Major in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Two-year Master’s Program/Three-year Doctoral Program)

In recent years, changes in the healthcare environment have been happening at an increasingly rapid pace. To achieve advances in cutting-edge medical fields such as genome-based drug discovery, personalized medicine, regenerative medicine and AI-driven drug discovery in order to contribute to people’s health, it is essential to cultivate professionals with the ability to gather information globally, who have advanced knowledge and expertise in these fields. The industry creating new pharmaceuticals is a core industry in Japan and graduates of pharmaceutical graduate schools are expected to play key roles in enhancing Japan’s drug discovery capabilities. By making full use of the diversity of pharmaceutical sciences, the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences’ Major in Pharmaceutical Sciences will produce outstanding drug discovery researchers.

The curriculum is highly comprehensive, systematically covering foundational life science subjects essential for pharmaceutical research, and exposes students to the latest advances in cutting-edge science.

This program requires 30 credits for completion. The following 23 credits are required: 1 credit each for graduate school special lecture A and B, 1 credit for clinical research experiential program, 4 credits for seminars and 16 credits for research projects. Highly-respected external lecturers are invited for the graduate school special lectures, to provide unparalleled opportunities for exposure to cutting-edge research. The lectures are packed with fascinating content that stimulates intellectual curiosity and there are interactive Q&A sessions each year.

In addition, students will take courses and training programs matched to their individual aptitudes and needs.

After gaining the required credits, students can earn a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences degree by passing the thesis defense and the final examination.

This program requires 16 credits for completion. The required subjects are: graduate school special lecture I, II, seminars and research projects: 16 credits in total. We have established a robust guidance system centered on dissertation supervision.

After gaining the required credits, students can earn a Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Sciences by passing the dissertation defense and the final examination.

The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Graduate School of Medicine have been working together to raise the level of persons produced by the master’s program through inspirational education programs. In academic year 2008, our program “Training leaders in pharmaceutical sciences for drug discovery” was selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s Support Program for Improving Graduate School Education (Graduate School GP) and we have maintained our close collaboration with the Graduate School of Medicine since then. Through exchanges with faculty members and students in the Graduate School of Medicine, we aim to cultivate individuals with broad perspectives.

At the Shinanomachi Campus, students gain hands-on experience of highly specialized medical research and learn about challenges in cutting-edge medical research and solutions for them. Individual students go on tours of laboratories that they wish to see. Participating in lab tours promotes active exchange between the medical and pharmaceutical disciplines, broadens each individual’s perspective on research and boosts motivation.

The purpose of this is to experience actual clinical practice at a university hospital in order to apply this in future specialization. Shadowing physicians in various departments of Keio University Hospital, you will experience the front line of medical care. Students will be able to understand how their own research is connected with medical care and see the benefits that society reaps from pharmaceutical research through clinical practice.

This program provides a reference on how to conduct research, and for thinking about one’s future career path. The program covers a wide range of topics, including lectures on the qualities required of researchers and research methodologies, the experiences of students who went on to the doctoral program before you, as well as those on intellectual property management and ethics.

In the Major in Pharmaceutical Sciences program in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Master’s-Ph.D integrated course was introduced in academic year 2021. This program enables students to earn two degrees - a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in a period of four years at the shortest. This program allows outstanding students in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences who meet the screening criteria to shorten the master’s program (two years) by one year, obtain a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences degree and then go on to the doctoral program (three years). This therefore makes it possible to earn a doctoral degree within eight years from undergraduate enrollment. Through this program, we aim to further enhance the cultivation of highly skilled professionals capable of pioneering the future through the pursuit of creative research in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.