Master of Drug Discovery and Development – MDDD
Wellington, New Zealand
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Feb 2025
TUITION FEES
NZD 16,477 / per course
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Introduction
Build on your science degree and get a broad knowledge of the processes involved in drug discovery, design and development.
Gain the skills required to generate therapeutics for improving human or animal health with this intensive one-year taught programme, unique in New Zealand.
Your studies will combine the biological sciences with chemistry, giving you the skills to target, design, synthesise, create, and assess new drugs. Learn how to identify drug targets and develop these into new therapeutics. Develop skills to protect intellectual property, assess the financial viability of drugs, and consider the path to pre-clinical and clinical trial processes.
Tailor your studies to your strengths, interests, and career goals. You'll learn a mix of academic and practical skills that are closely aligned with the needs of the industry.
The Master of Drug Discovery and Development is best suited to capable students with a background in chemistry or relevant science subjects such as biochemistry, biomedical science, pharmacy, or pharmacology.
Learn from the Best
Learn from academics and professionals who are leaders in the field and have experience in successfully taking drugs to market. Courses are taught by at least three academic and industry specialists, giving you access to the widest possible range of real-world research and development expertise.
This programme is taught by the Ferrier Research Institute and partners with the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, the School of Biological Sciences, and the Centre for Biodiscovery.
You will get first-hand experience with the research activities within the Ferrier Research Institute that focuses on drug design and development. If you are studying towards a Master's, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the more than 50 scientists who make up the largest carbohydrate research team in the world. The Institute also has its manufacturing facility, allowing you to observe the drug development process from discovery to product.
The programme links with the Centre for Biodiscovery where you will interact with the wider Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington research community as they actively discover, design, and assess novel bioactive compounds.
Drugs in the Real World
Learn about the real-world issues facing pharmaceutical development. Make the most of the hard-earned experiences of staff who have worked in the local and international biotech industry. Learn how to handle chemicals on a large scale in a way that is safe, reliable, and robust.
Workload and Duration
You can expect a workload of 40-45 hours a week for much of your studies.
The MD can be completed in 12 months full-time, or two years of part-time study but you'll need to discuss this option with the programme director first. The Diploma will take you two trimesters and the Certificate one trimester.
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
You can look for scholarships based on your level of study, subject area, and background.
Curriculum
What you'll study
Each qualification includes the core courses DRGD 401 Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, and a choice between DRDG 402 Drug Design or CHEM 421 Organic Chemistry and Bio-organic Chemistry.
After that, you'll choose from selected courses from the study areas of Drug Discovery and Development, Biomedical Science, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Clinical Research and Microbiology.
All three qualifications allow you to do some applied research.
Master's
Study for the Master's qualification in two parts over three trimesters:
- In Part 1, the first two trimesters, you're likely to take seven courses that will include the core courses and a 30-point Research Preparation course.
- In Part 2, you'll complete a full research project. Choose between the DRDG 561 Applied Research Project, to complete one or more problem-solving projects, or the DRGD 590 Research Project, to focus on medicinal chemistry and the formulation of active pharmaceutical products. In some cases, you may be able to replace the research project with the thesis course DRGD 595.
Research topics
Be part of a dynamic and collaborative scientific research community. Past students' research areas in drug discovery and development have included:
- Development of a new scaled-up catalytic process for a high-value fine chemical
- Isolation and characterisation of a novel bioactive from a New Zealand marine organism
- Formulation of a novel therapeutic for cancer immunotherapy.
Career Opportunities
Develop the broad skills you need to work in drug discovery in companies, universities, research institutes, or with drug regulatory authorities. Graduates from this programme have enjoyed success with commercial pharmaceutical drug development, veterinary therapeutics, patent assessment, further research undertaking PhD studies, and activities across government, research, and commercial organisations.