Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Uganda imports the overwhelming majority of its medicines and manufactures a narrow band of generics, and the constraint on changing that is expertise: too few professionals who can design, run and assure pharmaceutical manufacturing to the standard that regulators and export markets require. ...
The four facts
What you actually need to compare
- Award and entry
- MSc
- A
- Duration and mode
- 18 months (3 semesters)
- Hybrid. Includes 0 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
- Cost
- UGX 3,900,000 per year
- Tier 3 laboratory classification. Includes UGX 900,000 annual laboratory premium.
- Outcome targeted
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing engineer, quality assurance and control lead, process and formulation scientist
- Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard
Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing fee
UGX 3,900,000 per year
- Laboratory tier
- Tier 3
- Annual premium
- UGX 900,000
- Per semester
- UGX 1,950,000
- Whole programme
- UGX 5,850,000
- Approximate USD
- ≈ USD 1,539
What this fee includes
- Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
- The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
- All learning materials
- Every examination, including first resits
- Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
- Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
- Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
- Online application
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing engineer
- quality assurance and control lead
- process and formulation scientist
- regulatory and compliance specialist
- validation engineer
- production manager
- quality systems lead
- technical founder
Employer types
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers
- contract manufacturing organisations
- regulators and quality control laboratories
- biomanufacturing firms
- development organisations supporting local production
- consulting firms
- medicines procurement bodies
- research institutes
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme is built for pharmacists, chemists, engineers and scientists moving into pharmaceutical manufacturing, and supports senior technical roles and local production ventures. Progression routes include doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Postgraduate programmes carry work integrated learning inside the taught structure rather than the twelve month undergraduate cooperative education placement. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 501 | Applied Intelligence for Professionals Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 502 | Research Evidence and Method Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPHM 510 | Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Processes and Operations Both | 6 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHM 511 | Pharmaceutical Formulation and Development Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| MPHM 512 | Quality Management and Good Manufacturing Practice Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHM 513 | Process Validation and Analytical Assurance Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 503 | Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPHM 520 | Pharmaceutical Regulation and Compliance Performance | 7 | 3-2-4 |
| MPHM 521 | Manufacturing Data, Analytics and Control Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHM 522 | Process Scale Up and Plant Engineering Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MPHM 523 | Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Elective Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MPHM 524 | Pharmaceutical Systems Elective Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPHM 530 | Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Project and Dissertation Performance | 20 | 0-2-12 |
| MPHM 531 | Doctoral and Research Preparation Seminar Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
| MPHM 532 | Research Translation and Commercialisation Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
Total credit units: 90
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 30 COMPETENCY UNITS
Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU
Cumulative
30
Programme total
90
30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Design and scale a pharmaceutical manufacturing process from formulation to production.
- PLO 2Assure pharmaceutical quality: quality management, validation and control to standard.
- PLO 3Apply good manufacturing practice and regulation as engineering constraints.
- PLO 4Formulate and develop a pharmaceutical product for manufacturability.
- PLO 5Design, run and analyse process and analytical investigations.
- PLO 6Engineer and troubleshoot pharmaceutical production and its equipment.
- PLO 7Apply data and intelligent systems to manufacturing and quality.
- PLO 8Lead a manufacturing or quality team and a compliance programme.
- PLO 9Deliver a major project inside a real manufacturing or quality environment with a measured outcome.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Uganda imports the overwhelming majority of its medicines and manufactures a narrow band of generics, and the constraint on changing that is expertise: too few professionals who can design, run and assure pharmaceutical manufacturing to the standard that regulators and export markets require. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a discipline of process, quality and compliance as much as of chemistry, and it is barely taught at postgraduate level in the region. This masters builds the professional who can scale, run and assure pharmaceutical production, and it terminates in a major project inside a real manufacturing or quality environment.
Admission requirements
A good first degree (second class or above) in pharmacy, chemistry, chemical or process engineering, a life science or a cognate field; or substantial relevant experience admitted through recognition of prior learning; plus a short technical task scored against Capabilities C5 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: recognition of prior learning against the admission profile under Part G, including substantial professional practice in lieu of the named first degree field. Online components require the Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.