list):

• Controversies in Science
• Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers
• Physical Chemistry Frontiers
• Organic Chemistry Frontiers
• Applied Nucleic Acid Biochemistry 
• Applied Protein Biochemistry
• Clinical Microbiology in the Post-antimicrobial Era 
• Omics for Diseases; Theory, Practice and Applications 
• Nanotechnology Research: Therapeutics, Diagnostics and Advanced Pharmaceutics

Staff profile

Dr Graham Pattison, course leader

I aim to teach students in a way which is accessible and presents complex key concepts in an easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive way. I try to make lectures as interactive as possible, and to give students opportunities to put new material they have learnt into practice.

I am also keen to give opportunities for undergraduate research, and try to allow students to take maximum ownership of a project, in a supportive environment.

After being awarded my PhD from Durham University in 2009 I worked as a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh where I developed interests in asymmetric catalysis, examining new Rh-catalysed addition of boronic acids to unusual substrates. I moved to the University of Warwick in 2012 where I held a Senior Research Fellowship, developing a research programme developing useful new synthetic methods for the preparation of functional molecules, particularly focussing on fluorination of drug-like molecules, organoboron building blocks and catalysis. And came to the University of Brighton as a lecturer in Organic Chemistry in 2018.

My research focuses on the development of new synthetic methodology which will allow chemists to build useful functional molecules in a way which is simpler, more efficient, safer and more sustainable than currently possible. We work in two main areas: Organofluorine chemistry and Organoboron chemistry. We also look to design new drug molecules, with a particular interest in anti-microbial, anti-cancer and anti-aging applications.

Facilities 

You will gain theoretical and hands-on experience of a wide range of advanced chemical techniques, with access to our extensive range of modern instrumentation including:

• high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• gas chromatography (GC)
• mass spectrometry (MS)
• nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
• molecular (UV/Vis, IR) and atomic (MP-AES, AAS, ICPMS) spectroscopy
• electrochemical analysis.

We provide industry-standard ChemOffice software, Reaxys and Scifinder subscriptions, and RSC and ACS journal article downloads to all chemistry students throughout the course.

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences are listed here.

• All students are provided with a laboratory coat, safety glasses and log book.
• A budget to cover laboratory consumables and equipment for your final year project is included in the fees for all students.
• Access to key subject journals and subject specific databases is provided, as well as a site licence for industry-standard chemical drawing software.
• Essential instruction booklets (laboratory handbooks) are provided, as is project poster printing and thesis binding. However, you should budget for books, printing and stationery for personal study.
• The school provides some financial support for social activities via the student societies and holds a free annual graduation party.
• Optional placements and day trips may include additional costs but this will vary depending on location of the placement.
• For our ecology and conservation courses there are compulsory field trips for which you should budget up to £200. There are also optional field trips for which you may choose to budget up to £2,700. You may also need to buy appropriate clothing for outdoor use.
• DBS checks for MPharm students are included in the fee.
• Costs for MPharm placement travel is reimbursed up to a specified amount depending on location of placement.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships, as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2021–22.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Local area

Maps