Medicinal Chemistry (specialisation)

Entry requirements

A completed Bachelor's degree in Chemistry

An international degree has to be equivalent to a Dutch university diploma. The Examination Board will determine if an international student has the required knowledge to be admitted, and if the student is required to follow specific courses from the Bachelor's programme to eliminate possible deficiencies. Entering the Master’s specialisation in Physical Chemistry requires a Bachelor’s degree in:

• Chemistry
• Molecular Science
• Physics
• ... or equivalent, provided that you comply to the admission criteria below and belong to the top 25 percent of your class

A proficiency in English

In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

Months of entry

September

Course content

he Master's specialisation in Medicinal Chemistry focuses on the theoretical development and experimentation, involving high magnetic fields, free-electron lasers, scanning probe microscopes, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.

This programme is closely connected to the Institute for Molecules and Materials, and has collaborations with a number of different companies, including Shell, Unilever and DSM. You will have the chance to work alongside experts in the field using state-of-the-art technology. Thanks to all our research facilities being located on the Radboud campus, you’ll be able to perform your research with advanced spectroscopic methods. You get to choose the focus of your research, It’s even possible to specialise in the development of new technology.

What will you learn?

• Gain an in-depth understanding of the fundamental behaviour of molecules and materials
• Choose from specialisation courses allowing you to focus on the topics that you are interested in
• Learn about theoretical and experimental aspects of research, and how to solve complex problems in a structured way
• Get experience designing, conducting and presenting research using complex research equipment

Career prospects

About 75 percent of our students start their career with a PhD. Medicinal chemists are indispensable in the preclinical stages of drug development. We stimulate our Master's students to develop a critical mind and a problem solving attitude. Some of them will become the next generation of top scientists and, in our experience, all of them will have a job within a couple of months after graduation.

Approximately fifty percent of our graduates will become a PhD student at a university, while others will work at a research institute in the (bio)chemical or health industry or in one of our spin-off companies. A small portion chooses a job outside of the scientific world, for example as policymaker at a governmental organisation.

*This is a specialisation of the Master's in Molecular Sciences

If you have any questions, email us here: study-information@ru.nl

Learn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.