BSc (Hons) Pharmacology and Drug Discovery

How can we support an ageing population and fight the increasing number of cases of diseases such as cancer? How can we help one in four people suffering from mental health issues? These are just some of the challenges you’ll explore on our pharmacology and drug discovery degree. You’ll be able to apply your passion for chemistry and biology and put it to use for the good of human health, developing the life-changing medicines of the future.

Study at the internationally renowned School of Chemistry, Pharmacy, and Pharmacology, with world-class research in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, antibiotic resistance and tissue engineering. Your instructors will be academic researchers, including pharmacologists, cell biologists, medicinal chemists, and pharmaceutical chemists. They specialize in pharmacology and drug discovery, and they'll teach you everything you need to know.

The course brings together scientific disciplines – biology, chemistry and physical sciences – focusing on disease and medications. Within integrated modules, you’ll study major diseases and the science behind the drugs used to treat them. We also include business studies to provide you with an understanding of management practice focused on the pharmaceutical industry, which are important skills in today’s corporate world. You’ll also learn about designing experiments and how to write reports in the form of scientific papers.

Our Pharmacology Drug Discovery programme is the only BSc of its type in the UK and is innovative in its multidisciplinary approach. You'll explore how drugs fight diseases and, along with drug discovery, you'll learn about the process of designing, synthesizing, and manufacturing new drugs. One of the most exciting parts of the course will be conducting your own original research in a project that you'll do individually. You'll work in a real research lab, which makes it even more special.

Our course is centred around research, which is crucial for Pharmacology Drug Discovery. It's designed to prepare you for a career at the forefront of pharmaceutical research. The course is designed to inform and inspire your journey to becoming a researcher in pharmaceutical sciences, healthcare, and toxicology. You may also pursue careers as analytical chemist, biomedical scientist, or medical sales representative.

You’ll graduate ready to pursue a career in drug design or development, within academia, the health sector or industry.

You could also choose a broader life science career, for example with a grant-funding body, charity, learned society or in academia, regulatory affairs or publishing.

We embed employability skills throughout the course with sessions developing CVs, interview techniques, presentation skills, teamwork, research and business skills.

For entrepreneurial students who want to turn their work into a business in the future, there are dedicated facilities in the Norwich Research Park, with state-of-the-art labs and office spaces right on our doorstep.

Examples of careers that you could enter include:

• Research scientist in industry or university
• Healthcare scientist
• Analytical chemist
• Biomedical scientist
• Medical sales representative
• Toxicologist

Discover more on our Careers webpages.