Pharmaceutical Analysis with Industrial Placement

Overview

Acquire the skills, knowledge and hands-on experience for a career as a Pharmaceutical Analyst in Industry or Academia.



Who Are You?

You are probably a recent physical or life sciences graduate – chemistry, pharmacy and biology.



But you could equally be in work and want to develop your professional skills. If you are, we offer this course part-time as well, one day per week.



Why Study This Course?

Our industrial partners are always telling us they need people like you. Analysts are among the most sought after professionals with some of the highest employability rates.



Experience in a pharmaceutical company can help you decide if you enjoy working in industry or prefer research/academic career. Placements also improve employability prospects as a lot of placement students get offered a job immediately after they complete their degree.



You will receive practical training on state-of-the-art separation techniques, such as HPLC/MS and GC/MS, in the purpose built Pharmaceutical Analysis lab designed in partnership with Agilent (a world-leading instrument manufacturer).



Placements on this course can be done in an appropriate company anywhere in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. They are open to both local and International students (subject to visa requirements).



Course Structure

The aims and objectives of the course are to:

• prepare the student to move directly into graduate level employment in the chemical / pharmaceutical industry, or in a non-chemistry related industry;

• enhance their employability skills including the ability to work in a team, written and oral presentation skills, numeracy and preparation for self-motivated lifelong learning, professional development and service to society;

• gain appropriate knowledge and subject specific practical skills to permit students to progress to either an academic research degree (PhD) or an industrial research position;

• provide a practical research training through successful completion of a substantial piece of research in pharmaceutical analysis;

• undertake research at the forefront of the analytical sciences at an advanced level.



Course Details

You’ll learn the theory behind state-of-the-art analytical techniques and have an opportunity to practice your skills using the most modern instrumentation.



You’ll be trained on techniques such as:

• Liquid and gas chromatography (HPLC, GC)

• Mass spectrometry (MS)

• Thermal Analysis (DSC, TGA)

• X-ray crystallography (PXRD, XRD)

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy



You will also receive training on QA/QC aspects of the Pharmaceutical Industry. For your research project, you’ll spend 2-3 months in a laboratory. You have the option to do this in industry, for example in Almac.

The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.



Year 1

Core Modules

• Research Project in Pharmaceutical Analysis (60 credits)

• Advanced Separation Science (20 credits)

• MSc in Pharmaceutical Analysis Industrial Placement (0 credits)

• Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Pharmaceutical Industry (20 credits)

• Solid State Pharmaceutical Analysis Methods (40 credits)

• Chemical, Biochemical and Spectroscopic Analytical Methods (40 credits)

Graduate

Normally a 2.2 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in Chemistry, Pharmacy or a closely allied subject. Performance in key modules will be taken into consideration.



Applicants with relevant work experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.



International Students

Please see International Student's link below.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 30th June 2025 for courses which commence in late September.



In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal prior to the deadline stated on course finder.



Notifications to this effect will appear on the application portal against the programme application page.



Please note: A deposit will be required to secure a place on this course.

2 years (Full-time)

3 years (Part-time)



Contact Teaching Hours (per week in term time):

Full-time: 12-20 hours

Part-time: 8-12 hours

Entry Year: 2025/26

Career Prospects

Introduction

This programme is designed to prepare students for employment as analysts in the pharmaceutical and related industries.



There is currently a high demand, both locally and internationally, for graduates with analytical skills in this sector.



Employment Links

Many of our previous students have gone on to work for companies such as:

• Almac

• Randox

• Norbrook

• Pfizer

http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/



Further Study Opportunities

The Industrial Placement year of this MSc will start after the students have completed their taught modules in May. Students can complete their research project on return to QUB or during their industrial placement (and that completes the course). There is a similar MSci with an International Placement year.