Program Overview

Program Overview

The Faculty of Pharmacy offers a research-based program that emphasizes various disciplines in pharmacy, including drug discovery, pharmaceutical product development, pharmacy education, and quality management of medicines. This research-oriented program is based on laboratory work, a combination of laboratory and survey work, or survey studies in various fields of pharmacy.

Research Areas

• Drug and Herbal Development: Focuses on the study of natural products for the identification of chemical compounds with specific therapeutic effects that can be developed into new drug candidates against complex and challenging drug targets before clinical trials are conducted. This field also involves the evaluation of herbs and related products as therapeutic agents in terms of quality, safety, and effectiveness.
• Drug Delivery Technology: Focuses on the latest challenges in drug delivery and aims to build rational strategies for drug design and subsequently produce advanced drug delivery systems. This includes studying the physicochemical properties of traditional or biotechnology-based drugs and understanding the mechanisms of drug absorption by cells and drug transport across biological membranes.
• Quality Management of Medicines: Focuses on drug usage patterns, treatment regimen effectiveness, adverse drug reaction reporting, health awareness, patient education, pharmacoeconomics, and national drug policy and its implementation.

Program Structure

The program is offered in two modes: full-time and part-time. The duration of the program is as follows:

• Master of Science: Full-time (4-6 semesters) or part-time (4-8 semesters)
• Doctor of Philosophy: Full-time (6-12 semesters) or part-time (8-14 semesters)

Program Requirements

• Master of Science:
  • Submit a thesis not exceeding 60,000 words.
  • Pass an oral examination.
  • Publish at least one article in a WoS-indexed journal.
  • Complete a research methodology course.
  • International students must take and pass a Malay language course.
• Doctor of Philosophy:
  • Submit a thesis not exceeding 100,000 words.
  • Pass an oral examination.
  • Publish at least two articles in WoS-indexed journals.
  • Complete a research methodology course.
  • International students must take and pass a Malay language course.

Admission Criteria

• Doctor of Philosophy:
  • A bachelor's degree with a minimum CGPA of 3.67 or equivalent, through a conversion pathway.
  • A master's degree in a related field, as accepted by the Senate.
  • Other relevant qualifications, as accepted by the Senate, equivalent to a master's degree.
• Master of Science:
  • A bachelor's degree in a related field with a minimum CGPA of 2.75 or equivalent, as accepted by the Senate.
  • A bachelor's degree in a related field with a CGPA between 2.50 and 2.75, or equivalent, may be accepted subject to a rigorous internal assessment.
  • A bachelor's degree in a related field with a CGPA below 2.50, or equivalent, and a minimum of 5 years of working experience in a related field.

English Language Requirements for International Candidates

International candidates must meet the English language requirements set by the Faculty and University:

• IELTS: Achieve a minimum band score of 6.0.
• TOEFL: Achieve a minimum score of 60.
• CEFR: Achieve a Mid B2 level.
• MUET: Achieve a minimum band score of 4. The Faculty may exempt international candidates from these requirements if they are from countries where English is the official language or have academic qualifications from institutions where English is the medium of instruction.

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for the program are as follows:

• Local Students:
  • Master of Science (Research)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Research)
• International Students:
  • Master of Science (Research)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Research)