Pharmacy - Postgraduate Program of the Department

Postgraduate Program of the Department

B. Graduate Studies
Graduate studies in the Department of Pharmacy lead to:
A. Graduate Diploma of Specialization (GDS)
B. Doctorate degree (Ph.D.)

1. GDS
Five specializations are offered: A) Industrial Pharmaceutics and Drug Analysis, B) Pharmaceutical Chemistry-Natural Products: Design, Synthesis and Analysis of Bioactive Compounds; C) Molecular Pharmacology – Clinical Pharmacy; D) Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Biomedicine; E) Pharmaceutical Marketing. The GDS involves two years of studies and each graduate student has to take a total of six or eight courses depending on the specialization. Instruction is in Greek or English depending on the class composition. The candidate has to pass the exams associated with these courses. Exams take place at the end of each semester. The minimum passing grade is 5 out of 10. Repeat exams for both semesters take place in September. During the two years the student carries out a short, novel, research project and presents the results both written and orally. A student who has successfully completed the requirements for GDS can continue his/her studies by pursuing a Ph.D degree.

2. Doctorate Degree
For the doctorate degree a supervisory committee of three members is assigned upon the approval of the Department and the student conducts research under the direction of the chairman of the supervisory committee. The average time required for a Ph.D degree is four years. During the first two years a graduate student has to sucessfully take 4 core courses and 4 electives regardless of the specialization under which they are offered.

During the last years the Department was awarded several grants through competitive programs (EPEAEK) financed by the Ministry of Education for the improvement of its academic activities, i.e. the reforming of the undergraduate program and the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Practice through study visits of the senior undergraduate students to pharmaceutical industries. The Department of Pharmacy participates also in the following Interdepartmental programs leading to respective Graduate Specialization Diplomas and to Doctoral degrees.

Interdepartmental Programs
A) Medicinal Chemistry – Drug Discovery and Design
The interdepartmental program of postgraduate studies in "Medicinal Chemistry: Drug Discovery and Design" is organized by the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacy.
Degrees offered: MSc and PhD in Drug Discovery and Design
The duration for M.Sc. is at least 3 semesters and for PhD is at least 6 semesters. The M.Sc consists of lectures and practical lessons (laboratories).

B) Informatics for Life Sciences (ILS)
The interdepartmental program of postgraduate studies in "Informatics for Life Sciences" (ILS) is organised by the Departments of Medicine, Biology, Pharmacy, Physics and Informatics of the University of Patras.
Degrees offered: Μ.Sc. and Ph.D. in "Informatics for Life Sciences" (ILS),
The duration for M.Sc. is at least 4 semesters, while for Ph.D. is at least 8 semesters (the time of the M.Sc. in ILS counting as 4 semesters).

C) Isolation and Synthesis of Natural Products with Biological Activity
The interdepartmental program of postgraduate studies in "Isolation and Synthesis of Natural Products with Biological Activity” is organised by the Departments of Chemistry of the Universities of Crete, the Departments of Chemistry (Universities of Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Patras) and the Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras. The duration for M.Sc. is at least 2 years. The M.Sc consists of lectures and practical lessons (laboratories).