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Pharmaceutical Industry Advanced Training

Division of Pharmacy & Optometry

School of Health Sciences

Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health

Student Programme Handbook

2024–2025

INTRODUCTIONS

Welcome from the Programme Director

Welcome to the Pharmaceutical Industry Advanced Training programme. The portfolio consists of a broad range of taught units in two different pathways, all delivered by distance learning. They are Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Microbiology. We developed the programme in co-operation with the UK pharmaceutical industry and the Pharmaceutical Microbiology Interest Group, and it is written and tutored by University staff and subject experts from all across the pharmaceutical industry.

This handbook provides details of the programme, information about the aims and learning outcomes, structure, content, assessment and programme management. Please read it thoroughly. It should also be read in conjunction with related University documentation.

Each of you will bring your personal experience and knowledge to the programme. Sharing that knowledge and experience with your tutors and other students in person and through the online discussion boards will significantly enhance the learning experience.

We have made every effort to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information. However, some minor details may change during the course of your studies. All changes and additions will be brought to your attention. If there is something not answered within the handbook, please do not hesitate to contact us.

While the programme is closed to new admissions, we are committed to the delivery of high-quality education to all the registered students. Please also note the e-mail addresses to contact the programme’s administration, which were updated in 2023. General enquiries can be sent to shs.hub@manchester.ac.uk; piat@manchester.ac.uk is no longer functioning.

We hope that your time studying with us will be enjoyable and successful.

General information about the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry is contained in this handbook, but more information can be obtained from the following web sites:

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health home page:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/

The University of Manchester home page:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/

Dr Richard Campbell
Programme Director

Pharmaceutical Industry Advanced Training

Divisional Administration Contacts

Head of Division: Prof Kaye Williams

Head of Divisional Operations: Victoria O’Reilly

The Division address is:

Division of Pharmacy and Optometry
School of Health Sciences
Jean McFarlane Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL

ID cards are not issued automatically to distance learning students. To obtain your card contact the Student Services Centre on +44 (0)161 275 5000 or ssc@manchester.ac.uk.

Communication with Students

Please note that only Blackboard (the University e-learning platform) and your allocated student university email address will be used as official communication by University staff. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can access and read email from this source.

You are required to keep the University informed of any change to your personal circumstances such as change of name or address. You can update your own details via the MyManchester portal.

Section A: Programme Structure

Programmes Support Team

If you have any queries or concerns at any time during your period of study, there is a range of people you can approach:

Programme Director
Dr Richard Campbell
richard.campbell@manchester.ac.uk
Dissertation Unit Lead
Dr Alain Pluen
alain.pluen@manchester.ac.uk
Unit Tutors
Details provided upon enrolment on each respective unit

School of Health Sciences Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Staff :

In order for staff to respond as quickly as possible to your request, and to ensure that your request reaches the correct member of staff, we have set-up dedicated email addresses that serve a different function. If your query relates to any of the below, please email the relevant email address.

Email Address	Supports queries about:
shs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk	Examination queries Assessment queries Assessment submissions Resit/reassessment queries
shs.attendance@manchester.ac.uk	Attendance monitoring
shs.dc@manchester.ac.uk	Disability support
shs.mitcircs@manchester.ac.uk	Mitigating circumstances
shs.placements@manchester.ac.uk	All placement queries
shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk	Registration advice and guidance Course unit selection and enrolment Timetable queries Programme content
shs.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk	Wellbeing student support, appointments and signposting
shs.hub@manchester.ac.uk	Student Support Hub – general queries and advice not covered by the above teams

As these inboxes are associated with staff supporting multiple programmes, please could you ensure that you always include the following details in your email, which will help us to ensure that your message is dealt with promptly:

Full Name

Student ID Number

Year of Study

Programme

Tutor Guidance

Your unit tutor is there to help and support you through the unit. Your tutor is an expert in their field and is responsible for the currency and content of the unit. You will be informed of the tutor’s email address, which should be used to contact them with any queries you have on the unit content, exercises or assignment. Please be aware that many of our tutors have other academic and industrial duties so please give adequate time for their replies.

Programme Management

The Programme Director, working with the Programmes Support Team, is responsible for student admissions, the appointment of tutors, Quality Assurance, and the general programme management. He reports to the Head of Division of Pharmacy and Optometry and makes formal reports to the Consortium Postgraduate Teaching and Learning Committee. This committee is chaired by the Divisional Head of Postgraduate Taught Studies, who in turn reports to the Head of Postgraduate Taught Studies for the School of Health Sciences.

