University of Sheffield MSc in Chemoinformatics

1. University of Sheffield MSc in Chemoinformatics • How the programme came into being • Structure of the programme • Taught component • Dissertation component • Our experiences

2. Chemoinformatics at Sheffield • Distinguished track record in chemoinformatics research since the late Sixties • One-term module on chemoinformatics for many years to MSc Information Management students • This led to many subsequent PhD studies, but numbers of scientists of all sorts doing the MSc programme has been falling steadily…. • …while the need for specialist training has increased

3. MSc Chemoinformatics: history • World-wide industry shortage • August 1999: ACS COMP symposium • November 1999: ABPI • EPSRC; Sheffield University; representatives from pharmaceutical industry • December 1999: EPSRC call for proposals • Masters Level Training Packages (MTPs), with Chemoinformatics as one of the priority areas • Successful bid supported by a range of pharmaceutical, agrochemical and software companies • 10 studentships over 5 years from September 2000 • Tuition and 2/3 maintenance (1/3 coming from industry)

4. MSc Chemoinformatics: aims • Develop an awareness of IM and IT techniques used in the design and implementation of chemoinformatics systems • Enable students to demonstrate skills learned by carrying out a small-scale industrially relevant chemoinformatics research project • Basic structure • Two semesters of taught modules • One semester dissertation working at the site of one of the companies supporting the programme

5. Semester One: taught modules • An introduction to chemoinformatics, to numeric and textual information systems and to computer programming. • Chemoinformatics I • Information Systems Modelling • Information Storage and Retrieval • Foundations of Object-Oriented Programming (CS)

6. Semester Two: taught modules • Chemoinformatics II (more programming) • Database Design • Research Methods and Dissertation Preparation • Two from a range of elective modules, including Molecular Modelling (Chemistry), Healthcare Information, E-Business & E-commerce etc

7. Rationale for the placements • A dissertation is an important part of any PGT course • What distinguishes an MSc from a Diploma or Certificate • Part of all of our existing MA/MSc programmes • Substantial industrial involvement required for EPSRC-funded PGT programmes

8. Placements: timetable • Mid-November • Initial contact with companies to request projects • Late-January • Final list of projects (title plus agreed one-paragraph abstract) sent to all students • Mid-February: final allocations • One student per company • Student to get one of three choices • Take account of Sheffield staff expertise • Easter • Student/staff visit to the company to finalise arrangements

9. Placements: the summer • Mid-June • Students leave Sheffield • Regular email/phone conversations with Sheffield supervisor • One on-site visit with submission of final dissertation by 1st September

10. Final projects • Four main types of project • Development and/or testing of an existing or novel piece of software for some specific application • Development of a Web front-end to an existing system or service • Comparison of different programs for some specific application • Analysis of chemical and/or biological dataset(s) • Wide range of organisations • AstraZeneca (both Macclesfield and Loughborough sites), Barnard Chemical Information, Edward Jenner Institute, Eli Lilly, Evotec OAI, GlaxoSmithKline (both Stevenage and Harlow sites), Johnson & Johnson (Spain), Merck Sharp & Dohm, Novartis (both Horsham and Basel), Organon (The Netherlands), Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis (Paris), Syngenta, Treweren Consultants and Vernalis.

11. Lessons that we can draw • Industrial involvement • Crucial if a meaningful programme is to be delivered • Sustainability • Or the lack thereof • Employability • Excellent prospects for students taking the programme

12. Industrial involvement: I • Chemoinformatics is not a purely academic discipline so there is a need for industrial involvement to ensure relevance • Chemoinformatics-II lectures given entirely by visiting speakers, with most of these from industry • The dissertation is planned in discussion with, and supervised on a day-to-day basis by, an industrial collaborator

13. Industrial involvement: II • The dissertation was intended from the start to be the principal component of the programme, towards which the taught components build • Correctness of this view, with all three stakeholders benefiting • Companies come back year after year • Students maximise their chances of subsequent employment • Although not an explicit intention, several dissertation-based research publications (and others excellent but confidential)

14. Sustainability: I • The original EPSRC funding was for the period 2000-01 to 2004-05 • Expectation by EPSRC that the programme would become self-funding • Students supporting themselves • Marketing of distance-learning modules derived from programme materials

15. Sustainability: II • These expectations were not realistic • Traditional student assumptions exacerbated by changes in UG funding • No industrial interest in distance-learning materials • 4-day short course meets this need • In UK, as elsewhere, declining numbers of students studying physical sciences at UG level • First physics and now chemistry closures • Even with the offer of fees, maintenance and placement, only limited numbers of applications for the programme

16. Employability • For the 38 students in the years 2000-04, their subsequent destinations were as follows • Pharmaceutical industry: 9 • Chemoinformatics software or database: 7 • PhD research: 11 • General IT: 6 • Other employment: 2 • Unknown: 3