MSc Drug Discovery

Why Surrey?
After completion, 47 per cent of our Drug Discovery MSc students secured a funded PhD place in a UK university. Others moved into jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, drug discovery research institutes or continued their education.

Academic groups in the Department are involved in cutting edge research in drug / inhibitor discovery, synthetic methods to aid medicinal chemistry, nanoparticle drug delivery, computational medicinal chemistry and the isolation of bioactive natural products from medicinal plants and pathogenic organisms. Supervisors maintain several strong collaborations with academics in the bioscience departments which make for fascinating multidisciplinary research projects.

The Department’s Joseph Kenyon laboratory recently (summer 2013) underwent a ~£2 million refurbishment and it now provides 24 state-of-the-art double fume cupboards and all necessary equipment for organic / medicinal chemistry. Almost all lab-based MSc projects will be carried out here.

Programme overview
This programme equips chemists with the skills and knowledge required to pursue a career in drug discovery research in industry or academia. Why not discover more about our MSc Drug Discovery in our video?

Taught modules comprise two-thirds of the course and cover the entire drug discovery, design and development process including biomolecules as drug targets, target validation, lead finding from synthetic and natural sources, and lead optimisation through medicinal chemistry. Pharmacology and toxicology are included to give an in-depth understanding of the requirements of drug-like molecules. An entire workshop-based module is devoted to in silico (computational) methods for protein modelling, ligand docking, drug design, and bio- and cheminformatics.

Medicinal chemistry training is backed up by the provision of a working knowledge of advanced organic chemistry, spectroscopy and analytical chemistry. Professional development is covered throughout the programme, but specifically in the Management, Communication and IT Skills module, and is one of the contributing factors to making Surrey one of the top universities in the UK for graduate employment.

All training will be applied in an extensive practical project which makes up the remaining one-third of the course. This will be at the forefront of a drug discovery related research topic under the supervision of a Chemistry academic. This may include the application of computational modelling, medicinal chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry in the following examples:

- DNA repair enzyme inhibitors as chemotherapy protectives
- Protein-polymer conjugates as nanomedicines to treat cardiovascular disease
- Fructose transporter probes and inhibitors to study fatty liver disease
- The isolation and characterisation of bioactive natural products from African and Scandinavian medicinal plants
- Computational modelling of enzymes which metabolise drugs
- Isolation and synthetic manipulation of immunosuppressives from Mycobacteria
- Nox2 inhibitors for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer

The academic year is divided into three parts: Semester 1, Semester 2 and Summer. Taught modules take place in the semesters and the bulk of the research project takes place in summer, although students review the background literature as part of their Management, Communication and IT Skills module in semester 1 and may carry out lab or computational experiments at any time.

Module overview
- Biomolecules and Medicinal Chemistry
- Computer Modelling of Drugs and Biomolecules
- Advanced Topics in Organic Chemistry
- dvanced Spectroscopy
- Analytical Techniques in Drug Discovery
- Toxicology
- Management, Communication and IT Skills
- Research project and dissertation

Teaching and assessment
Teaching is by a combination of formal lectures, tutorials and laboratory classes. All computer training will be in ‘hands-on’ workshops where your learning can be guided by using the software and technology in real time.

You will join one of the research groups in the Department of Chemistry for your research project and gain the experience of working alongside PhD students and experienced postdoctoral fellows, as well as working with an academic acknowledged as an expert in their field.

The programme will be assessed by a variety of methods. For the lecture-based modules, there will be formal examinations combined with assessed coursework, each contributing to the final mark in a ratio relevant to the subject. The research project will be assessed by dissertation and viva voce examination.

Entry requirements
A minimum 2:2 honours degree (or equivalent) in chemistry or a related discipline which includes courses in organic chemistry. Alternative qualifications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Selection is based upon a candidate’s application, references and undergraduate degree transcript.

How to apply
For more information on the course and how to apply please visit the course website.

General enquiries:
+44 (0)1483 681 681

Admissions enquiries:
+44 (0)1483 682 222
admissions@surrey.ac.uk