Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology

The Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology Program is based on international standards and designed for graduates of biomedical sciences, medicine, nursing, and other health-related programs. Graduates from other streams will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The program will enable students to gain broad exposure to a wide range of basic pharmacology and toxicology research as well as the application of principles of pharmacology in clinical research to connect the gap between basic and clinical pharmacology. Also, they will be trained on different aspects of toxicology in the preclinical stage such as improved drug discovery and development, and at the clinical stage including monitoring and identifying drug-drug interactions and pharmacovigilance.

The Masters of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Nazarbayev University School of Medicine (NU SOM) will enable students to gain broad exposure to important and medically-related aspects of therapeutic research. The course aims to provide students with the theoretical and practical principles of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the nature and actions of commonly used therapeutics.

The program will introduce students to a wide range of basic pharmacology and toxicology research as well as the application of principles of pharmacology in clinical research to connect the gap between basic and clinical pharmacology. Furthermore, students will be trained on different aspects of toxicology in the preclinical stage such as improved drug discovery and development, and at the clinical stage including monitoring and identifying drug-drug interactions and pharmacovigilance.

This program is taught over two years and designed for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners, as well as graduates of biosciences related fields. The first year will cover the core materials of Pharmacology/ Toxicology using lectures, tutorials, and workshops designed to facilitate the acquisition of the theoretical knowledge in Pharmacology and Toxicology. The second year of the program will be a research focused year. The first half of the second year of the course will focus on theoretical knowledge of research with emphasis on scientific critical appraisal and scientific writing. The second part of the final year will be a hypothesis-driven research project. Also, to provide students with curricular flexibly, a number of different elective courses will be available to choose from. Students will have the liberty of choosing any of the elective courses provided at NU SOM or any equivalent course from other Schools at NU.

The program prepares graduates for further study at a PhD degree level or may seek careers in clinical trials, research, medical affairs, or pharmaceutical industry. Assessment will be carried out through a variety of different methods including: course assignments, written exams, presentations, and a research project followed by a thesis and a viva voce exam.

The Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology is the first of its kind in the republic of Kazakhstan as there is currently no available Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology programs in the country. NU SOM provides a high quality education in a research environment that will allow students to improve their professional career and contribute to the growth and development of the pharmaceutical and medicinal sectors in Kazakhstan.

Career and Educational Opportunities After Graduation

Graduates from this program can undertake further study at a Ph.D. level in Kazakhstan or abroad. Others may seek careers in clinical trials, research, or the pharmaceutical industry around the world. Additional career options include regulatory affairs officers, patent lawyers, and medical sales representatives.

Program aims are:

• To enable the acquisition of skills, competence and knowledge of the advancing field of Pharmacology and Toxicology
• To encourage Pharmacological innovation to improve disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment
• To improve knoweldge and practice of medication use and safety.

Graduates from this program can undertake further study at a Ph.D. level in Kazakhstan or abroad. Others may seek careers in clinical trials, research, or the pharmaceutical industry around the world. Additional career options include regulatory affairs officers, patent attorney lawyers, scientific writers and medical sales representatives. Also, the highly needed training course in pharmacology and toxicology will provide students with the opportunities that the pharmaceutical industry has to offer. In order to prepare students for such opportunities and to provide them with a head start, we will aim to introduce students to local pharmaceutical companies including site visits and invitations to experts in the area to deliver specialized lectures as well as research collaboration. Incorporating this component in the course will allow students to know the different options that exist for pharmacologists and toxicologists and also to encourage students to appreciate and consider innovation and translation of research into profitable entities, early in their careers.

On successful completion of the program, graduates will be able to:

• Analyze the principles of pharmacology and toxicology as well as the mechanism of action and use of commonly used drugs.
• Apply relevant knowledge of pharmacology and toxicology including drug toxicity and drug-drug interaction in research and practice
• Apply critical thinking and analytical skills to research problems in pharmacology and toxicology.
• Communicate and disseminate complex scientific information
• Perform scientific research in full accordance with ethical and professional standards.

STEP 1. Create your personal account

Register on www.admissions.nu.edu.kz portal to create a Personal Account. Please select the «Master's degree/Residency» program during choosing the Academic level.

After completing the application, confirm it by clicking on the link sent to your email.

Be sure to read the Instructions about the application procedure given in your Personal account.

