Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences (With Foundation Year)

This degree integrates the design and development of drug, cosmetic and hygiene products with emerging areas such as systems biology, pharmacogenetics and translational medicine – areas that directly address the needs of the UK pharmaceutical industry. You start by gaining a common core of chemical, biological and pharmaceutical knowledge before shifting to deeper study of areas such as medicinal chemistry; drug discovery and drug development. You also explore sector business models, exploring how science has evolved to meet pharmaceutical industry demands.

Foundation Year
In the Foundation year you will study three days per week. The focus will be on academic writing skills and numeracy, plus subject-specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree. It provides a balance between content related to your chosen subject and the range of wider skills required for undergraduate study. This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will be required to pass the foundation year in order to progress to the first year of your degree. This course is ideal for those who do not meet our standard entry requirements or those with a non-standard educational background. It will allow you to graduate with a full undergraduate degree in your chosen subject in four years.

Facilities and specialist equipment

• Contemporary STEM building with high-tech labs and vibrant study spaces, providing you with a supportive and welcoming learning environment.

• Cell culture lab and specialised analytical science suite.

• HPLC, FTIR and GC-MS machines, alongside facilities for qPCR and protein purification, allowing you to carry out cutting-edge pharma and biotech experiments.

Career-powered links

Our Life Sciences Liaison Board works with industry professionals across the pharma-biotech, health and food sectors, including Glaxo Smith Kline, Pharmaron, NHS, Life Science Group and Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Our collaboration within the sector help you establish links and gain valuable work experience.

Your student experience

Our academic staff’s active involvement in the field ensure you keep up to date with emerging practices and the latest pharmaceutical developments.

Our staff research and professional expertise feeds directly back into their teaching, creating a vibrant, practical-oriented learning environment.

We have strong links within the clinical and industrial sectors, making sure our courses are aligned to industry needs and offer you the opportunity for work experience.

Take part in masterclasses by a range of experts including Rothamsted Research; MSD Merck; Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; and the UK Health Security Agency.

Learn from field trips to leading industry settings such as MSD Merck.

Expand your network of professional contacts through our annual STEM Careers Expo.

Gain additional lab-work experience via the Student Skills Lab scheme where you can try out techniques for real-world applications, under the guidance of recent graduates.

Our academics are involved in real-world research, leading the way in target areas such as obesity, cancer pathways, medicines discovery and development.

You gain experience in innovative research, including drug target, discovery and synthesis.

Course modules

Year 1
Microbiology and biochemistry – Study the diversity of micro-organisms using techniques such as light microscopy, histological preparation and chromatography. Human anatomy and physiology – Explore the interconnected nature of the body’s systems. Cell biology – Examine the structure and organisation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells using microscopy. Molecular genetics – Develop your understanding of molecular genetics, with a focus on cell division and genetic inheritance. Skills in pharmaceutical sciences – Build a range of key study skills including analysis, presentation of data and basic lab techniques. Chemistry – Gain a foundation in areas such as atomic structure, and interaction between molecules and thermodynamics.

Year 2
Skills in science – Build confidence in key skills like experimental design, lab safety, data analysis, finding sources and writing proposals. Medical physiology – Learn about body systems such as cardiovascular, respiratory, neurology and gastrointestinal. Human metabolism – Explore how metabolic pathways work together to meet the body’s needs. Immunology – Understand the importance of the immune system and its role in protecting against pathogens and diseases. Pharmacology – Study how drugs act at a molecular, cellular and physiological level and their role in alleviating human diseases. Drug development – How drugs are developed from early ‘hits’, through leads, to final, clinically useful products. Medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical business development – Explore drug discovery and design, and the business side of the pharmaceutical sector.

Year 3
Pharmaceutical science research project – Plan, design and complete a piece of research in an area of interest relevant to the course. Systems biology – Learn how biological data and computer analysis work together, helping improve treatments. Pharmacogenetics – Explore human genome sequencing and its role in creating bespoke drug therapies. Translational medicine – Be able to evaluate which advances in clinical research have the best chance of translating into improved health care. Biomaterials for drug and cosmetic formulation – Why and how pharmaceutical components ensure a drug, cosmetic or personal-care product works as it should. Toxicology – Gain an overview of clinical toxicology, drug metabolism, adverse drug reaction and the importance of pharmaceutical testing. Pharmacology of disease – Build your understanding of the way drugs work at a molecular and cellular level to treat a range of conditions.

We make every effort to ensure the information here is accurate; however, for the most up-to-date information, visit our website.

https://www.beds.ac.uk/courses/pharmaceutical-and-chemical-sciences/

Assessment is integral in all units to check that you have met the threshold standards expected of all graduates. They are also linked to learning designed to develop key subject-specific and transferable skills for future employment. The requirements of each assessment will be detailed in a formal assessment brief document and discussed in teaching sessions. Units with single assessments will be supported by formative development. The assessment tasks will include:

• End of unit examination (unseen written examinations)

• Problem-based learning based on case studies with poster presentation of findings

• Laboratory notebook and laboratory reports

• Literature review

• Business proposal

• Oral presentation

Students are actively supported through their assessments both directly in subject specific areas by tutors and by working with the Study Hub to provide targeted workshops to support academic skills development. The focal areas include an introduction to academic integrity developing good academic practice scientific writing use of statistics and communication of science to diverse audiences including presentation skills also aligned to assessment requirements.

Throughout course delivery workshops and tutorials are used to support the development of academic skills alongside the learning and the assessment process. All in-course assessments are supported by timetabled interactive tutorial sessions with formative assessment tasks as appropriate. In addition assessments that are based around practical work will involve a briefing before and a session after the laboratory work to explain further the expectations of the assessment and support specific tasks such as data analysis.

Examinations are supported by timetabled revision sessions and by workshop sessions covering examples of past examinations and the expectations of examination questions at each level. To assist our learners assignment briefs a uniform set of information and a consistent set of assessment criteria across the course.

At the start of each level students are given introductory session(s) that set out the expectations for each year. For entry points several sessions are used to provide guidance and support to students joining the University. These provide details of support for the development of academic skills and learning from the School the Study Hub and initiatives such as peer-assisted learning (PASS scheme).

For students progressing between levels introductory sessions are also provided to ensure the students are aware of the change in expectations of learning and assessment. This will flag areas such as expectations for increased selfdirected learning critical thinking and analysis that are expected as students go through the learning process.

A key aim for the school is the integration of transferable skills within learning and assessment to enhance employability. Our courses build awareness of business applications of knowledge with assessments that develop practical ideas and employability. This is supported by the University Careers and Employability service throughout the course.