Programme Rationale and General Description

This taught part-time Master of Science (MSc) programme is suitable for students who wish to improve their knowledge, understanding and research expertise prior to embarking on a research PhD or to support their career development in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The Masters-level qualification meets the needs of those requiring a higher degree and the programme is designed to provide training, skills and knowledge that would help support subsequent applications.

The programme is part-time. Students studying towards an award of MSc are required to complete the programme (taught units and dissertation) within a 5-year period. Information on further awards and the expected timeframes within which students are expected to have completed study can be found in the ‘Criteria for Awards’ section (below).

During the taught element of the course (optional units) you will work through learning material for up to eight taught units, supported by your tutors and enhanced by an annual workshop event.

Following completion of eight taught units within four years (and subject to satisfactory progression through the programme) you have the option of progressing to a final year in which you will be working on a dissertation, which involves a substantial piece of research. Please contact the lead for the dissertation unit, Dr Alain Pluen, prior to the completion of your eighth unit. He will assist and advise you in the development of a dissertation proposal application, which will be reviewed by an evaluation panel to assess the novelty and feasibility of the research. Before starting work on your dissertation, you are expected to review the research methods training materials available in Blackboard.

Programme Aims

Students will become members of the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, which leads research and development in various areas of Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Microbiology. The ethos fosters excellence in pure and applied research and in developing treatment approaches. The educational aims of the programme are to provide students with an understanding of core principles and features of the Pharmaceutical Industry or professional training. The course will produce students who:

have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of key theoretical, clinical and methodological issues relating to the Pharmaceutical Industry,
have experience and training in a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods,
have knowledge of core principles and features of Industrial Pharmacy or Pharmaceutical Microbiology,
have an understanding of the ways in which scientists work within the pharmaceutical industry and related services at the level of individuals, groups and populations,
meet regional, national and international demand for highly qualified scientists with an understanding of theoretical and methodological applications.

Programme Learning Outcomes

Through successful completion of the programme, you will:

Develop professional practice. Students should be able to demonstrate personal qualities that encompass communication skills, self-management, self-awareness, acting with integrity, taking responsibility for self-directed learning, critical reflection and action planning to maintain and improve performance. Students will have the ability to work, where appropriate, in partnership with others, often as part of a team, embracing and valuing diversity.
Gain basic, core scientific knowledge, skills and experience, enabling them to critically evaluate and critique current research and innovation methodologies. Students will be equipped to deal with complex scientific and clinical issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and to communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Build a conceptual understanding and advanced scholarship in and, where appropriate, propose new research questions and hypotheses.
Develop scientific and clinical leadership skill based on the continual advancement of their knowledge, skills and understanding through the independent learning required for continuing professional development. They will develop ability to critique, analyse and solve problems, define and choose investigative and scientific and/or clinical options, and make key judgements about complex facts in a range of situations.

A copy of the programme specification can be found on the PIAT Virtual Common Room on Blackboard.

Credit Requirements

To gain a postgraduate award, you have to accumulate the requisite credits by completing and passing the course unit assessments. Course units carry 15 credits each, and the MSc dissertation carries 60 credits. You’ll need 180 postgraduate credits to qualify for the degree of MSc. For a Postgraduate Diploma you need 120 credits, and for a Postgraduate Certificate you need 60 credits. You can choose the units according to your own personal or career development needs.

You may be permitted to obtain credits on the basis of demonstrated learning that has occurred at some point in the past – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning – either through awards from an educational institution or training provider (APL), or through uncertified learning gained from experience (APEL). Further details on Credit Requirements and AP(E)L can be found in the PGT Degree Regulations Document (see below).

Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations for Students

Postgraduate Taught degrees at The University of Manchester are based on the National Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ). This framework requires students to achieve credit at Masters level in order to receive an award. For a standard postgraduate taught Masters programme this will normally mean passing 180 credits. A standard Postgraduate Diploma will normally have 120 credits and a Postgraduate Certificate 60 credits. The way in which you study these credits will be defined later in the programme handbook and the programme specification.

The University sets standards relating to your performance on every unit but also on your progression through the programme. Your programme and course unit specifications will set out the requirements for passing the credit on individual units.

The full PGT Degree Regulations can be accessed at:
http://www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate-degree-regulations/.

The following guidance should be read in conjunction with the Introduction to the Postgraduate Degree Regulations for Students:

http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/degree-regulations/

Exemptions to the PGT Degree Regulations

Please be aware that the PIAT programme has some higher requirements to the University degree regulations and details of these are outlined below.

