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Students
Tuition Fee
USD 25,248
Per year
Start Date
Medium of studying
On campus
Duration
12 months
Program Facts
Program Details
Degree
Masters
Major
Chemistry | Molecular Biology
Area of study
Natural Science
Education type
On campus
Timing
Full time
Course Language
English
Tuition Fee
Average International Tuition Fee
USD 25,248
Intakes
Program start dateApplication deadline
2024-09-01-
About Program

Program Overview


Course Overview

Cheminformatics is the use of computational techniques to solve chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology problems. Students will understand and apply a range of computational tools to address toxicological questions in preparation for a career in in silico toxicity prediction in the pharma, industry, consultancy, academia and government. The course is delivered over one year by the disciplines of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Mathematics and Chemistry.





What makes this course unique ...

  • Integrated training in toxicology and computational approaches (analytics) to develop a highly marketable skill-set for a career in the Pharma industry or organizations that regulate chemical safety

  • Guest lecturers from regulators and industry that teach from "real-life" cases and that can provide career development advice

  • An independent research project focussed on solving real world toxicity/toxicity assessment problems

  • Scholarships available

    Find out about our Postgraduate Scholarships here.





    Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System.

    A shortlisting procedure will be applied that evaluates:

  • Undergraduate academic performance throughout their time at university
  • The content and quality of their personal statement
  • Prior research or work experience
  • Reference letters
  • The ideal student will have a BSc or MSc in chemistry with an interest in toxicology, and computational approaches to toxicity prediction. Students with a background in Pharmacology or Bio-informatics (or related disciplines) will also be encouraged to apply.





    Who Teaches this Course

  • Professor Cathal Seoighe
  • Dr Pilib Ó Broin
  • Dr Aaron Golden
  • Dr. Howard Oliver Fearnhead PhD

    Senior Lecturer

    Biomedical Sciences Building

    NUI, Galway

    Upper Newcastle Road

    Galway

    View Profile

    Dr Declan Mc Kernan B.Sc, Ph.D

    Lecturer Above The Bar

    Pharmacology & Therapeutics

    Room 3009

    Human Biology Building

    NUI Galway

    View Profile

    Prof John Kelly B.Sc., Ph.D. View Profile [an error occurred while processing this directive]

    Program Outline

    Course Outline

    The course is delivered over three semesters. In Semester 1 students learn the fundamentals of pharmacology, toxicology and are introduced to computational drug-design, programming for biology and statistical computing in R. This forms a foundation for more advanced material explored in Semester 2.

    In Semester 2 students consider more advanced concepts in toxicology and investigate controversial areas of toxicology. They also develop a theoretical and a practical understanding of high through put and high content screening technologies that are used to generate large data sets for analysis.  The students also learn to apply bioinformatic and cheminformatic tools to such large data sets.  This semester equips the students to develop and test a novel hypothesis through independent research that is completed in the third semester.

    In Semester 3 students work independently but with the guidance of an academic or industry-based thesis supervisor on a cheminformatics research project.

    The course involves lectures, laboratory-based training, self-directed learning and a three month independent research project. Competence is assessed through a mixture of written examinations, computer-based examinations, course work (including verbal presentations and poster presentations) and a research thesis.


    Curriculum Information

    Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).

    Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.


    Glossary of Terms

    Credits

    You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.

    Module

    An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.

    Subject

    Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.

    Optional

    A module you may choose to study.

    Required

    A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).

    Required Core Subject

    A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.

    Semester

    Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.


    Year 1 (90 Credits)

    Required

    PM208:

    Fundamental Concepts in Pharmacology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    PM311:

    Introduction to Toxicology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    MA5108:

    Statistical Computing with R

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    PM5108:

    Applied Toxicology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    MA5114:

    Programming for Biology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    CH5106:

    Computational Approaches to Drug Design and Biomolecular Structure

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Optional

    RPL005:

    Recognised Prior Learning

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Optional

    RPL010:

    Recognised Prior Learning

    - 10 Credits - Semester 1

    Optional

    BI5107:

    Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Optional

    BI5108:

    Green Lab Principles and Practice

    - 5 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    PM5114:

    Screening Molecular Libraries

    - 5 Credits - Semester 2

    Required

    MA5118:

    Advanced Chemoinformatics

    - 5 Credits - Semester 2

    Required

    PM5112:

    Research Project in Toxicology

    - 30 Credits - Semester 1

    Required

    MA324:

    Introduction to Bioinformatics (Honours)

    - 5 Credits - Semester 2

    Required

    PM5111:

    Advanced Toxicology

    - 5 Credits - Semester 2

    Required

    PM5110:

    Current Topics in Toxicology

    - 10 Credits - Semester 2

    Optional

    REM506:

    Independent Study Module

    - 5 Credits - Semester 2



    Why Choose This Course?


    Career Opportunities

    It costs approximately $1bn and 10–20 years to get a drug from conception to market. While many candidate molecules enter the drug development pipeline, most will fail to become drugs, mainly due to unexpected toxicity. The failure to identify toxicity early in the development process costs the pharmaceutical industry billions of dollars in either failed clinical trials or in withdrawing drugs from the market. At the same time national and trans-national regulatory bodies work to identify the toxicity of chemicals used in food-stuffs, consumer products, industry and agriculture with the aim of building a chemically safe society. Consequently the global ADME toxicology testing market, which aims to identify potential toxicity is projected to surpass $16.2 billion by 2024. In an era when Pharma investment in research and development is falling, scientists to develop and use computational tools that better predict toxicity are at a premium. The value of these skills is further enhanced by the scarcity of training programmes to produce toxicologists with the appropriate computational skills.

    Graduates from the course will be employed in the Pharmaceutical industry, the Cosmetics Industry, National and EU Regulatory bodies, Toxicology Consultancies and academia.



    About University of Galway

    Founded in 1845, we've been inspiring students for 178 years. University of Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching.

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    Admission Requirements

    Primary degree:

    A 2.2 degree or higher (or equivalent) in Chemistry, Pharmacology, Biochemistry or a related discipline.

    Language skills:

    An IELTS score of 6.5 or greater in all categories is required.

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