MPhil in Therapeutic Sciences course will resume from October 2026. If you are interested to learn more about the course, please visit our website in October 2025 for more details. To register interest in the course, please fill out this short MS form
The University of Cambridge and The Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences launched the new and innovative MPhil in Therapeutic Sciences in Autumn 2018.
This one-year full-time course will select a cohort of students with the skills, motivation and ability to excel to create the next generation of scientific and business leaders in the therapeutics and healthcare sector.
The aim of the programme is for students to develop an understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal function and subsequent dysfunction in human diseases and their amelioration or cure with advanced therapeutic regimes. The program will provide students with all of the tools and quantitative skills necessary to understand, develop and implement modern cutting-edge techniques in therapeutic sciences. This involves being aware of demographic changes in society, the rising impact of chronic, infectious and increasingly identified rare disorders, the effect of human genomics, the microbiome, scientific convergence and social media and the resulting implications for healthcare provision, which require cost-effective and scientifically substantiated new therapies.
The course will cover the range of conventional and novel therapeutic modalities, including understanding biological pathways and therapeutic mechanisms, diagnostic and prognostic tools, identifying novel targets, and characterising the pharmacologic profiles of new compounds, including adverse effects and toxicity. The course will place special emphasis on novel therapeutics approaches such as, but not limited to, recombinant protein technologies, gene therapy, cell-based therapies, regenerative medicine, electroceuticals, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Students will understand the social, financial, ethical, legal and policy implications of the introduction of these new therapies, and we link this training very closely to industrial, entrepreneurial, clinical and regulatory activities so as to encourage students to consider their studies in a society-wide context. This course will prepare graduates for the therapeutics industry of the future and it is anticipated that graduates would find employment in therapeutically-oriented industry sectors. The course is aimed at developing two types of mutually compatible future leaders:
Science Leaders: Those who make a decision to remain in science and who aspire to lead scientific teams, such as heads of genomics, biology, therapeutic development & innovation and clinical development, either within institutions or in pharma. These are the people who invent and discover the new technologies and therapies based on fundamental research.
Science Hunters: These are the scientific entrepreneurs who understand Science Leaders’ innovations and who chiefly know how to transform the inventions into innovations.
The course will instil:
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Systems thinking to identify paradigms driving change
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A vision rooted in highly ethical and moral patient-focused standards
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Decisiveness in ever changing scenarios with blurred boundaries
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Strong principles whilst being flexible and realistic
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Mediation skills to promote knowledge sharing, ensure stakeholder ownership and foster innovation
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Collaboration and working together
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The ability to take risks and share the rewards
This highly multi-disciplinary course is co-developed and co-delivered by both University of Cambridge academics and world-leading industry experts.
For further information or any queries about the course you can contact us via the CATS email.
The University of Cambridge will be hosting the next Cambridge Postgraduate Open Day. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details
