About Us

Our undergraduate and graduate programs offer rigorous grounding in a broad range of disciplines critical to success as a pharmaceutical scientist in academia or in industry. The field of pharmaceutical sciences has traditionally encompassed all elements of drug discovery and development, offering exciting and meaningful professional opportunities to work towards the improvement of society's health and well-being.

UC Irvine's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences offers interdisciplinary educational programs integrating concepts from fields as diverse as biology, chemistry, cell and molecular biology, chemical engineering, materials science, pharmaceutics, pharmacolopy and physiology. As a student in our department you will be an integral part of such explorations and the resulting discoveries.

Our faculty includes world-renowned scientists encompassing a variety of backgrounds with wide-ranging research programs that cover every facet of pharmaceutical research.

Undergraduate Program

The PharmSci undergraduate program is intended for those students interested in one of the following pathways:

1. Professional positions in the pharmaceutical production, control, and development sectors of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, or
2. Graduate degree programs in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, structural biology, pharmacology, pharamceutics, and many other disciplines at the interface of chemistry and biology.
3. Professional degree programs such as pharmacy, medical, or dental school.

Graduate Program

The Medicinal Chemistry and Pharamcology graduate program is an interdepartmental gateway program leading to a PhD degree in Chemistry, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, or Pharmacology, and transition into that department to complete the remaining degree requirements.

Students receive their PhD from the department of their chosen advisor. The program offers a unique curriculum providing students with state-of-the-art practical and theoretical training in their specific field of interest while at the same time emphasizing an integrated, interdisciplinary approach.