STEP 2. Complete your Application Form and attach the required documents

Fill out the application form and attach the required documents:

1. Scanned copy of a National ID card or passport;
2. Scanned copy of secondary school or higher education institution certificate (attestat/diploma) with final academic performance or certificate from the school (spravka) according to the sample in the personal account;
3. Motivation letter in English;
4. Valid copies of certificates. The results of standardized tests must be sent directly to the University through test administrators.

STEP 3. Pay an application fee and finish the registration process

To finalize the application process, please click on the "PAY AND SUBMIT APPLICATION" button on your Personal account under the "My Application Forms" section. The application fee shall be paid online through the payment options available in the Personal account. The use of other payment methods for the application fee is not acceptable.

Applicants can apply for no more than 2 Master's / PhD programs at NU. In case of admission to both programs, the applicant must choose only one.

The application fee is 15 000 tenge. The application fee is increased 3 times when paid within the last two weeks before the first approved deadline and during the extension period for accepting applications for participation in the admission process (except for the Graduate School of Business). The application fee is non-refundable, irrespective of the application outcome or payment errors.

After submitting the online application, an applicant will not be able to make changes in the actions described in Step 2.

Step 4. Provide results of IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT

In order to provide IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT certificates, applicants should fulfill the following requirements:

• Send the electronic results of valid IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT certificate via the Test Administrator directly to NU;
• Upload a scanned copy of the IELTS/TOEFL certificate to the «Upload IELTS/TOEFL results» section of a Personal account and indicate its unique number. Applicants can submit any number of certificates for the competition, but the last certificate uploaded to the Personal account will be considered.
• Upload a scanned copy of the GRE/GMAT certificate in the «My Application Forms» section (Step 2) when uploading the required documents (if available or as required by the program).

Please pay attention to important information regarding the codes for providing test results through the Test Administrator:

• Code for IELTS: NU
• Code for TOEFL iBT: 6762
• Code for GRE: 6496
• Code for GMAT: H6m-R7-93

Please note that issuance and submission of IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT results in the electronic database of NU is not within the competence of the University. You should independently contact the Test Administrator (Test Center) and make sure that your certificate has been sent. Please note that this action takes at least 7-10 working days. If the certificate is received after the deadline specified by the Admissions Department, results will not be considered in the competition

All certificates provided must be valid at the time of submission of application.

Detailed Instruction on the provision of IELTS/TOEFL certificates is available in the applicant's Personal account. IELTS Online, TOEFL iBT Home Edition and TOEFL PDT results are not considered in the competition and selection process.

Applicants, at the discretion of the Admissions Committee, can be exempted from submitting the language proficiency test report in one of the following documented cases:

• an academic degree was earned in a country with English as the language of official communication and academic instruction;
• an undergraduate and/or graduate degree was earned in a program which was officially taught in English;
• if an applicant is a graduate of NU.

Further steps

After submission of the online Application Form, an automatic email notification will be sent to your referees with a request to submit a recommendation letter to NU in accordance with the provided online form. Detailed Instruction on providing recommendation letters is available in the Personal account.

Check your email for notifications from NU and your Personal account to stay informed about the status of your application. ​​Please keep in mind that sometimes letters from the University may go to the spam box.

Participate in the interview with the Admissions Committee in case of being invited. Interviews are conducted in English.

If you experience any difficulties with the registration or online application, please contact info_admissions@nu.edu.kz. Refer to your IIN and/or Applicant ID while sending us your requests.

Candidates applying to the Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology program are expected to have:

• an undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) and a/or graduate degree (if applicable) in a relevant discipline. During the application period, final year students may submit official current transcripts for consideration. Applicants recommended for admission must provide final transcripts and diplomas before the end of the Programs’ enrollment term. Graduates of the University are enrolled based on the evidence of the final transcript confirming the degree completion followed by diploma submission within a month;
• Applicants may be enrolled conditionally based on evidence from graduating university that the applicants have completed the educational program and the applicant expects formal issuance of final transcript and/or diploma by a certain date. In that case, the decision on enrollment shall prescribe the period of time within which the applicant shall provide the necessary documents to the University;
• a minimum CGPA of 2.5 out of 4.0 or equivalent on the applicant’s degree (bachelor's, master or Ph.D. (if masters and Ph.D. have adopted a GPA approach);
• the required level of English language proficiency;
• strong reading, analytical and mathematical skills as demonstrated by GRE or GMAT test (optional). Although an official GRE/GMAT score is not an essential requirement, an applicant can enhance his/her application with a competitive GRE/GMAT score;
• high level of motivation and a strong interest in the Program outlined in the statement of purpose;
• 2 (two) confidential letters of recommendation;
• For Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology program only: Evidence of any professional and/or voluntary experiences related to biological and/or medical research (optional). Although this is not an essential requirement, an applicant can enhance his/her application with such evidence.

