Medicinal Chemistry with a Year in Industry (BSc)

We aim to provide an exceptional environment for chemical education and our undergraduate degrees reflect our current research strengths and interests, with final-year projects fully integrated into our research groups. Our goal is to deliver expert teaching and comprehensive pastoral care to enable you to realise your maximum potential.

Teaching is undertaken through a series of lectures, tutorials, workshops, and practical classes. These are supported by material hosted on Learning Central, the University’s virtual learning environment. 

Laboratory work 

In year one, the emphasis is on basic techniques and simple but accurate recording of observations. Skills are taught by practical demonstrations and supported by a range of e-learning resources freely available and readily accessible to all students. 
  
Self-testing offers insight into different practical techniques, and the chance to correct mistakes before attending laboratory sessions. 

Laboratory work progresses towards substantial experiments that need careful planning, analysis, and interpretation of results, as well as professional standard reporting. Practical work provides experience in all the main laboratory procedures and techniques and is designed to extend your level of proficiency in practical chemistry, preparing you to undertake an independent research project in the final stages of your degree. 

Project 

All our chemistry courses have a major element of independent, supervised project work. In your final year, you will work on a project in your preferred area of chemistry and be allocated a topic to investigate or develop. Working under the guidance of an expert in the field, you will present the results of your work orally and in writing.

Placement  

You’ll spend your third year working as an employee on an industrial placement, gaining valuable experience and learning a wide variety of skills. 

How will I be supported?

You will be supported by a range of academic tutors, one of whom also acts as your personal tutor. You will see one of your tutors each week, either as part of a small tutorial group or on a one-to-one basis in a personal tutorial.  All staff operate an open-door policy, meaning you can always approach staff with issues, academic or otherwise.   

You will be given access to a comprehensive handbook appropriate to your year of study, containing details of the School’s procedures and policies.   

We make extensive use of the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (Learning Central) to share information, teaching materials and support your learning.

The School’s industry placement coordinator and the University careers team will support you in finding and applying for industry placements.

How will I be assessed?

Formative and summative assessments are carried out during each year of study. This gives a measure of performance to inform you, staff, and potential employers about your progress and achievement. It can also help the learning process by highlighting areas of success and areas needing more attention.

Assessment involves a blend of methods that are selected to suit the outcomes of each module and the programme as a whole. These methods include the following:

• Formal examinations and class tests with fixed time-limits for theory modules
• Reports and outputs (compounds, data, code) from laboratory and computational work to demonstrate mastery of practical skills and reporting to professional standards.
• Planning, conducting, and reporting of project work.
• Essays for demonstrating searching, synthesis, and evaluation of the literature.
• Problem-solving as workshop assignments or on-line exercises that allow application of theory to practice.
• Oral presentations
• Preparation and display of posters.
• In your placement year you will be assessed by producing reports which will cover the work experience and skills and experience gained. Additionally, a video presentation of your placement will be produced.

What skills will I practise and develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will achieve by the end of your programme at Cardiff University and identify the knowledge and skills that you will develop. They will also help you to understand what is expected of you.

On successful completion of your programme, you will be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of central theories and arguments, and their applications to current state-of-the-art medicinal chemical theory.
• Critically evaluate familiar and unfamiliar chemical systems and processes.
• Demonstrate an understanding of mathematical knowledge appropriate for the analysis and evaluation of biological and chemical problems.
• Demonstrate how the study of your subject specialism is organised and practised in an industrial setting. 

Intellectual Skills:

• Implement appropriate models to provide explanations and predictions applying core medicinal chemistry concepts.
• Plan, carry out, and evaluate investigative work utilising appropriate methodologies for synthesis, analysis, and computational modelling.
• Analyse and interpret data derived from laboratory observations and measurements to define and solve problems in real-world and abstract contexts.
• Demonstrate the ability to enhance and diversify your subject specialism/s by successfully undertaking a placement at an industrial experience provider. 

Professional Practical Skills:

• Communicate effectively to varying audiences, explaining academic ideas and technical arguments to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Research, analyse, and apply primary sources of literature to computational, data-processing, and electronic searching skills relating to chemical information to develop reasoned arguments, hypotheses, and decisions.
• Identify responsibilities and fundamentals of practice within collaborative professional relationships including social and economic scenarios in the pharmaceutical industry.

Transferable/Key Skills:

• Demonstrate initiative by structuring and time-managing an investigative task, working in teams when appropriate.
• Study creatively, independently, and reflectively, applying knowledge and skills to wider challenges or contexts.
• Develop awareness of your strengths and weaknesses using guidance/feedback to develop strategies for learning with emerging autonomy.
• Apply skills in critical evaluation, analysis, and judgement effectively in a diverse range of medicinal chemistry contexts.
• Demonstrate digital literacy and the ability to assess the credibility of information sources.