MPHARM on Michael’s Domain

Still wondering what to study?

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is what I would do if I were 20 years old today: I would enter an interdisciplinary study program. My favorite among the programs offered in Finland is the International Master’s Programme in Pharmacy (officially “Master’s Programme in Pharmaceutical Research, Development and Safety”, abbreviated MPHARM) at the University of Helsinki. I give you 5 compelling reasons:

Admission interview

Thu, 09 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

An increasing number of MSc study programs at our university are incorporating an interview into the admission procedure. Tiina Immonen from the TRANSMED program was the pioneer at the University of Helsinki who ventured first into this territory. If you are invited to an interview at the University of Helsinki, you have already taken the biggest hurdle, which is the evaluation of your application. To be accepted, you have to make sure not to screw up the interview. You don’t need to be stellar, but you need to meet expectations. The reason is that interviews are notoriously tricky to evaluate, and therefore, many programs use them primarily to screen for red flags.

MPHARM milestone

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Helsinki University’s International Master’s Programme in Pharmaceutical Research, Development and Safety (MPHARM) is close to another milestone: Our first graduates are soon to submit their theses. On Thursday, we were celebrating after the MSc Theses seminar, where the first batch of students presented the results of their thesis work. At the center is Leena , our benevolent director. Not in the picture is Tomi , who deserves much of the credit for making the Drug Design and Pharmacology track such a success!

Innoopeli Prize 2022

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We - the steering group of the International Master’s Programme in Pharmaceutical Research, Development and Safety - received the Innoopeli Prize 2022 !The Innoopeli Prize is given for a significant contribution to teaching in our Faculty. Although biased, I think the award is well justified since we offer many new courses, update existing courses, and translate courses from Finnish into English. It’s been heavy lifting, but we can already see some results in the form of really smart and engaged students, which we managed to recruit!From our programme director Leena Hanski: “In January 2021, we started the work as a steering group, with no learning objectives, curriculum, admission criteria, or even website, not to mention a single decision on practical arrangements for running the programme. We still have plenty of work in front of us, but I am convinced we can keep up the pace and make this programme a great place to polish the future stars of pharmaceutical research, development and safety. Our first set of students has been a great source of inspiration and motivation for many of us, and I also want to specifically thank them for their openness and willingness to share their stories, thoughts and expectations.”