BSc in Pharmacology
- Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
- London, United Kingdom
BSc
DURATION
6 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,535 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students: £9,535 per year | international: £19,200 for the first year
Key Summary
On this course, you will benefit from our wide range of facilities for practical work.
At our Penrhyn Road campus, you will have access to a modern environment including:
- up-to-date applied biology and chemistry laboratories, the £9.8 million Eadweard Muybridge building with state-of-the-art laboratories, exercise physiology and biomechanics labs, and specialist equipment, including electron and confocal microscopes and spectrometers.
- integrated enterprise activities in your course, focusing on real-world problem solving in the area of Pharmacology.
- our award-winning Town House library, providing modern space for individual study and group work.
- computing laboratories and a team of IT support staff.
Why choose this course?
How exactly do medicinal drugs treat and prevent disease? How are they discovered and tested? How do they affect society? If you want to delve deeper into these questions, this could be the course for you.
This course is taught by award-winning experts, with a focus on biological and physiological processes, rather than chemical ones. We'll examine how drugs act on their targets in major organs and systems, and how the body reacts.
You'll study the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular disease. You'll also have opportunities to learn about new drugs affecting the brain, treating epilepsy and depression, and how drugs influence addiction.
We have updated our modules to enhance student-centred teaching and align course content with industry needs, helping you become a future-proof graduate.
Accreditations
This course meets the core curriculum requirements set out by the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) - the professional association for pharmacologists and one of the leading pharmacological societies in the world and the Royal Society of Biology (RSB).
We want to ensure anyone with potential and drive has the opportunity to study with us, no matter their background or financial situation. That's why each year, we provide a number of bursaries to help our undergraduate students gain their degree.
- The Kingston bursary
- Bursaries for care leavers
- Bursaries for estranged students
- Bursaries for young adult carers
- Bursaries for Sanctuary Scholars
- Chancerygate Foundation bursary
- Salutem scholarships
- AVSH scholarship
Year 1
Year 1 offers essential understanding of how the human body works, providing knowledge to underpin the study of pharmacology, and essential laboratory skills that you will use throughout your degree. You will gain a comprehensive overview of physiology from cellular to organ-system level, as well as genetics and molecular biology.
Core modules
- Genes to Tissues
- Human Physiology with Pharmacology
- Introduction to Biochemistry
- Scientific and Laboratory Skills
Year 2
In Year 2, you will explore the action of drugs at their target sites in greater detail, and the actions of the body on drugs once they have been administered.
You will also learn about how drugs act on the major organ systems of the body, including the cardiovascular, nervous, gastrointestinal, renal, respiratory and endocrine systems.
Further coverage of immunology, microbiology and molecular biology enables you to study selected diseases and their treatments. You will develop additional research skills ahead of your independent research project in year 3.
Core modules
- Applied Pharmacology with Toxicology
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Microbiology, Research Methods and Skills
- Molecular Biology of the Cell
Year 3
Year 3 provides further in-depth study of pharmacology - drugs used to treat cancer and infectious diseases; drugs acting on the brain and peripheral nervous system, such as antidepressants and analgesics; novel drugs used to treat degenerative brain diseases; and the mechanisms of action of drug abuse.
You will be able to investigate emerging new techniques in pharmacology. The wider impact of pharmacology on society is considered, and key skills needed to communicate with both specialists and the public are developed.
Your independent project enables you to gain experience of conducting research in a particular area of interest.
Core modules
- Drugs, Brain and Behaviour
- Medicines from Lab to Launch
- Pharmacotherapy of Infection and Cancer
- Project (Bioscience)
Graduates from our Pharmacology BSc (Hons) course go on to work in clinical trials, drug research, medical writing, pharmaceutical marketing and science communication. The course can also provide a gateway into graduate studies for clinical routes or academic research programmes.
As part of the course, you will have the chance to undertake a placement year in the pharmaceutical industry. This invaluable experience will help you discover the career paths available and better prepare you for work after graduation.
Embedded within this and throughout the whole Kingston experience is our Future Skills programme. The Future Skills programme was developed to respond to the ever-evolving demands from modern day employment.
It will help you obtain the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency and adaptability. You’ll learn how to apply these skills in different scenarios and be able to articulate to employers how doing so gives you the edge.