Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program provides a rigorous background in a range of scientific disciplines that are critical to the success of modern pharmaceutical scientists in industry, government, and academia.  With 29 graduate faculty, the interdisciplinary program combines pharmaceutically relevant aspects of disciplines such as chemistry, biology, and engineering.  You can earn a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in one of three research cores:  Drug Discovery, Drug Action, or Drug Delivery.  Individuals from a wide variety of undergraduate academic fields have found a graduate research "fit" within Pharmaceutical Sciences.  Program alumni hold scientific titles in the pharmaceutical industry, in biotechnology, and in other health industry research and development.  Many alumni hold faculty titles in U.S.-based or international schools/colleges of pharmacy or departments of chemistry.

Research in Drug Discovery focuses on areas related to medicinal chemistry, such as small molecule development, natural products isolation and characterization, organic synthesis, chemical biology, and rational drug design.

Drug Action focuses on areas related to pharmacology, toxicology, cellular differentiation, development, and disease.  Interests include the impact of drugs and toxins on biological systems, mechanisms of normal biology, and mechanisms of disease.  These are studied at the cellular, genetic, molecular, and biochemical levels using diverse model systems.

Drug Delivery emphasizes principles in physical chemistry and drug transport, aiming for advances in formulation, drug targeting, and multi-modal therapy.  Delivery research includes the solid state chemistry of drugs, nano-pharmacy, biocompatibility, molecular recognition, computational chemistry, pharmacokinetics, and molecular imaging.  Download a printable brochure about the program and faculty research.

Accepted graduate applicants commonly have strong scientific backgrounds, a passion for biomedical research, and significant laboratory experience.  Students with undergraduate degrees (or those to earn such degrees by the Fall of 2016) in the physical or biological sciences, engineering, pharmacy and related fields are encouraged to apply.  UW-Madison is one of the nation's most prolific research universities, located on Lake Mendota in the state's vibrant capital city.  The city of Madison is consistently recognized as one of the nation's best cities in multiple categories.  Visit grad.wisc.edu to learn more about the many reasons to choose Wisconsin for graduate study.  See our website for information on financial aspects of the program (stipend; tuition remission; health insurance).

Graduate Degrees in

Social & Administrative Sciences of Pharmacy

The Social & Administrative Sciences (SAS) M.S. and Ph.D. Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy provides a rigorous background in a range of disciplines that are critical to preparing the next generation of health services researchers. With a critical mass of faculty and approximately 15 graduate students, the program’s interdisciplinary approach combines theories and concepts from disciplines such as economics, sociology, psychology, management sciences, education, epidemiology, industrial and safety engineering, history, and law. The UW-Madison SAS Division has a reputation nationally for its research productivity, extramural funding support, publication record, and teaching. The SAS graduate program at Wisconsin has educated generations of researchers who have taken leadership and advisory roles in challenging positions within academia, industry, and government. Our faculty and graduates have provided invaluable roles in communicating research findings to the public, policy makers, pharmacists and other health care professionals to improve health outcomes, patient care, drug use, and the health care system.

The objective of the SAS graduate program is to prepare students for independent, theory-based research leading to new knowledge and understanding of drug use, patient and provider communication and behaviors, health outcomes, patient safety, health care systems, and the pharmacy profession. This is accomplished by integrating knowledge of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals with theories and concepts from numerous disciplines.  Students in the SAS graduate programs have all the advantages of studying at a world class institution of higher learning. Courses taken from a wide range of academic units on campus provide access to top teachers and researchers. The graduate program in SAS has considerable curricular flexibility and can be tailored to the interests of individual students. As SAS faculty have a broad range of knowledge and expertise, students can specialize in diverse areas of emphasis.  The MS and PhD curriculum are linked here.

The SAS faculty believe in supporting graduate students in their quest for knowledge and research expertise and a range of funding mechanisms are possible; graduate students typically are provided with tuition remission and funding support as either teaching assistants, project assistants or as fellows for the duration of their graduate studies. Graduate students that hold licenses to practice pharmacy often are so employed part-time in the community, to supplement their income and to stay tied to the profession. In addition, new students are provided with new laptop computers for their learning and research endeavors, access to state-of-the-art statistical software and support, and travel grants to present their research at national meetings. The Sonderegger Research Center is affiliated with the SAS Division.  

If you hold or soon will earn a degree in Pharmacy, Population Health or Public Health, Sociology, Industrial Engineering, Economics, History, or a related field, and if you seek to apply your knowledge and skills to pharmacy or medication-related research at the highest levels, contact us. You can earn the M.S. and/or Ph.D. degrees in Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy with emphasis in any of the diverse areas of concentration within our program.  See the brochure profiling the program and its faculty.

MS Program in

Health System Pharmacy Administration/Leadership (combined with PGY-1 and -2 residency at the

University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics)

Founded in 1962, the combined Master's degree and two-year residency in Health System Pharmacy Administration at the University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics (UWHC) is designed to provide the resident with a solid background in academics and the administration of exemplary pharmaceutical services across an integrated health system.  The primary objective of the program is to develop health system pharmacy administrators who are trained and prepared to immediately assume manager and assistant director level administrative leadership positions within a large health system (e.g., oversight of pharmacy operations, clinical programs, medication safety, new business development, supply chain), and one day Director of Pharmacy positions in a leading health care organization.  Resident's activities are varied in scope, depending on each individual's background and areas of interest. See downloadable, comprehensive brochure.

See http://www.uwhealth.org/health-professionals/internships/pharmacy-administrative-residency/administrative/31907 for links to the program's objectives and strengths, competency objectives, information about stipends and benefits, how to apply to the program, profiles on the UWHC Department of Pharmacy and preceptor biographies, as well as the resident's rotation structure during the two-year sequence.

Residency Contact:
Steve Rough, M.S., R.Ph. FASHP
Director of Pharmacy
UW Hospital & Clinics, Department of Pharmacy
600 Highland Avenue
F6/133-1530
Madison, WI 53792
(608) 263-1282

srough@uwhealth.org