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Students experiment with uni life

28 October 2009

More than 90 Year 11 students from 53 schools across Victoria have tested their chemistry skills as part of a recent two-day workshop at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Parkville campus.

Participants were introduced to university-level chemistry through a mix of laboratory sessions, lectures and tutorials, covering topics such as physiology, pharmaceutical biology, medicinal chemistry and formulation science.

Participants also heard about research being undertaken at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (MIPS).

The institute is the largest and most experienced group of pharmaceutical scientists in Australia, working on projects including medications for cancer and malaria.

Armed with a basic knowledge of skin structure and how moisturisers work, teams from each school were challenged to create a moisturiser by working out the ingredients and processes that make the best formulation.

The faculty's marketing and student experience coordinator Jessica Dobbie said the workshop gave students the opportunity to experience university life, exposing them to the opportunities available in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience a university environment - for many it's for the first time," she said.

"They get to spend time with university students on campus, can meet the lecturers and see the laboratories and wonderful facilities."

Ms Dobbie said the students spent the majority of their visit in laboratories learning how to create a pharmaceutical product.

"Many students left saying the experience had furthered their desire to study pharmaceutical science once they complete their VCE, which is very encouraging," she said.