| Preparation for Grad Study | Degree Requirements | Career Opportunities |
| Preparation for Grad Study | Degree Requirements | Career Opportunities |
Applicants should have a baccalaureate degree in a discipline such as pharmacy, chemistry, biochemistry, or a biological science. This training should include coursework in each of the following: one year each of physical chemistry, organic chemistry, a biological or pharmaceutical science, and calculus.
Graduate degrees are awarded for the student's demonstration of mastery of a selected field and independent scholarship therein. The program of study is tailored to best suit each student's interests and professional goals while maintaining the standard s established by the student's Supervisory Committee and the Division. Each student is required to select at least 18 hours from a list of "core" courses in pharmaceutics, physical chemistry, general chemistry, mathematics, and statistics. Additional co ursework is encouraged.
Following completion of the core course requirements, the student takes a written candidacy examination authored by all members of the student's Examining Committee. (Typically, the Examining Committee consists of the same members as the Supervisory Com mittee.) The student also submits to his Supervisory Committee a written proposal describing the proposed dissertation/thesis research and then presents the proposal in an oral proposal defense.
The core course requirements, the written candidacy examination, the written research proposal, and the oral proposal defense constitute the Ph.D. candidacy requirements within the Pharmaceutics Division. The Master's candidacy requirements are the same except that no written candidacy examination is required. The degree requirements include the candidacy requirements plus preparation and oral defense of a dissertation (Ph.D.) or thesis (Master's) based upon original research. Successful completion of the Ph.D. candidacy requirements must be accomplished at least one year prior to the date of the dissertation defense.
Short-term post-doctoral positions are available to Pharmaceutics graduates but are not routinely pursued as in many other disciplines. Graduates from our program typically progress directly to permanent positions in academia as well as pharmaceutical in dustry and regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.