Master in Medicinal Chemistry

Master in Medicinal Chemistry is one of 8 English-taught Chemistry programmes at Master's Degree level in the register, offered by 5 institutions. 7 of them list an annual fee for students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, from EUR 7,300 to EUR 17,300; this programme lists EUR 16,300 a year. 7 are recorded as free for EU, EEA and Swiss students. The same programme title is offered at 3 institutions, so compare the content, campus and requirements before you choose.

The Master's in Medicinal Chemistry at Aarhus University sits at the interface between chemistry and health sciences. Over two years you work on the design and synthesis of new potential pharmaceutical compounds, with room to shape the degree around what interests you.

What you study

The programme focuses on the design and synthesis of novel, potential pharmaceutical compounds. Possible areas of specialisation include:

• Modern computational chemistry in drug design
• Synthesis and analysis of new compounds
• Structure and pharmacological properties of membrane proteins
• Microscopic composition of bones and other bioinorganic materials
• Protein modelling and their interactions with drugs
• Drug delivery
• Chemical biology

You specialise through course activities, projects and your thesis. The thesis, completed in the final year, carries considerable weight.

How the programme is organised

The degree counts 120 ECTS and mainly consists of subjects within the chemistry fields of study. You design your own individual study plan, including courses and your Master's thesis project, based on your academic background and interests.

Teaching is led by active researchers, so you meet the newest research. Lectures introduce new angles compared with textbooks, while theoretical and practical exercises take place in smaller groups. Depending on your specialisation, your main forms of study and work involve laboratory work and advanced experimental equipment such as NMR and X-ray methodologies and computer modelling. You are encouraged to ask questions at lectures and during exercises, and the doors to professors' offices are open if you need clarification.

There are heavy demands on your academic skills and independence. In return you gain academic challenges and scientific knowledge, plus broad competences such as abstract, critical and independent thinking, analytical skills and strategic planning.

Who it suits

This programme suits you if you are drawn to both chemistry and the human body, and if you want to work in a lab with real compounds rather than only theory. You should be comfortable planning your own study path and working independently. The teaching mixes lectures, theoretical exercises and laboratory work, and group work is common. A student on the programme, Josefine Hammer Jakobsen, says the combination of teaching methods made it easier to understand and remember the material, and that theoretical exercises were a good chance to form a study group.

You do not need to have your career fully mapped out. Rasmus Djurhuus, an MSc graduate, says he was undecided about his later path, so the broad bachelor background gave him time to familiarise himself with different options before choosing electives.

Admission, language and next steps

You need a bachelor's degree or equivalent comparable to a Danish bachelor's degree in level and duration (180 ECTS). Your degree must cover specific subject areas: inorganic chemistry (10 ECTS), organic chemistry (20 ECTS), physical/theoretical chemistry (10 ECTS), structural chemistry (10 ECTS) and molecular biology (10 ECTS), as detailed on the programme page.

If you hold a Bachelor's degree in Medicinal Chemistry from Aarhus University, you have a legal right of admission, provided you apply within three years of completing it. Direct admission is also granted to holders of the Bachelor's degree in Medicinal Chemistry from Aarhus University, the University of Southern Denmark or the University of Copenhagen.

Applicants with a non-Danish bachelor's degree must complete an appendix and upload it to the application portal. The programme has limited intake, so meeting the entry requirements does not guarantee a place. Applicants are ranked by grades from the qualifying degree, grades in relevant subject fields (Medicinal Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics) and the proportion of ECTS in those fields.

The programme is taught in English, and you must meet the university's English language requirements. Students with a bachelor's degree from Aarhus University and a legal right of admission are exempt. Aarhus University cannot assess your qualifications in advance; you must apply to be assessed.

Applications for master's programmes go directly to the institution. The programme starts in August or September. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland study free of charge; other students pay a fee set by the institution.

Master’s applications go straight to Aarhus University, not through optagelse.dk, and the institution sets its own deadline. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, residence permits and housing.