Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (With options for placements)

Summary
Chemistry plays a vital role in discovering new medicines and improving human health. From designing molecules to testing treatments, it is central to tackling disease.
 
On this course, you will explore the full drug development process, learning how new therapeutics are created and brought to life. You will study how molecules are designed, how they interact with the body and how their safety and effectiveness are assessed. You also have the option to gain valuable experience with a range of placement opportunities.

Your learning is shaped by research. You will be taught by academics developing new cancer treatments and advancing technologies for disease detection, giving you insight into how chemistry is applied in the real world.

This course prepares you to contribute to life-changing discoveries, with the flexibility to shape your future career.

Key features of the course
Explore drug discovery. Study every stage of the drug development cycle, from molecular design to testing and evaluation.

Take your learning further. Your final year can include an extended project in our research facilities, a year-long industrial placement or a placement at a university overseas.

Explore global opportunities. Study or work abroad in locations such as Australia, Canada, the USA or Singapore, or take a paid industry placement in the UK.

Gain real-world experience. Work in modern laboratories using industry-standard equipment such as NMR and IR spectrometers and X-ray diffractometers.

Learn by doing. Design and carry out your own experiments, making and analysing samples with full support and training.

Be part of cutting-edge research. Learn from academics working on challenges such as cancer drug development and synthetic DNA technologies.

Prepare for your future. Develop skills that open pathways into careers in the pharmaceutical sector, research, healthcare and beyond.

Student support
Your Personal Academic Tutor will support you throughout your studies, offering guidance on your academic progress and personal development.

You will be part of a supportive Chemistry community, with small tutorial groups that give you time and space to develop your understanding.

You will also have access to careers support, including CV and interview workshops, and guidance throughout your placement to help you make the most of your experience.

Further information
This course is excellent preparation for further study, including PhD programmes, and can also support progression into graduate entry medicine.

You will graduate with a strong foundation in chemistry and drug development, ready to take your next step in science or a related field.

Course Modules

Sustainability is a key theme in our chemistry courses – you’ll learn about new technologies that are making drug manufacturing more environmentally friendly, as well as using the latest ‘green’ practices in your own lab work.

Years one and two
You’ll gain a foundation in the fundamentals of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, as well as practical lab techniques and medicinal chemistry fundamentals that form the basis for your advanced studies in year three.
Core modules in the first and second year are shared across most of our chemistry degrees. This makes it possible to transfer to the MChem programme.

Year three
Your core chemistry modules will be combined with specialist modules in medicinal chemistry and organics synthesis alongside an optional module that could include: Advanced analytical techniques, Sustainable chemistry, Principles of electrochemistry or Simulation methods in chemistry.
Practical research skills will be developed through a series of advanced practical projects and literature-based research on a medicinal chemistry topic.

Year four:
In year four you’ll undertake an advanced research project in an area of medicinal chemistry that interests you. The project could be working within one of our research groups in Southampton or could be taken as part of an industrial or overseas placement. You’ll contribute to chemistry research, develop your professional skills and generate new knowledge, and there’s a good chance of getting your research published.

There are written examinations at the end of each semester to test your knowledge and understanding of material presented in the lectures and workshops. Many modules also have coursework components that feed into module marks as well. The coursework can take on a variety of forms from analysing data, to working through problem sets. The practical work is continuously assessed primarily through written reports.

Project work is assessed by dissertation and oral examination together with a report on your relevant skills from your supervisor. A written literature review related to the project is also assessed. Alongside these summative assessments are a number of formative pieces of work where feedback can be provided to allow for continuous improvement of your chemistry skills.

The research project will be assessed via a variety of means including review of your laboratory notebook, your assessments of the risks and hazards of your work, written reports, oral presentations, the production of a dissertation, and an oral examination.