Rules for the elective courses of part-time master’s programmes

Adopted by the MDM and MIND study boards, September 2005, revised September 2009.      

In In accordance with Executive Order no. 682 of 16 August 2002 on Certain Master’s Programmes, the Master of Drug Management (MDM) Programme Regulations 2004, the Master of Drug Management (MDM) Programme Regulations 2009, the Master of Industrial Drug Development (MIND) Programme Regulations 2004 (revised 2005) and the Master of Industrial Drug Development (MIND) Programme Regulations 2006, every student is required to take a number of elective study units and complete a master’s project. These two elements, which constitute the final part of the master’s programmes, are equivalent to:

• MDM Programme Regulations 2004: 30 ECTS credits
• MDM Programme Regulations 2009: 30 ECTS credits
• MIND Programme Regulations 2004: 29.5 ECTS credits
• MIND Programme Regulations 2006: 30 ECTS credits

The maximum number of ECTS credits may be slightly exceeded in cases where an exact adjustment of the required number of ECTS credits is impossible. Students wishing to take additional elective study units can do so by taking single courses, provided places are available on the courses concerned.

The student is responsible for ensuring that the number of planned elective study units and the scope of the master’s project (ECTS credits) fall within the limits of the relevant programme regulations. The master’s project supervisor from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the student are jointly responsible for ensuring an appropriate academic connection between the elective study units.

1. Planning the course of elective study

The student should contact a relevant supervisor from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences to draw up a study schedule for the elective part of the master’s programme and make a master’s project agreement. If necessary, the programme director can refer the master’s student to other department staff for help with identifying a relevant supervisor for the master’s project.

Students are recommended not to make a master’s project agreement until they have passed compulsory study units equivalent to at least 20 ECTS credits and at the earliest two years before the anticipated commencement of the master’s project.

If the study schedule for the elective part of the master’s programme contains study units not comprised by a general advance approval, the student should apply to the study board for an advance approval/credit transfer for the desired study units. Section 15 of the Executive Order on Certain Master’s Programs specifies that these study units must be offered to master’s students.

The student should send a copy of the study schedule for the elective part of the master’s programme to the Master’s Administration Office along with a copy of the master’s project agreement. The office will forward an invoice for the master’s project participation fee to the student on the project commencement date stated in the agreement. The tuition fee covers supervision and assessment in conjunction with the master’s project.

It is the student’s responsibility to make agreements with supervisors concerning any deviations or delays relative to the study schedule and inform the Master’s Administration Office accordingly.

2. Elective study units

The elective study units of the programmes are equivalent to:

• MDM Programme Regulations 2004: 0-15 ECTS credits
• MDM Programme Regulations 2009: 10-15 ECTS credits
• MIND Programme Regulations 2004: 9.5-17.5 ECTS credits
• MIND Programme Regulations 2006: 10-18 ECTS credit 

Although the elective study units can be used to support the master’s project, students can also select study units not closely related to the master’s project provided the conditions for carrying out the project are met. The supervisor may thus require that the student has passed, or is registered for, certain compulsory and elective study units (up to a maximum of 7.5 ECTS credits) before commencing the master’s project. Lists of elective courses that have previously been approved for credit transfer for the MDM  and MIND programmes. An elective study unit can also be taken in the form of a Independent Elective Study, for example, an assignment carried out at pharmaceutical companies, laboratories or similar in Denmark or abroad.

Elective study units from PhD courses offered by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
After approval by the relevant study board, selected PhD courses offered by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences may be included as elective courses in the master’s programmes. The PhD Study Board determines which courses are open to master’s students. See the individual course descriptions.

As a general rule, students are required to have a relevant qualification, at master’s level minimum, for enrolment on a PhD course.

Elective study units from other educational institutions  
After approval by the relevant study board, study units from master’s programmes offered by other Danish or international universities may be included as elective courses in the master’s programmes.

Elective study units from full-time master’s programmes offered by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
After approval by the relevant study board, study units from the full-time master’s programmes offered by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences may be included as elective study units in the part-time master’s programmes.

The study board for bachelor’s and full-time master’s programmes publishes lists on the Faculty’s web site of elective study units from full-time master’s programmes also offered to master’s students.

Master’s students can apply for elective study units from full-time master’s programmes on an equal footing with students enrolled in these programmes provided they have passed compulsory courses equivalent to at least 20 ECTS credits and have paid the full tuition fee. For further information concerning the other conditions for registering for elective study units, please refer to the course descriptions for the individual units.

Fees are not refunded if students cancel their registration for elective study units.

3. Master’s project

The master’s programme culminates in a master’s project. Read more about project planning details under 1. Planning the course of elective study. The project cannot be taken as a single course but is contingent on enrolment in the master’s programme.
The master’s thesis is a practice-oriented research project on a topic encompassed by the programme regulations. The project is usually based on specific research questions at the student’s place of work. During the master’s project, the student will be assigned to a supervisor from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and possibly an external supervisor from the enterprise hosting the master’s project. The methodological, theoretical and empirical issues and results of the project are presented in a thesis, which is evaluated by oral examination in the presence of an external examiner. Grades are awarded according to the 7-point grading scale. For further information on the evaluation of the master’s project, please refer to the Joint guidelines for the full-time master's thesis and part-time master’s project examination and course descriptions for the master’s project at MIND and MDM.

The master’s project can be completed by students individually or in groups of two.
The master’s project for the MDM programme, including thesis writing and examination, must be equivalent to:

• MDM Programme Regulations 2004: 15-30 ECTS credits (415-830 hours)
• MDM Programme Regulations 2009: 15-20 ECTS credits (415-550 hours)
• MIND Programme Regulations 2004: 12-20 ECTS credits (330-550 hours)
• MIND Programme Regulations 2006: 12-20 ECTS credits (330-550 hours)

Distribution of ECTS credits by compulsory and elective study units
      

The master’s project is normally the culmination of the programme. It is recommended that students have passed compulsory courses equivalent to at least 20 ECTS credits before commencing the master’s project. The supervisor may require that the student has passed, or has registered for, certain compulsory and elective study units (up to a maximum of 7.5 ECTS credits) before commencing the master’s project, and may require documentation (transcript from the Faculty’s Examination Register).

On the request of the individual student, the internal supervisor will prepare a report on the completed master’s project, including comments on the student’s project work.

Students carrying out a master’s project in a company or institution outside the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences may be required by the enterprise concerned to sign a declaration of confidentiality. Students taking part in a project at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences which includes cooperation with a company or other institution may also be required to sign an agreement.

Finally, the student may be required to sign a declaration accepting the conditions for participation in a research project related to a master’s project conducted internally at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, if the supervisor deems it necessary, cf. below.

The declarations above may mean that an evaluation, including the oral examination, has to be made with due consideration for the confidentiality requirements of the company/institution/master’s project supervisor.

Unless otherwise agreed, students hold the ownership rights to any results they achieve in the course of the master’s project. If the student is assigned to a research project in which a discovery is technically feasible, it is important for the supervisor to ask the student to sign a Declaration of acceptance of conditions for research project participation. This ensures that any part of a discovery made by the student is at the disposal of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences/the research team.