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Study at WIT landing PageDiscover the routes into studying at WIT for school leavers, adult learners, further education students, graduates and people who have already started studies elsewhere as well as options for those interested in online courses.
Students Landing PageWIT offers a broad range of academic programmes from levels 6 to 10 on the national framework of qualifications across Business, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Science and Computing.
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The pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical industry makes a vital contribution to society through the development and production of drugs such as antibiotics for infectious diseases, cancer treatment drugs and antiviral drugs for HIV. The pharmaceutical sector plays a vital role in Ireland’s economy with over 150 pharmaceutical companies, including 13 of the world’s top 15. There is a strong demand for graduates qualified in pharmaceutical science and employment prospects are excellent.
This is a four year honours degree aimed at preparing graduates for the pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical industry. Students will be exposed to a broad range of subjects and laboratory instrumentation relevant to the pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical industry. A research project is also carried out in year 4. The course also provides graduates with a range of transferable skills so that graduates are qualified for a wide range of science-based industries.
A six-month work placement is included in the third year of the course.
WIT lecturing staff teaching on this course are actively involved in a range of highly successful and well-funded research work related to pharmaceutical science. Collaborators include national and international universities and research institutes, and industrial partners from the pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical sector both in Ireland and abroad. Current research areas include: development of novel polymers for therapeutic drug delivery, biomedical research in eye treatment, novel analytical methods for pharmaceutical products, sensing devices for environmental analysis, biotechnology for drug synthesis and bioremediation.
The four-year BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Science course won the prestigious Pharma Education & Training Award in the Pharma Industry Awards 2017. The awards are a 'benchmark for excellence for those operating in Ireland's pharma industry'.
The programme was also nominated for two awards in 2018: The Education Awards 2018: Best Student Experience Award and the HR Leadership and Management Awards 2018: Excellence in Education and Training Award.
Read more in our news section.
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
|---|---|
| Introductory Biology | Cell Biology & Biochemistry |
| Introductory Chemistry | Physical & Organic Chemistry |
| Introductory Physics | Physics for Scientists |
| Introductory Mathematics | Mathematics for Scientists |
| Introduction to ICT for Scientists | Introduction to Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Science |
| Good Laboratory Practice & Core Skills | Choose one of the following electives: |
| *Forensic Science | |
| *Science & Society | |
| * = elective module | *Environmental Monitoring |
| Semester 3 | Semester 4 |
|---|---|
| Organic Chemistry and Biomolecules | Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry |
| Spectroscopic Techniques | Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Techniques |
| Physical Chemistry | Inorganic Chemistry |
| Statistics for Scientists | Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Processing |
| Pharmaceutical Science | Biopharmaceutical Science |
| Laboratory Data Analysis and Presentation | Applied Mathematics for Scientists |
| Semester 5 | Semester 6 |
|---|---|
| Total Quality Management | Work Placement |
| Chromatographic Method Development and Validation | |
| Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | |
| Pharmaceuticals and Natural Products | |
| Advanced Spectroscopic Analysis of Organic Compounds | |
| Inorganic & Physical Chemistry |
| Semester 7 | Semester 8 |
|---|---|
| Advanced Techniques in Pharmaceutical Science | Advanced Inorganic & Photochemistry |
| Advanced Topics in Physical Chemistry | Advanced Quality Methodologies |
| Pharmaceutical Synthesis and Characterisation | Pharmaceutical Formulation & Drug Delivery |
| Regulatory Affairs & Compliance | Pharmacology, Drug Design & Synthesis |
| Research Methodology & Literature Review | Research Project (Double Module) |
2 subjects: H5
4 subjects: O6/H7
English or Irish: O6/H7
Mathematics: O6/H7
Applicants should note that a science subject (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Physics with Chemistry or Agricultural Science) of Leaving Certificate is recommended for this programme.
A degree in pharmaceutical science will provide graduates with skills that are much sought after in a range of sectors including:
Pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical industries
Quality control & quality assurance
Laboratory analysis
Research & development
Education & teaching after completing a Professional Master of Education
Food & drinks industry
MSc and PhD by research
This programme attracts many international students from around the world each year. There are many supports in place and students will be given lots of guidance from our very experienced staff in the Waterford Institute of Technology International Office. To find an international perspective to the course and Department of Science have a look at our video.
Main Campus Cork Road, Waterford City, 
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