SLVKA0341U Research Project in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery
MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences - compulsory
Problem-oriented and case-based teaching. Students work in
groups of 3 to 4 on a research project dealing with selected
aspects of pre-formulation, formulation and testing of types of
drugs. Advisers provide students with a project topic and students
are then expected to conduct independent literature studies,
formulate the project together with the process adviser, conduct
practical laboratory work, and practise making a presentation in a
discussion class mid-way through the course. The project is
concluded by a project report and subsequent individual oral
examination.
The project starts with a planning phase, in which students define
the project together with a process adviser on the basis of the
project topic and self-selected background literature. Project
topics may be defined together with a Danish company (we currently
have contact with Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk) and represent a
specific problem these companies would like investigated. Then
students draft a research protocol, which includes choice of
method, regard for the physical-chemical characteristics of the
drugs and secondary substances, as well as statistical
deliberations. The research protocol will be discussed with
internal advisers as well as corporate advisers. Laboratory work
will consist of pre-formulation studies, drug development and
testing (if possible). Emphasis will be on the systematic testing
and mechanical studies of secondary substances and formulation
characteristics. Students will make ongoing laboratory portfolios
to give them practice in process evaluation. Each student will
report on the general course of the process and will contribute to
group work.
A discussion class will be held mid-way through the course so that
each project group can make an electronic presentation dealing with
the project and its current status. The process adviser as well as
corporate advisers will participate.
At the end of the course each group will write up a project report
based on literature studies and research conducted. The report must
contain relevant theories about drugs, secondary substances, types
of drugs, indications, biopharmaceutical and pharmacological
characteristics. The results found must be reported clearly and
precisely in keeping with the conventions in force in
English-language journals.
To introduce students to selected aspects of drug development and design as well as pre-clinical studies of the characteristics of secondary substances and formulations via a laboratory-based development project.
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
Skills
- Plan and conduct research concerning drug formulation with regard to physical-chemical and microbial stability, biopharmaceutical characteristics and technical production aspects
- Draft and present written documentation of the work carried out in the form of laboratory portfolios and the project report.
Competences
- Produce a pilot-scale drug formulation and conduct a pharmaceutical assessment of the type of drug in question by selecting relevant equipment and tests
- M.E.Aulton, Pharmaceutics, The Design and Manufacture of Medicines, 3. edition, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier 2007.
- A.T. Florence and D. Attwood, Physicochemical Principles of Pharmacy, 4th edition, Pharmaceutical Press 2006.
- Original research articles and review articles, research papers, selected by students.
- Guidelines for the Research Project in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery (Department of Pharmaceutics and Analytical Chemistry, 2009), Torben Schæfer, Jørn Møller-Sonnergaard and Birger Brodin.
- Category
- Hours
- Colloquia
- 40
- Lectures
- 3
- Practical exercises
- 96
- Preparation
- 274
- Total
- 413
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Course participationOral examinationExamination type:
The student is assessed on the basis of satisfactory participation in laboratory work and discussion classes, satisfactory effort in connection with designing the laboratory portfolio and written report, as well as on the basis of an oral examination on the project report.
Examination design:
At the end of the course students draw up a project report and turn it in to the adviser and external examiner. Then each student takes an oral exam, which consists of a 10-minute oral presentation of parts of the project report, followed by a 10-minute discussion of the contents of the report. - Aid
- Written aids allowed
and approved pocket calculator.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment
A well-structured project report and a clearly and precisely formulated presentation. The student demonstrates a firm grasp of the research and topics covered in the project report. In the course of the project, the student has demonstrated serious commitment as well as the ability to cooperate with the rest of the group, and has taken the initiative in designing the tests, finding specialised literature and preparing the portfolios.
To achieve the grade 12 the student must be able to:
Knowledge
- Understand important concepts and methods used to develop drug formulations
- Explain general chemical, physical-chemical and pharmacokinetic characteristics of drug formulations
- Assess the chemical and physical-chemical characteristics of the secondary substances used
- Describe the role of secondary substances in drug formulations
- Demonstrate which pharmaceutical assessments should be made of the drug formulations produced.
Skills
- Plan and conduct research concerning drug formulation with regard to physical-chemical and microbial stability, biopharmaceutical characteristics and technical production aspects
- Draft and present written documentation of the work carried out in the form of laboratory portfolios and the project report.
Competences
- Produce a pilot-scale drug formulation and conduct a pharmaceutical assessment of the type of drug in question by selecting relevant equipment and tests
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- SLVKA0341U
- Credit
- 15 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterFull Degree Master choice
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 4, Block 4 And Block 4
- Schedule
- A, B And C
- Course capacity
- 30 students
Reserved students at the MSc programme in Pharmaceutical Sciences. - Study board
- Study Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Contracting department
- Department of Pharmacy
Course responsibles
- Mie Kristensen (14-76726e37747b727c7d6e777c6e77497c7e776d37747e376d74)