The required level of English proficiency:

1. The absolute minimum requirement for English language proficiency test reports for admission to the Program is an Academic IELTS – overall 6.0 (writing 6.0, reading 5.5, listening 5.5, speaking 5.5) or the equivalent TOEFL score (except Home edition) as posted on the ETS website;

2. Applicants to the Program, at the discretion of the Admissions Committee, can be exempted from submitting the language proficiency test report if:

• one of their earlier academic degrees was earned in a country with English as the language of official communication, academic instruction, and daily life;
• an undergraduate or graduate degree was earned in a program that was officially taught in English;
• the applicant is a graduate of NU.

All submitted documents shall be in English or with notarized English translation:

• Complete application form;
• National ID or passport;
• Official document confirming name changes (if applicable);
• Degree diplomas with transcripts;
• An official electronic IELTS/TOEFL certificate (except Home edition) (valid at the time of document submission) sent to the University through IELTS/TOEFL VERIFICATION SERVICES. Code for IELTS: NU. Code for TOEFL: 6762
• Document confirming English as the language of instruction (only for applicants who earned their degree in a program which was taught in English and request an exemption from submitting IELTS or TOEFL);
• GRE/GMAT test certificates valid as of the date of online documents submission (optional);
• Two confidential letters of recommendation written within the last 12 month (to be provided by referees electronically or in hard copy). You can find the Instruction for submission of recommendation letters here;
• Statement of purpose of 500 words or less;
• 075у medical certificate (for Kazakhstani applicants) or a similar medical certificate with indication of general health (for international applicants);
• A document stating the presence or absence of a criminal record;
• Consent of the applicant/student to the processing of personal data;
• For Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology program only: Evidence of any professional and/or voluntary experiences related to biological and/or medical research shown in a CV, recommendation letter or in any other document (optional).
• The Admissions Committee and/or Admissions Department may request additional documents when necessary.

Online application deadlines for Masters programs:

For all types of grants: the application deadline is January 23, 2025, (2 p.m. Astana time) for international applicants and citizens of Kazakhstan.

For full tuition fee-paying category:

• International applicants: available until March 17, 2025, (2 p.m. Astana time).
• Citizens of Kazakhstan: available until June 25, 2025, (2 p.m. Astana time).

Deadline for submission of IELTS/TOEFL, GRE/GMAT certificates:

For all types of grants: the application deadline is February 3, 2025, 11:59 P.M. (Astana time) for international applicants and citizens of Kazakhstan.

For full tuition fee-paying category:

• International applicants: March 31, 2025, 11:59 P.M. (Astana time).
• Citizens of Kazakhstan: July 4, 2025, 11:59 P.M. (Astana time).

The start of orientation week (for newly enrolled students): August 2025

First day of classes: August 2025

All registered candidates can check the status of their application in the Personal account. Description of the status below is presented in the order of assignment to the candidate in the Personal account.

Application in processing. This is interim status, which means that the application is being processed. Admissions Committee will evaluate the application and inform the candidate on further steps/stages. Notification on final results will be sent to your email address.

Does not meet entry requirements. The status is assigned to the candidates who do not meet the minimum entry requirements. It is given after checking the application forms and the documents by the Admissions Department.

Disqualified. The status is assigned to candidates who are disqualified for gross violations of the conditions of the competition. For example, provided deliberately false information.

Rejected by Admissions Committee. At one of the competition stages, the Admissions Committee decided to reject the candidate’s application.

Transfer to another program. At the stage of an application screening the Admissions Committee has decided to recommend the candidate for consideration by the Admissions Committee of another program within the same School.

Pending. Candidate’s application is pending.

Waiting list. The Admissions Committee has finished reviewing the candidate’s application and made a decision to put you on a waiting list. Such candidates should expect notification from the University, as there is a possibility that if other candidates reject to study, they may be sent an invitation letter to study.

Recommended for admission to program. Admissions Committee has decided to recommend candidate for the program without going through the Zero Year of Graduate programs.

Recommended for conditional admission. The Admissions Committee has decided to recommend a candidate for the conditional admission with a requirement to fulfill the condition by the deadline specified in the notification.

