MSc Drug Discovery

The aim of the project is to provide you with the experience of carrying out research on a real drug discovery project with a definite goal. It is also to provide practical training in lab- or computer-based techniques, which will be invaluable to your future career.

The projects will be allocated to the various research laboratories as appropriate, and MSc students will work alongside those on MRes and PhD programmes.

On successful completion of this module, you should have:

• Carried out of a piece of research work appropriate to the amount of time expected (approximately 600 hours)
• Acquired materials or data that can be critically analysed and discussed in a dissertation and presentation with questions
• Acquired a range of general practical skills (within the remit of the project) and demonstrable ability (for example, verifiable by the quality of results) to apply these competently
• Demonstrated the ability to work safely within the laboratory
• Prepared a dissertation that is clear, well structured, written in good English and reports scientific findings to a standard expected by journals in the field
• Composed a review of the important background literature that is succinct and pertinent to the project
• Shown evidence of some critical analysis of the background literature
• Reported all relevant results obtained, in a style that is clear and succinct
• Interpreted and critically analysed specific results sensibly (within the Level M context)
• Shown some ability to combine individual results into an overall pattern, and to make further critical analysis and interpretation of the totality of results
• Made an attempt to relate the project findings to existing knowledge and to use each to evaluate the other
• Indicated some appreciation of the wider implications of the research

Other advantages and benefits from this programme include:

• Discovering how to locate and analyse new drugs
• Gaining knowledge essential for working in the pharmaceutical industry
• Enhancing your knowledge of modern drug discovery
• Learning state-of-the-art computer modelling and database searching, including three-dimensional graphics
• Gaining a working knowledge of pharmacology and toxicology
• Enhancing your career prospects
• Benefiting from experienced and sympathetic teachers
• Benefiting from an integrated environment that combines traditional chemistry with modern biology
• Industry relevance

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, presentation and questions, for which an external examiner will be present.

“The synthetic and medicinal chemists of today are at the centre of drug development and are involved in most, if not all, processes of drug discovery. Cancer research is a multidisciplinary effort and the continuing need for excellent synthetic and medicinal chemists is imperative, not only to successful drug development, but also to the exploration of new targets using small molecules to probe cellular and molecular mechanisms.”

Klaus Pors et al., Drug Discovery Today, 2009, 14(21/22), 1045

“Medicinal chemistry and computational chemistry are integral, overlapping parts of the drug discovery process ... It has been proposed that in the future, medicinal chemists will require greater computational and cheminformatics acumen than in previous years.”

Timothy J. Ritchie, Iain M. McLay, Drug Discovery Today, 2012, in press.

“A large number of drug discovery research programmes within pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories are based on natural products and/or structurally related analogues. These products are considered to exhibit a huge potential in the development of future drugs.”

‘Interfacing Chemical Biology, Natural Products and Drug Discovery’. International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry – 44e Rencontres Internationales de Chimie Thérapeutique, Angers, France, 2–4 July 2008.

“Using the antimalarial natural product artemisinin for inspiration, an international public–private partnership has designed a synthetic ozonide compound with potent antimalarial properties. The structurally simple, orally available drug candidate could be a cheaper and more effective alternative to current malaria drugs, its developers say.”

Amanda Yarnell, Chemical and Engineering News, 23 August 2004, 82, 4.

The qualification can be used to support an application for CChem grade membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Chemical Research and Chemistry programmes are run within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the cross-faculty Surrey Materials Institute (SMI), in collaboration with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

Staff in the Department of Chemistry have expertise which includes all aspects of chemistry: organic, inorganic, physical, physical organic, materials, polymers, thermochemistry, analytical, computational, medicinal and bioorganic.

You will receive a thorough education in advanced aspects of chemistry, but also undertake independent research via a project, guided by a dedicated and experienced supervisor. Projects are available across a range of topics, and may extend into areas of biology or materials science. Past MSc/MRes students have continued to further (PhD) education and to research posts in industry.