Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery
The University of Mississippi

Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with emphasis in pharmaceutics

Program Description

The Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences with emphasis in pharmaceutics deals with the science of dosage form design and embraces all facets of the process of turning a new chemical entity into a pharmaceutical product that can be safely and effectively used by patients. Pharmaceutics is a broad discipline within the pharmaceutical sciences dealing with the physical and chemical characterization of new drug substances, the formulation of drug substances into dosage forms, the in vitro and in vivo evaluation of formulations, and the development of robust manufacturing processes. The faculty in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery has expertise in the development of a variety of conventional and novel drug delivery systems including solid and liquid oral dosage forms, topical dosage forms, and advanced formulations for transdermal, ocular, intranasal, inhalation, and targeted delivery.  The Department has developed a core strength in hot melt extrusion technology for optimizing drug delivery and for advanced manufacturing applications.

Admission

The deadline for application submission is April 1 (rolling) for Fall admission and October 1 (rolling) for Spring admission.

Admission to the graduate program in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery is open to superior students with a bachelor’s of science degree or a master’s degree in pharmacy, chemistry, biology, chemical engineering, biotechnology, or a related area. A “B” average or better in undergraduate and graduate coursework is required for consideration for admission. Admission is competitive, so it is unlikely that all students who meet the minimum requirements will be admitted.

GRE score is NOT required for admission.

International applicants also must submit an English Proficiency Test score. To be considered for full standing admission, the applicant needs to submit scores of at least 79 on the TOEFL (ibt) or 6 on the IELTS. Two letters of recommendation, a resume, and a statement of purpose are used to evaluate candidates. You may apply to all of the graduate programs online and get additional application information from the University of Mississippi Graduate School website.

The official transcripts should be mailed to:

The University of Mississippi

Graduate School

PO Box 1848

University, MS 38677 USA 

 

Course Requirements

The Ph.D. of Pharmaceutical Sciences with emphasis in pharmaceutics requires students to complete a minimum of 36 semester hours of course work and 18 hours of dissertation.

Core Courses

  1. Product Development (Phar 749)
  2. Statistics and Experimental Design (Bisc 504 or HP 626)
  3. Advanced Pharmaceutics (Phar 741)
  4. Colloid and Surface Science (Ch E 545)
  5. Stability of Pharmaceutical Systems (Phar 744)
  6. Applied Pharmacokinetics (Phar 760)
  7. Graduate Student Survival Strategies (BMS 601)
  8. Applied Pharmaceutics (Phar 750)
  9. Seminar in Current Pharmaceutical Topics (Phar 543, 544)
  10. Dissertation (Phar 797)

Elective Courses

  1. Formulation Development (Phar 650)
  2. Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (Phar 658)
  3. Problems in Pharmaceutics (Phar 541)
  4. Regulatory Science I (Phar 651)
  5. Regulatory Science II (Phar 652)
  6. Analytical Pharmaceutics (Phar 735)
  7. Surfactant Science and Applications (Ch E 547)
  8. Introduction to Polymer Science (Ch E 543)
  9. Coating Materials Processing and Applications (Ch E 597)
  10. Principals of Physical Chemistry I (Chem 535)
  11. Physical Biochemistry (Chem 534)

Additional courses may be required by the student’s graduate adviser and/or advisory committee. If a required course is unavailable, the Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery graduate faculty may approve an alternative course for a particular student.

Other Academic Requirements

Comprehensive Examination

After completion of all required course work, including any additional course work required by the research director and/or dissertation committee, a student must successfully pass a comprehensive examination. If a student fails one of the sections of the examination, he or she will be allowed to retake a second examination from the relevant faculty member. If a student fails more than one section of the examination, he or she will not be allowed to enter the Ph.D. candidacy stage, but will be allowed to enter the master’s program. After passing the examination, a student will be entered into the Ph.D. candidacy stage.

Dissertation Prospectus and Dissertation

Doctoral candidates must prepare a written dissertation prospectus in an original and independent research area and orally defend the prospectus before their dissertation committee. Doctoral candidates must then prepare a written dissertation and orally defend the dissertation before their dissertation committee. The general procedures and composition of dissertation committees are governed by University of Mississippi Graduate School policy. 

Apply here