Due to the professional-based nature of this programme, there are several exemptions from the regulations:

The programme will operate a 50% pass rate across all levels and pathways – i.e. stand-alone units, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and MSc.
The Programme will not apply compensation rules to any course units. Where the unit assessment falls below the minimum 50% pass mark, the assessment will be referred. This applies to all course unit assessments across the Programme.

Criteria for Awards

Award of Masters Degree

The award of Masters degree is based upon credit accumulation using a pass mark of 50%.

Distinction

Exceptional achievements over the course of the programme according to the taught masters marking scheme will be rewarded with the degree of Masters with Distinction.

To obtain a Distinction, students must have:

accrued 180 credits;
have passed all units with no referrals;
have achieved an overall weighted average of 70% or more across the programme.

Students who have been referred in any course units are not eligible for the award of Distinction. In addition, the dissertation must be submitted by the end of the period of programme, unless there are significant mitigating circumstances, approved in advance for missing the end of programme deadline.

Merit

To obtain a Merit, students must have accrued 180 credits AND have achieved an overall weighted average of 60% or more across the programme, including any provision made for referred units.

Pass

To obtain a pass, students must have accrued 180 credits including any provision made for referred units.

Progression

To progress to the dissertation / research element of the Masters programme, students must have passed all taught units (120 credits) within 4 years of initial registration on the programme.

Award of Postgraduate Diploma

To obtain a Postgraduate Diploma award, students must have accrued 120 credits including any provision made for referred units.

Award of Postgraduate Certificate

To obtain a Postgraduate Certificate award students must have accrued 60 credits including any provision made for referred units.

Exit Awards

Exit awards are available for students who do not satisfy the criteria to receive the award on which they are registered (i.e. MSc or Postgraduate Diploma) or who need to exit the programme early due to unforeseen circumstances.

To be considered for a Postgraduate Diploma you must accrue 120 credits across the programme.

To be considered for a Postgraduate Certificate you must accrue 60 credits across the programme.

Reassessment

Reassessment as a result of a fail is known as a “Referral”. The pass mark for all unit assessments is 50% and any assessment that falls below the minimum pass mark will be referred. Decisions with regard to referred assessments are made by the Board of Examiners and you will be notified officially if you are required to re-sit an assessment. If you are referred, you will normally be permitted to retake the assessment on one further occasion.

The pass mark for reassessment remains at 50%; though the unit will be capped at the lowest compensable mark, e.g. an original assessment falling below 40%, when passed through a resit will be recorded as 40R. If the original mark is between 40-49, the original mark stands but with the suffix ‘R’. The capped unit mark will be used to calculate the weighted average/total mark for the final award.

If you have approved and verified mitigating circumstances, an assessment may be deferred or you may be awarded a further first attempt. A mitigating circumstances review panel will make such decisions and all decisions formally recorded and communicated with you. Where mitigating circumstances have been approved, no penalties will apply.

If you fail the MSc dissertation you will normally be allowed one resubmission, at the recommendation of the Board of Examiners, which will normally be within six months of the date of publication of the result. If you achieve a mark of less than 30% for your dissertation you will not be permitted to resubmit and will be awarded the appropriate exit award.

Timetable

The semesters this academic year will be structured as follows:

23 September 2024 to 20 January 2025
20 January 2025 to 19 May 2025

Please note that taught units will be available only for another 4 semesters (last intake in January 2026), and for pragmatic reasons, you will be kept informed of a gradual phasing out of taught units. You will have an update on your progress each summer, before deciding to continue in the following academic year, and you will have a break from study over the summer months (unless a resit is required).

Re-registration

Each academic year you must re-register, typically every twelve months after you start on the programme. This is very important so that the University has the correct information on your student record, and because University systems attach new unit enrolments to the current academic year. You will receive an email from the Programmes Support Team asking you to re-register if you do not register at the correct time.

Graduation

Students who successfully complete the programme will be entitled to graduate, in person, at the University’s graduation ceremonies. These are held in July and December each year and you will be invited to attend the first ceremony which follows your successful completion of the course. You will receive details of the ceremonies once your result has been formally approved by the University at the Board of Examiners meeting. If you do not wish to attend the graduation, your certificate will be sent by the Graduation Team to the home address listed on the central system. This will be the home address you confirm during registration, so if anything changes please make sure all your information is up to date on your student portal.

