探花系列

Entry requirements

Degree:

2:2

Further entry requirements may apply

Key facts

Study mode:

Full-time

Start dates:

September (12 months)

Fees:

2027/28 tuition fees for UK students: £10,400

2027/28 tuition fees for EU and international students: £18,300

See all the key facts and full entry requirements

Overview

The Pharmaceutical Quality by Design (QbD) course provides an understanding of the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries as they strive to develop new products. It will equip you with modern product development and manufacturing solutions that conform to current industry best practices and modern QbD principles.

Our Leicester School of Pharmacy has an established reputation of more than 100 years of pharmacy teaching. This course is dedicated to applying international regulatory guidelines used by all big pharmaceutical industries to pharmaceutical manufacture and product development.

Our teaching staff are experienced practitioners and researchers, and offer academic and industrial expertise underpinned by Quality by Design principles. You will learn about the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in product formulation, material science, advanced analytical sciences, and process engineering and control, as they strive to develop new products and create safe medicines.

Your learning will benefit from our strong industry links, with support from guest lecturers and other experts within the sector. This insight ensures that your studies will be up to date with current practice and developments, preparing you to progress into a wide range of careers, from product development and manufacturing to regulatory affairs, marketing, and clinical research.

Extensive investment in our industry-standard laboratories means that you will have access to specialist equipment throughout your studies. This includes a continuous manufacture platform using a novel in-line based on UV-Vis spectroscopy, powder flow and compression technology, thermal and mechanical analysers, freeze drying and tablet manufacturing facilities.

  • Our experienced academic staff have research projects supported by Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
  • This programme prepares you for a wide variety of pharmaceutical career opportunities, from product development and manufacturing to regulatory affairs, marketing, and clinical research.
  • Strong industry links and direct input from guest lecturers and experts in the field ensure your learning is relevant to current practice and developments within the sector.
  • The course contains areas of core knowledge and skills with an emphasis on application of QbD principles and continuous improvement activities to the development and manufacture of pharmaceutical products.
  • Benefit from block teaching, where most students study one subject at a time. A simple timetable will allow you to really engage with your learning, receive regular feedback and assessments, get to know your course mates and enjoy a better study-life balance.

Teaching and assessment

Modules

The course contains areas of core knowledge and skills with an emphasis on application of Quality by Design (QbD) principles and continuous improvement activities to the development and manufacture of pharmaceutical products. The course will provide you with a coherent and balanced programme of study in the following areas.

Block 1: Quality by Design: Fundamental principles

This module introduces modern approaches to pharmaceutical development and manufacture based on the International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) guidelines for Quality. Research design methods including experimental design, data collection, presentation, analysis and writing up of research results are included. You will learn about a variety of guidelines and regulations relating to the quality of pharmaceutical products.

Block 2: Prod Design: Formulation Development

The aim of this module is to apply QbD tools to pre-formulation and formulation of pharmaceutical products. You will learn about a variety of techniques and methods to formulate and produce safe medicines. The principles of Quality by Design (QbD) and its approaches will be applied and evaluated against alternative approaches. Critical quality attributes of drug product and drug substances that have a direct impact on product quality, safety and efficacy will be studied and critiqued.

Block 3: Process Design: Manufacturing & Process Analytical Technologies

The aim of this module is to present the elements of quality by design in process selection, design, and product manufacturing to ensure pharmaceutical quality. The process control and advanced process control methods and analytical techniques used in pharmaceutical product manufacturing and characterization will be discussed. You will learn about design and control of manufacturing process based on the understanding of material properties and critical process parameters. Process control and advanced process control methods during product manufacturing are introduced, and Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is discussed to advance pharmaceutical process identification, simulation, and control.

Block 4: Biopharmaceuticals

This module introduces the use of large, complex molecules in therapeutics and presents new drug delivery strategies for biologics. The module also covers the use of large biologically active molecules such as hormones, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and gene therapy. You will also learn about regulatory concepts for marketing authorisation of biopharmaceutical products. Additionally, elements of intellectual property and patency procedures in the module will benefit you if you are considering entrepreneurship for your future career.

Block 5 and 6: Dissertation

The dissertation provides you with an opportunity to consolidate your knowledge of quality by design applied to pharmaceutical science by conducting a research or development project in an area related to pharmaceutical manufacturing. The dissertation requires the application of many of the skills and knowledge acquired in the subjects studied on the Pharmaceutical Quality by Design Programme and provides you with the opportunity to consider the integrated nature of the pharmaceutical industry areas.

The learning environment for the first two semesters is varied with lectures, tutorials, seminars, laboratory-based practicals and computer laboratories. In the third semester the learning venue will depend on your dissertation topic and will be much more aimed at guided self-study.

The course uses a variety of assessment methods relevant to a master’s level of study. The assessments include oral presentations, group work assignments, case study reports, essay writing, a research proposal and a final dissertation.

Contact hours

Contact hours in a typical week will depend to some extent on the optional modules you choose to study. However, typically you will have an average of 15 contact hours of teaching.

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Why choose 探花系列?

