The industrial doctorate , an avenue that fosters the transfer of knowledge from research to the application of medicines.

"One of my academic goals had always been to do a doctoral thesis and, during one of the meetings with industry professionals that take place at the Master's Degree at research, development and Medicines Innovation (MIDI), I discovered an option I was not aware of: the industrial doctorate . It is about carrying out a thesis in a business and in partnership with the University to foster the transfer of knowledge, from the research to its application internship". This is how Adriana Castiñeiras began another stage of her training, after graduating in Biochemistry and finishing Master's Degree of the School in Pharmacy and Nutrition in 2019.

"The MIDI offers the possibility to go directly to business and develop a real project for 6 months, which allows access to the world of work. In my case, I opted for the preclinicalresearch and I did my TFM at department of research and development at Laboratorios ROVI, business , where I am still working today", explains Adriana. At the end of the programme, she proposed the industrial doctorate : "Both Laboratorios ROVI and the University were delighted that I extended my training, so they fully supported me in this project where I will continue to develop academically and professionally".

For chemist David Izurdiaga (MIDI'20), it was useful to take certain subjects along the Master's Degree that, in principle, he did not see as being too close to the direction in which he wanted to focus his professional degree program , but which now help him to better understand what is needed at any given moment: "The entrance that I had in my current work was totally abrupt, in the sense that it is a business that has only been running for a few years and we all have a fairly general knowledge of everything that is done, from the experimental and analytical part to control the advances in our research, to the protocols and documents that we must fill in and follow so that everything works correctly and the steps we take are always firm and forward", he confesses.

A cross-cutting view of development of medicines

Izurdiaga adds that the opportunity to work and do the thesis at Zoco Pharmaceuticals would not have been feasible without having taken the MIDI. "The orientation towards the pharmaceutical industry has been forged over the course of the year and a half, and has completed my previous training as a chemist". He also stresses that the contact with the University continues beyond graduation, something that was core topic in his case: "There is always a message that serves as financial aid from a professor, advisor, coordinator, etc. For me, this was the message from María Zarranz, career manager of the School Pharmacy, with the offer of this industrial doctorate , which could not have ended in a better way".

Sara Peribañez (MIDI'20), a graduate in Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid, had a similar experience. When she finished her programs of study she was looking for a programme that would bring her closer to the pharmaceutical industry without moving away from the basic research and the first steps in the development of the drug. "It is something that had caught my attention during the degree program and precisely the MIDI has given me an overview of the whole process of development of the drug from the basic research to its commercialisation, knowing each of its phases and providing the necessary skills for the research and the work in each of them". 

Master's Degree After finishing her classes, she completed her final year work under the guidance of professors Iñaki Fernández de Trocóniz and Zinnia Parra-Guillén, who awakened her interest in pharmacokinetic modelling. "It was clear to me that I wanted to specialise in this area within the process of development of the drug. That is why I started the doctorate in pharmacokinetic modelling at the department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry of the School and at partnership with the business IKAN-Biotech, who are also part of my project of research".