Withdrawn. Candidate decided to withdraw from the competition.

Accepted Program admission offer. The status is assigned to candidates who received offer letter, signed Enrollment confirmation form and fulfilled all the сonditions of the University indicated in the offer letter.

Refused admission offer. The candidate was recommended for admission, but refused to study.

Refused in favor of another NU program. The status is applicable for those candidates, who applied for several graduate programs at NU. The status is assigned when the candidate chooses another program.

Deferred. The status is assigned to candidates who were accepted for the program, but decided to postpone their studies until the next year.

Did not submit the documents/Refused. The status assigned to candidates who did not provide originals of the documents by the stated deadline, which means that the candidate refuses to study at University.

Did not come to Orientation week/Refused. The status is assigned to candidates who accepted the offer letter, provided hard copies of documents, but did not participate in Orientation week. The vacant place, if available, can be offered to the candidates in the Waiting list.

Enrolled to program. The status is assigned to candidates who enrolled to the main program by the Decision of the Provost. Candidate officially became a student.

The Master of Pharmacology and Toxicology (MPToX) aims to teach students different aspects of molecular, cellular, and systemic Pharmacology and Toxicology. Students will gain advanced knowledge of the effects of drugs, poisons, chemicals, and environmental toxins on human health. The Program is a 2-year full-time program divided into four semesters that offers a mix of coursework and research components.

Year 1: Fall Semester

Year 1: Spring Semester

Year 2: Fall Semester

Year 2: Spring Semester

MPTX 501 Organ System and Common Diseases

Pathophysiology is the study of the disturbed physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is the medical discipline that describes conditions typically observed during a disease state, whereas physiology is the biological discipline that describes processes or mechanisms operating within an organism. Pathology describes the abnormal or undesired condition, whereas pathophysiology seeks to explain the functional changes that are occurring within an individual due to a disease or pathologic state. The course will introduce students to the pathogenesis of different diseases and potential pharmacological targets. Subject includes physiology and pathophysiology of cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal systems, neuroscience, immunology.

MPTX 502 Cellular Communications

In order to form tissues, cells in multicellular organisms have to send and receive signals, or, in other words, to communicate with each other. Communications occur when cells directly contact each other. Alternatively cells send signals, which are usually released in a form of soluble molecules, or ligands. Ligands activate cascades of biochemical reactions in recipient cells enabling them to convert the signal into a response. By these means, cells coordinate each other responses to the microenvironment, and maintain homeostasis and tissue integrity in a multicellular organism. A process of the conversion of a signal into a response is termed “signal transduction”. Most human diseases are associated with the abnormalities in the signal transduction mechanisms. Therefore, understanding these mechanisms in normal and pathological conditions is central for experimental pharmacology and drug discovery.

MPTX 503 Principles of Pharmacology and Toxicology

Students will learn about commonly used drugs and their Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion (ADME) and drug pharmacodynamics including drug-receptor dynamics. Students will learn and apply commonly used pharmacological and toxicological terminologies including agonist, antagonist (reversible, irreversible, competitive etc.), drug half-life, volume of distribution, bioavailability, elimination rate, area under the curve and many other relevant terms. In addition, as part of the toxicology component of the course, students will learn about poisons, venoms and their antidotes. They will also be briefed about applied toxicology in research and practice such as forensic toxicology.

MPTX 604E Scientific Writing

The course will be delivered as a group activity supervised by a senior faculty who will run them through the different styles of writing. The students will be trained on manuscript writings (research article, review, editorial, communication, case study and perspective). Also, they will learn how to write a research grant application and research grants. The course will have an extensive small group activity based learning and interactive lectures.

MPTX 505 Drug Discovery I

Drug discovery is a long, complex and expensive process. Despite the technological advancement, a new medicine will take an average of 10 to 15 years from target identification through approval for marketing with an approximate average cost of more than two billion dollars. The course is designed to enhance the knowledge and practice of preclinical evaluation of drugs with a specific focus on the key elements of the multi-disciplinary component of drug discovery and development. Subjects include Target identification, drug design, HTS development, lead identification and optimization and pre-clinical testing, drug delivery and regulatory requirements.