Section B: Syllabus, Course Units and Route through the Programme

The Pharmaceutical Industry Advanced Training programme is an advanced-level programme and some units require an advanced-level knowledge of physical and organic chemistry and mathematics. All units require some work experience within the pharmaceutical industry. We are happy to offer you advice on selecting the most appropriate units for you.

Optional units

Industrial Pharmacy

PHAR71020 Pre-formulation Studies (PIAT 02) – available for the last time in January 2025
PHAR71040 Oral Solid Dosage forms 1 (PIAT 04) – available for the last time in January 2025
PHAR71050 Liquid and Semi-solid Dosage Forms (PIAT 05)
PHAR71070 Oral Solid Dosage forms 2 (PIAT 07)
PHAR71080 Lean Processes (PIAT 08)
PHAR71110 Regulatory Affairs (PIAT 11)
PHAR70130 Quality Control Laboratory Testing (PIAT 13) – available for the last time in September 2024
PHAR70140 Safety, Health and Environment (PIAT 14) – available for the last time in September 2024
PHAR70160 Management Tools (PIAT 16)

Pharmaceutical Microbiology

PHAR71310 Water Aspects (PMAT 2) – available for the last time in September 2024
PHAR71320 Microbiological Environmental Monitoring and Control (PMAT 3)
PHAR71330 Sterile Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (PMAT 4)
PHAR71340 Quality Assurance in Microbiology Laboratories (PMAT 5) – available for the last time in January 2025
PHAR71350 Engineering Principles for Pharmaceutical Microbiologists (PMAT 6) – available for the last time in September 2024
PHAR71360 Application of Microbiology in Biopharmaceuticals (PMAT 7)

The units are designed to be used for the study of individual subjects and as part of an integrated programme which can lead to the award of University postgraduate qualifications.

Unit Selection

You can choose any unit as they are all optional, and don’t need to confine your choice to one particular pathway. Please contact the Programme Director for advice and support on choosing the right units for your personal situation.

Programme time requirements

The University has a time limit of five year for postgraduate study. We strongly recommend that you complete at least two units (30 credits) per academic year, especially if you wish to qualify with an MSc degree, to allow enough time for eight taught units and a one-year dissertation.

Unit time requirements

Each unit merits 15 credits and comprises 150 hours, which breaks down approximately as:

Working through the learning material (including reading, studying and completion of practice exercises): 110–120 hours.
Preparation and writing of assignment: 30–40 hours.
Optional participation in the Annual Workshop Event – two to three days (tbc).

You must keep the Programmes Support Team informed of any change in circumstances or any difficulties you are experiencing which may have an effect on the completion of your studies, at the time they occur. An appeal cannot be made after this period has passed.

Award names

All new PIAT students are registered either on continual professional development (i.e. unit by unit progression) in Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences, or on the Postgraduate Diploma or MSc in Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences. The name of the final award is determined at the point of exit based on your unit choices.

Postgraduate Certificate

If you complete four taught units (60 credits) and choose to exit the programme, you will receive an award of Postgraduate Certificate in ‘Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences’.

Postgraduate Diploma

If you complete eight taught units (120 credits) and choose to exit the programme, by default, you will receive an award of Postgraduate Diploma in ‘Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences’.

However, if a majority of credits (75 or more) is from a single pathway, you may choose to exit with the award name of that pathway (i.e. Postgraduate Diploma in ‘Industrial Pharmacy’, or ‘Pharmaceutical Microbiology’). Alternatively, if the distribution of credits is shared equally between the two pathways, you may choose to exit with the award names of both pathways separated by the word ‘and’ (i.e. Postgraduate Diploma in ‘Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Microbiology’).

You must e-mail the Programmes Support Team with your choice by the submission deadline for your final assignment in order to exit with an award name that is not the default option.

Master of Science

If you complete eight taught units and a dissertation (180 credits), by default, you will exit with the award of MSc in ‘Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences’.

However, if a majority of credits (105 or more) is from a single pathway, you may choose to exit with the award name of that pathway (i.e. MSc in ‘Industrial Pharmacy’, or ‘Pharmaceutical Microbiology’). Alternatively, if a majority of credits is from one pathway yet at least 60 credits are from a secondary pathway, you may choose to exit with the award names of both pathways where the majority pathway is stated first, and the majority and secondary pathways are separated by ‘with’ (i.e. MSc in ‘name of majority pathway with name of secondary pathway’. Furthermore, if the distribution of credits is shared equally between the two pathways, you may choose to exit with the award name of both pathways separated by the word ‘and’ (i.e. MSc in ‘Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Microbiology’).

You must e-mail the Programmes Support Team with your choice by the submission deadline for your dissertation in order to exit with an award name that is not the default option.

