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Course Summary

Course Description

Duration: Full-time 1 year
Attendance: 5 days per week.

Entry requirements: A first or second class BSc Honours degree (or equivalent), from a recognised academic institution, is required for direct entry. A minimum IELTS score of 6.0 (with 5.5 in each skills) or TOEFL (internet-based test) with a mark of 79 overall (Listening 17, Reading, 18, Speaking 20, Writing 17) or other University-accepted equivalent.

About the programme

At the most fundamental level, diseases are caused by the interactions of molecules. To understand the causes of diseases and to develop new treatments, scientists working at the interface between chemistry and biology are now able to study the processes that occur at the molecular level. Scientists working in this area need to understand and exploit the molecular basis of drug design and the properties and preparation of biologically active molecules.

The rapidly growing field of biological chemistry encompasses pharmaceutical science, biotechnology and medicinal chemistry. Biological chemists discover and develop new drugs and treatments and need to know how and why these drugs exert their effects to maximise their performance and minimise or eliminate side-effects. They must understand the properties of biological molecules and need a strong synthetic and theoretical understanding of chemistry as well as knowledge of the molecular basis of biology and medicine. This MSc enables you to learn at the boundaries of biology and chemistry and to meet the challenges of the worldwide pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Programme content

In Semester 1 you take one core module with two other modules from a list of options. These are designed to give a broad and balanced understanding of the most important developments in modern chemistry.

In Semester 2 you use key research tools – such as online information retrieval – to learn about the background and the planning behind your chosen research project. You also develop specialist knowledge of biological chemistry through core modules in biological macromolecules and advanced molecular medicine.

In Semester 3 you complete an advanced biological chemistry research project culminating in a Masters-level thesis and an oral presentation of your research successes.

Core modules

Semester 1

- Advanced Organic Chemistry
- Advanced Forensic Science and Toxicology
- MSc Literature Project

Semester 2

- Advanced Topics in Molecular Medicine
- Biological Macromolecules
- Optional module

Semester 3

- MSc Project

Assessment

Assessment is through examinations, reports and assignments, with a research project dissertation at the MSc stage.

Special features

This programme gives you the opportunity to develop hands-on experience of state-of-the-art spectroscopic, analytical and computer-based techniques.

As a postgraduate member of the department, you can use our extensive research library and computer facilities and can attend departmental research seminars and colloquia given by a variety of national and international researchers.
 

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