If you are interested in a career in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries then a PhD is usually a requirement.
The pathways to gaining your PhD can be varied, but it does require you to undertake some research training and gain thesis writing experience.
The usual pathway you can take is with an Honours degree with a significant research component and written thesis. Your Honours thesis is not required to be in the same area as your proposed PhD topic.
A common second pathway is if you have an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, you can then undertake a Masters of Pharmaceutical Science which has a significant research component and written thesis. This can help you to develop your research skills and then you can apply to undertake a PhD at the completion of your Masters of Pharmaceutical Science.
Interested? For more information, please click here.
BPharm MPharmSc, PhD MPS
Rahul Patel was working as an Analytical Chemist in India when he made the move to Tasmania to undertake postgraduate study.
“I first came to study at the University of Tasmania, because I had in mind a highly specialised research project, and the School of Pharmacy offered two supervisors who were not only capable of supervising me, but demonstrated previous research interest and innovation in that area. With their guidance I began a Master of Pharmaceutical Science and graduated in 2005, but with more research to be done I began work on a PhD.
Studying at UTAS has given me a lot of opportunities. My research team developed a technique for monitoring batch-to-batch consistency of different low molecular weight and unfractionated heparin. This analytical technique was adopted by the Food and Drug Administration, USA. I have received grants for further research and have written a number of papers which have been published in high-ranked peer-reviewed international journals.
Directly after graduating, I moved to Queensland where I became a registered pharmacist. I was always interested in moving back to Tasmania though, so when a job opportunity came up for an academic position with the School of Pharmacy, I immediately applied. I started working at the School in December 2009 and now I split my time between teaching and research. I really enjoy teaching and it is great to be here working with the same team again!”