Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery
Biological chemistry and drug discovery sits at the frontier of two sciences, combining the molecular understanding of biological systems with the synthetic and analytical tools of chemistry to ask how drugs are discovered, designed, and developed. It is a discipline concerned with one of the most consequential applications of science in the modern world: the identification of molecules that can be used to treat, prevent, or manage disease. The path from a biological target to a clinically approved medicine is long and complex, and the people who navigate it need to understand both the biology of disease and the chemistry of molecules that can interact with it selectively and safely.
At the University of Dundee, this five-year full-time programme includes a year in industry and a year abroad, making it an unusually rich and extended degree that combines deep academic training with significant professional and international experience. Dundee has a world-class reputation in drug discovery and life sciences research, with the Drug Discovery Unit and the Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research giving undergraduate students access to a research environment at the cutting edge of the discipline. The year in industry places you in a pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or research organisation for an extended period, while the year abroad allows you to study at a partner institution, broadening both your scientific experience and your perspective.
Across the programme you will study organic and medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, molecular pharmacology, structural biology, and the processes of target identification, lead discovery, and preclinical development. The combination of chemistry and biology throughout is deliberate, developing fluency in both disciplines rather than depth in just one.
Graduates move into the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, academic research, clinical science, regulatory affairs, and science communication. Many continue to doctoral research, where Dundee's exceptional reputation provides strong support.