Learning material

For each unit you study, you will be provided with learning material containing teaching material and exercises. This will be provided to you online on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Blackboard, and/or as a PDF format. The text contains most of the information you will require and references to sources of additional material which you are expected to use. To gain the highest marks you need to demonstrate that you have read around the topic, not just what is provided in the learning material. Throughout your studies, a University-appointed tutor is available to help you if required. You will be told how to contact your tutor when you receive the unit content and are strongly encouraged to do so.

The unit tutor or Programmes Support Team may issue minor changes or updates such as URL links and you will be informed of the changes via email. If you find something that you think is incorrect or out of date, please let your tutor and the Programmes Support Team know.

Course Assessments

The units contain a range of both formative and summative assessment tasks which have been designed to establish your knowledge and understanding of the stated learning outcomes for the course unit.

Formative Assessments

The learning material contains a number of practice exercises for you to do. These are to reinforce what you have learnt, and to help you check that you have fully understood the concepts. In some (but not all) units the answers to these in-text questions are given at the end, or as part of the main text. We suggest that you work through them first before looking at the answers. Doing the practice exercises will ensure that any misunderstandings can be cleared up earlier rather than later. The answers should be self-explanatory, but if there is something that you do not understand about the question, contact your tutor.

Summative Assessments

Each unit includes a summative assessment. If you are studying for academic credits or a Postgraduate qualification, you will be required to prove your competence in the subject and you will be assessed by written assignment. More details on these summative written assignments are given in the following sections.

Written Assignments

The Blackboard space for each unit contains a document detailing the title(s) and specifications for the assignment(s). The version published in the 2024-25 Blackboard space for the unit is the correct version, and supersedes any other version. The specifications outlined in the current assignment document in Blackboard will be applied to your submitted work. We recommend that you check the assignment details at the start of the unit so that you can plan how you wish to complete it as you work through the learning material. Although details are given on how to complete the assignment, we suggest that you contact your tutor before starting it.

Your tutor will set and mark the assignment. Assignments, which may take the form of one larger assignment or several smaller pieces of writing, are intended to represent a significant piece of work and require you to use/put into practice the skills and knowledge gained by working through the learning material. Whilst the assignment may require the gathering of data from alternative sources, you will not be expected to use research methodologies. Assessment is based on factual content, logical presentation and the derivation of conclusions or findings. A general marking scheme is shown below. The limit is 3,000 words for all assignments. Penalties for exceeding the word limits are detailed below, under ‘Assignment Word Count’.

Assignment Deadlines

Assignment deadlines will be:

23 September 2024-start (i.e. semester 1): 20 January 2025
20 January 2025-start (i.e. semester 2): 19 May 2025

If you are thinking of submitting your assignment early, you must contact the Programmes Support Team to discuss this, as special arrangements will need to be made in Blackboard. You should note that the tutor may not mark your assignment before the published deadline.

Regardless of the structure you’re following, you will receive written confirmation of your deadline each time you start a unit. We recommend that you add submission dates to your diaries as soon as you receive confirmation of your enrolment on the unit.

All assignments must be submitted electronically to the relevant Blackboard space for that unit. Email submissions will not be accepted except in exceptional circumstances

You will be informed of your provisional assignment mark as soon as possible and be provided with feedback; however, this mark can change at the discretion of the Board of Examiners.

All assignments must be submitted by 14:00 noon (UK-time) on the deadline date. Bear in mind that these are final deadline dates and not targets, and penalties for late submissions apply. You should aim to complete your learning and submit your assignments well before the deadline.

Submitting Assignments

Please refer to the SHS handbook.

The role of the External Examiners

External Examiners are individuals from another institution or organisation who monitor the assessment processes of the University to ensure fairness and academic standards. They ensure that assessment and examination procedures have been fairly and properly implemented and that decisions have been made after appropriate deliberation. They also ensure that standards of awards and levels of student performance are at least comparable with those in equivalent higher education institutions.

The External Examiners for the programmes are:

Industrial Pharmacy – Prof. Dimitrios Lamprou
Pharmaceutical Microbiology – Prof Mark Enright
Pharmaceutical Business Development and Licensing – Dr Hannah-Louise Holmes

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with External Examiners under any circumstances, in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments. Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the UMSU Advice Centre. In cases where a student does contact an External Examiner directly, External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries. Instead, External Examiners should report the matter to their School contact who will then contact the student to remind them of the other methods available for students. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact their Programme Office (or equivalent).