Postgraduate Certificate in Drug Discovery and Development

Summary

Build on your science degree and get a broad knowledge of the processes involved in drug discovery, design and development.

Gain the skills required to generate therapeutics for improving human or animal health with this intensive one-year taught programme, unique in New Zealand. Your studies will combine the biological sciences with chemistry, giving you the skills to target, design, synthesise, create, and assess new drugs. Learn how to identify drug targets and develop these into new therapeutics. Develop skills to protect intellectual property, assess the financial viability of drugs, and consider the path to pre-clinical and clinical trial processes.

Tailor your studies to your strengths, interests, and career goals. You'll learn a mix of academic and practical skills that are closely aligned with the needs of industry.

Drugs in the real world

Learn about the real-world issues facing pharmaceutical development. Make the most of the hard-earned experiences of staff who have worked in the local and international biotech industry. Learn how to handle chemicals on a large scale in a way that is safe, reliable, and robust.

Careers

Develop the broad skills you need to work in drug discovery in companies, universities, research institutes, or with drug regulatory authorities. Graduates from this programme have enjoyed success with commercial pharmaceutical drug development, veterinary therapeutics, patent assessment, further research undertaking PhD studies, and activities across government, research, and commercial organisations.

Workload and duration

You can expect a workload of 40–45 hours a week for much of your studies.

The MDDD can be completed in 12 months full time, or in two years of part-time study but you'll need to discuss this option with the programme director first. The Diploma will take you two trimesters and the Certificate one trimester.

Location

Study at Wellington's Kelburn campus, where you will have access to state-of-the-art research facilities. Students completing a research programme will also work in partnership the world-renowned Ferrier Research Institute in Lower Hutt.