MPTX 601 Biostatistics and Critical Appraisal

Biostatistics and Critical Appraisal will cover theory and applications of epidemiological and biostatistical methodologies and technics for the design, conduct, analyses, interpretation for clinical application, and communications of findings of patient/population-based observational and experimental studies of various drug associated outcomes. Outcomes will include positive and adverse drug main effects, side effects, pharmaceutical actions and intermediary biomarkers. The course will provide the patient/population-based tool kit to assess the utility, effectiveness, and safety of pharmaceuticals.

MPTX 602 Current Topics in Pharmacology and Toxicology

The course is represented as an exercise in critical analysis of the current research in the areas of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The course will cover different concepts of contemporary research relevant to Pharmacology and Toxicology. In addition to lectures by experts in the area, the course will have extensive group activities that focus the critical reading and analyses of scientific literature.

MPTX 506 Systemic Pharmacology II

Systemic Pharmacology II will cover the actions of drugs on different human systems and how these functions can be pharmacologically manipulated. The pharmacological treatments included in this course are divided according to the physiological systems including treatment of inflammation, anti-inflammatory drugs; immune modulators; hormones and drugs affecting fertility; neuropharmacology, specifically drugs used in Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and epilepsy; analgesia and anesthesia; and vitamins, minerals and herbs.

MPTX 603 Introduction to Research Project

The introduction to research project model aims to encourage students to search the literature and relevant scientific sources for their selected research project. The module will introduce students to supervisor-researcher discussion and hypothesis generation. Also, students will apply their knowledge of scientific writing and biostatistics to search the background knowledge of the research project.

MPTX 504 Systemic Pharmacology I

Systemic Pharmacology I will cover the actions of drugs on different human systems and how these functions can be pharmacologically manipulated. The physiological systems included in this course include peripheral nervous system, with emphasis on cholinergic and adrenergic mechanisms; cardiovascular and renal pharmacology with specific consideration of drug use in hypertension, angina and dysrhythmias; anticoagulants and lipid lowering drugs; drug dependence and anti-obesity drugs.

MPTX 507 Applied Toxicology

Applied Toxicology course will cover the basic science addressing the drug safety and the adverse consequences of chemical exposure. Students will learn about harmful effects of chemicals on the health of individuals and society as well as the mechanism of action of the toxic effects. Moreover, students will learn about different subfields of toxicology, their importance and potential applications. Students will also be introduced to the experimental strategies for the toxicity evaluation such as in vitro methods, animal studies and epidemiological studies. The course emphasizes the application of toxicological knowledge and risk assessment.

MPTX 509 Drug Discovery and Development II

This course will discuss the goals and risks inherent in each stage of drug development and students will learn to appraise and interpret published pharmaceutical clinical trials and describe the impact of their results on the uptake of the drug into the market. We will describe and analyze the role of the pharmaceutical industry and drug regulators in drug development and promotion. We will examine the impact of clinical trial design and statistical analysis in drug development, market approval, uptake by prescribers and government health insurance schemes.

MPTX 511E Environmental Toxicology

This course covers hazardous substances (heavy metals, environmental contaminants, radioactive compounds, pesticides, nano materials) and complex mixtures of pollutants in air, soil and water, and their movement and effects on the environment. Also, we will study their effects on humans in the broad concept of environmental and occupation health problems.

MPTX 508 Research Methods in Pharmacology

Research Methods in Pharmacology course aims to introduce students to various research tools and techniques used in research. The course will equip students with the required background knowledge and application of advanced research technologies, which they will apply during their research project. In addition to common in vitri techniques, students will also be introduced to in vivo techniques using different animal models.

MPTX 701 Research Project and Thesis

This is a research based course. Students will develop and test a hypothesis under the supervision of qualified researcher. They would have developed the required skills and knowledge to conduct their assigned research projects.

MPTX 606 Molecular Toxicology

Exposure to foreign chemicals such as drugs, food additives, household chemicals, pesticides and others can disrupt normal cellular processes leading to toxicity. This course is designed to demonstrate effects caused by industrial and everyday chemicals on the different life forms primarily mammals including humans and to give insights into cellular and molecular aspects of these toxic effects. The course first provides insights into normal function of molecular and cellular processes such as cell cycle regulation, mitochondrial function, cellular degradation systems, cellular senescence and different forms of cell deaths. Later in the course, students learn how different classes of chemicals can disrupt these molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to toxicity and possibly to disease. Moreover, students are also introduced to molecular mechanisms of repair and adaptation that can potentially mitigate the toxic effects of chemicals. Through lectures, readings and discussions, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of toxicity and how it can inform strategies for assessing and managing human health and environmental risks.