Program Overview

Introduction to the Drug Discovery Sciences Programme

The Drug Discovery Sciences programme is a two-year Master's programme that equips students with the knowledge and skills to tackle today's challenges in drug discovery. The programme offers three research specialisations: Design and Synthesis, Pharmacology and Toxicology, or Bioanalytics. Each specialisation combines compulsory courses, elective modules, and research training, giving students the flexibility to shape their own expertise.

Programme Structure

The programme starts with a first year consisting of courses in drug discovery sciences and a research internship. In the second year, students follow one of the research specialisations, which includes a major research project and elective courses.

Research Specialisations

The programme offers three research specialisations:

• Design and Synthesis in Drug Discovery: This specialisation focuses on the design and synthesis of biologically active molecules.
• Pharmacology and Toxicology in Drug Discovery: This specialisation focuses on the beneficial and adverse effects of drugs on biological systems at the molecular and cellular levels.
• Bioanalytics in Drug Discovery: This specialisation focuses on advanced analytical techniques central to modern drug discovery and development.

Curriculum

The study programme of each specialisation consists of compulsory courses, constrained elective courses, additional elective modules, and a major research project. The compulsory courses cover topics such as physical organic chemistry, computational design and synthesis of drugs, ADME, and drug target biochemistry and signalling.

Ideal Candidates

The programme is designed for students with a background in organic and physical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology, cellular biology, or related fields. Students should have a keen interest in understanding the molecular basis of drug actions and/or toxicity.

Internships

Students will conduct their major internship in one of the internationally renowned research groups within the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences at VU Amsterdam, or elsewhere in the Netherlands or abroad at either an academic institute or a company.

Career Prospects

After completing the programme, students can choose to enter the job market or join a PhD programme. As a graduate in Drug Discovery Sciences, students can start work as a medicinal chemist, as a product manager at a pharmaceutical company, or as a researcher at a hospital laboratory. There are also plenty of opportunities within research institutes and governmental agencies.

Additional Information

The programme is taught in English, and the second year of the Educational specialisation is taught in Dutch. The programme starts every academic year in September, and the teacher training specialisation in the STEM disciplines starts every academic year in September and February. The programme is unique because of its modular structure, which is built around 20 themes (core practices). Students will apply these teaching practices directly in the classroom, as they will be working in a school for more than 50% of their study programme. At VU Amsterdam, personal attention and individual guidance are top priority. Students will have a mentor from VU Amsterdam and a workplace supervisor who is an experienced first-degree subject teacher.