Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the study of all aspects of medicines, including how they are developed, analysed, tested for their safety and effectiveness, administered, their beneficial and adverse effects, together with all aspects concerning their research. The degree course brings together the biological, biotechnological and digital aspects of pharmacology, and equips you with the required skills as recommended by both International Pharmacology associations and major European Universities, whilst keeping in focus the needs of the local and international industry.
Year 1 provides a solid basis of the required physiology, molecular biology, genetics and statistics, which is required to benefit from the rest of the course. It also lays the foundations for pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug formulations, drug development, regulatory issues, routes of drug administration, molecular pharmacology, pharmacotherapeutics, pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics.
Year 2 delivers a sound knowledge of all the major drugs and drug classes, their modes of action and their application in the respective therapeutic fields. This year also provides students with practical laboratory bench teaching and training in various skills of molecular pharmacology research, such as cell culturing, drug assays, cellular transfection etc.
Year 3 introduces pharmacotoxicology and toxicogenomic aspects, as well as the innovative fields of digital therapeutics and of computational drug design. Students will prepare their dissertation during this year, further contributing to the acquisition of a skill set which is transferable to the employment sector.
Master of Science in Pharmacotoxicology
This course consists of study-units which will establish foundations in pharmacology and toxicology, and provide the skills to manage and apply this information in the clinical, regulatory and pharmaceutical setting. The course also covers topics related to risk assessment, regulatory aspects, and management of overdose of prescribed medication, over the counter medication and illicit substances. The taught study units will cover the fundamentals of the toxicology and pharmacology principles which are needed to provide the background for the other study units. It will also provide molecular, cellular and pharmacokinetic aspects of pharmacotoxicology and discuss the application of these principles in the management and treatment of poisoning of various pharmaceutical products. Students will also be required to follow compulsory courses in research and statistical methodology. Other study units focus on delivering a sound knowledge of application of pharmacotoxicological principles in the practical emergency and therapeutic fields. There will also be an overview of the forensic and regulatory aspects of pharmacotoxicology, risk assessment and management, as well as pharmacotoxicology in the environmental and occupational fields. Students will also be required to follow compulsory courses in scientific writing skills in view of the dissertation which forms an integral part of this degree.
B.Sc. in Pharmacology
M.Sc. in Pharmacotoxicology
If students wish to carry out the third year project in a clinical area, there will be the opportunity to work with patients. Naturally, one will have to fulfil the normal ethics committee requirements and obtain prior approval as is normal with any such research.
Yes, several such options do exist. Please refer to the updated Section 4 of the University Admission Regulations 2016. Refer also to the section entitled Applicants sitting for resits on the Admissions and advice webpage, which provides information for applicants who will be sitting for a resit examination.
Yes. The Department has established various Erasmus+ agreements with foreign European Universities, and more are in the planning phase. Current BSc Pharmacology students are already benefiting from such exchanges.
Refer to Section 5(b) of the University Admissions Regulations 2016.
Contact the University International Office for further information.
Yes, this BSc (Pharmacology)(Hons.) degree will entitle you for admission to the course of Medicine and Surgery offered by the University of Malta.
There is no student numerus clausus attached to this course. All candidates who fulfil the entry requirements will be accepted for entry either as regular or probationary students.
One third of the ECTS allocated to the MSc (Pharmacotoxicology) course consists of a research dissertation, which may be clinical, or laboratory based. The dissertation, which a student embarks upon, will be discussed with each candidate on an individual basis. Both options are possible.
The MSc (Pharmacotoxicology) course does not include laboratory work or rotational placements as part of the taught component. The opportunity for laboratory work is provided in the research project component.
The course is capped at a maximum of 10 students. If more than 10 candidates apply, selection will be made following an interview.
Information on the maturity clause is available in Section 6(c) of the University Admissions Regulations 2016.
You may also wish to refer to the University Recognition and Accreditation of Prior Learning (RPL) webpage.
Feel free to request further information from the University Admissions Office or the University Student Advisory Services.
The Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and indeed the whole Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is equipped with high quality laboratories dedicated to various areas of molecular sciences, and various departments collaborate internally on laboratory use according to the specific experiments being conducted. Indeed, these facilities have enabled various departments to obtain prestigious competitive external research funding in order to carry out specific projects. Primarily candidates for this course, will be using the laboratories of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; arrangements may also be made on an ad hoc basis to use facilities in other laboratories, according to the specific needs of every project.
The Department encourages, promotes and indeed has arrangements for research training at foreign institutions, for higher level qualifications, especially at a PhD level. With respect to the Bachelor and Masters degree courses discussed in this webinar, there will be no specific research training abroad. Interested students may avail of membership of the British Pharmacological Society, in order to apply for grants as detailed in the following pages:
Society membership
Prizes awards and grants
We will undoubtedly help you to integrate into the University system. This will include an introduction with staff members, a tour of the department, a guide to student online University resources etc. We are also always available for queries.
The Department uses a system whereby lecture timetables and venues are available on an online calendar, and will automatically appear in your University Google Workspace calendar account. We will have these prepared before the starting day, and they will appear in your calendar as soon as your University IT Services account has been activated.
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M.D.
M.D.S.
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M.D.
M.D.S.
B.Sc. (Hons)(Radiography)
B.Sc. (Hons)(Applied Biomedical Science)
B.Sc. (Hons)(Podiatry)
Common Care study-unit offered for various FHS courses
B.Sc. (Hons)(Midwifery)
Diploma to Degree conversion course in Mental Health Nursing
B.Sc. (Hons)(Biology and Chemistry)
B.Sc. (Hons)(Chemistry)
B.Sc. (Hons)(Applied Food and Nutritional Sciences)