Course description
MSc by Research in Chemoinformatics
Chemical information systems have long played a vital role in pharmaceutical, agrochemical and increasingly, biotechnological research, and where there is a need to handle not only information in traditional textual and numeric databases, but also databases containing information about the two-dimensional or three-dimensional structures of molecules.
Recent developments, such as combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, electronic notebooks and laboratory information management systems, have led to drastic increases in the volumes of biological, numerical, structural and textual data that must be processed in chemical research programmes. This has resulted in the emergence of the discipline of Chemoinformatics, which involves the creation, retrieval, organisation, dissemination and processing of chemical information.
The initial focus in Chemoinformatics has been on the pharmaceutical industry where it plays an increasingly important role in the discovery of novel, biologically active chemical compounds. However, the application of Chemoinformatics techniques has now broadened to additionally cover the design of agrochemicals, foodstuffs, catalysts and specialist materials. Thus, there is a widespread international demand for graduates with skills in chemoinformatics. The MSc(Res) in Chemoinformatics programme trains graduates to design and operate the sophisticated computer-based information systems that are used to support research and development in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and biotechnology industries.
MSc(Res) Chemoinformatics Programme Regulations
The Department, awarded the highest research rating in all of the Research Assessment Exercises carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council, is recognised as having one of the leading centres in the world in chemoinformatics research. This ensures that the material in the programme reflects leading-edge developments in the field and allows graduates completing the programme to make significant contributions to this rapidly growing discipline.