Your future career

This course equips graduates with the relevant knowledge and skills to compete for jobs in pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors linked to industry or academia all over the world. There are career opportunities in areas such as product development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, marketing and clinical research, and jobs include:

  • Product Lifecycle Manager
  • Oral Solid Dose (OSD) Technologist
  • OSD Industrialisation Lead
  • Production Technologist
  • Senior analyst
  • Regulatory affairs associate performance manager
  • Senior device technologist
  • Product development scientist

Careers and employability

An award-winning Careers Team, the #1 UK university for careers support (TargetJobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards, 2024), we provide you with all the support you need.

Our careers commitment doesn’t end at graduation. With , you’ll have access to lifelong career support throughout your entire career.

How we support you

Unlimited one-to-one careers coaching

Get tailored advice and guidance from our expert careers advisors whenever you need it.

Professional development programme

Boost your employability with workshops, bootcamps, training sessions, and employer-led events.

Inside Edge Mentoring

Connect with professionals from dynamic industries to expand your career insight, network and knowledge of the world of work.

24/7 access to digital employability tools

Access LinkedIn Learning, personalised CV feedback, mock interviews and more – anytime, anywhere.

Entrepreneurship support

Bring your business ideas to life with events, networking opportunities, expert speakers, workshops and links to funding opportunities.

Job search assistance

Get support finding part-time work, placements, internships and graduate jobs.

Employability projects and placements

Gain real-world experience through academic business consultancy projects or work placements (course-dependent).

Industry-informed teaching

Learn from real-world experience and academics, guest lecturers and business leaders who share their industry expertise.

Discover postgraduate careers

Fees and funding

UK and Channel Island students

2027/28 tuition fees for UK students: £10,400

EU and international students

2027/28 tuition fees for EU and international students: £18,300

Funding

Postgraduate Master's Loan (Student Loans Company)

A Postgraduate Master’s Loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate master’s course.

Funding for postgraduate loans is different if:

  • you normally live in Scotland
  • you normally live in Wales
  • you normally live in Northern Ireland

Additional postgraduate loans and grants

Sir Thomas White Loans Charity

Applicants may be able to borrow up to £10,000 interest-free for 9 years from the for postgraduate study. Applicants must be resident in Leicestershire or Rutland for more than three years and be aged over 18 years old and under 45 years old.

Telephone number for Sir Thomas White Loans Charity: +44 (0)116 204 6620

Sir Harry James Riddleston Charity of Leicester

Applicants may be able to borrow up to £10,000 interest-free for five to 10 years for business, vocational or education purposes from the . You must be aged over 18 and under 45 and reside in Leicestershire or Rutland.

Telephone number for Sir Harry Riddleston Charity of Leicester: +44 (0)1858 463322

Educational grants, trusts and charities

Some educational trusts and charities provide small grants to help towards books, fees or equipment. There are several searchable online Grants databases such as .

Funds for women graduates

offer grants towards living expenses for the final year of a PhD or DPhil for UK, EU or international students.

Going to university represents a real investment in your future and there is plenty of financial support available to students for both tuition fees and living expenses.

Find out more about funding

Additional costs

The core textbooks for all modules are available in the Kimberlin Library, and journal articles in your reading lists are also mostly available electronically from your my探花系列 login.

Some students like to purchase their own text books or print course documents and we suggest allowing approximately £200 per year for this.

All students are required to pay for their DBS check if required for your programme or placement.

In addition, students will be required to pay for their travel costs to placements or project locations.

All students are provided the opportunity to participate in 探花系列 Global trips. These trips are subsidised by the University, and the cost and subsidy vary by location.

Scholarships

20% Postgraduate Alumni Scholarship

This scholarship provides 探花系列 graduates with an exclusive tuition fee discount of 20 per cent. The discount is available on selected full-time, part-time and distance learning postgraduate taught courses running across multiple start dates.

Read more about the Postgraduate Alumni Scholarship
20% Postgraduate Alumni Scholarship

Entry requirements

Degree:

2:2

  • A good honours degree (minimum 2:2 or equivalent) in a chemical, biological or physical science, including (though not exclusive to) chemistry, biology, chemical engineering, engineering, pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, or physics (or equivalent)
  • Alternatively, we will accept a portfolio of professional and/or academic qualifications of equivalent standing to an honours degree.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with no less than 6.0 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Key facts

Course title

Pharmaceutical Quality by Design

Award

MSc, PG Dip, PG Cert

Programme code

H81271

Study mode

Full-time

Study level

Postgraduate

Start dates

September

Duration

12 months

How to apply

How to apply for a masters degree

Save these details for your application
Programme title:
Pharmaceutical Quality by Design MSc, PG Dip, PG Cert
Programme code:
H81271

You can apply using the 探花系列 Application Portal. This method allows you to save, revisit and review your application before submitting it at any time of the day.

The following should be submitted with the application form:

  • Where required, one current reference on official headed paper or from a professional email address. This can be a work or academic reference and must be signed and recently dated
  • Copies of your academic transcripts
  • Copies of your degree or diploma certificates
  • Your personal statement