Master in Drug Discovery and Development

Drug Discovery and Development at Jagiellonian University in Kraków is a master's program lasting two years across four semesters, taught in English in Kraków, Poland. Yearly tuition is PLN 25,200. The program, referred to as DDD, focuses on the full process of identifying and introducing new medicines. It aims to train specialists with a strong scientific grounding in the discovery and development of new pharmacotherapeutics, combined with practical skills tied to real-world drug development work. The first semester builds a basic understanding of the drug discovery and development process and brings students from varied academic backgrounds to a common level of life-sciences knowledge. The second semester provides broad training in pharmaceutical sciences that serves as a foundation for further specialization. In the third and fourth semesters, students choose one of six specializations: Medicinal Chemistry, Molecular Pharmacology, In Vivo Pharmacology and Toxicology, Model Based Drug Development, Biological Drug Development, or Generic Drug Product Development. Graduates learn how new medicines are identified, developed, manufactured, and tested, along with the regulatory processes required for formal approval as drug products. The program also builds management skills and language expertise intended to support graduates' employment in international pharmaceutical and biotechnology settings. Drug discovery and development as a field connects chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and regulatory science, and graduates typically go on to work in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, and regulatory agencies, in roles spanning laboratory research, clinical development, and product management for new therapeutics.