PharMetrX is a structured graduate research training program organized jointly by Freie Universität Berlin (Clinical Pharmacy) and Universität Potsdam (Mathematics & Systems Biology) that bridges the gap between pharmacy and mathematics. PharMetrX offers an excellent research environment in the Berlin-Potsdam area, innovative research projects of high relevance for society, interdisciplinary support from the spokespersons of the program, individual mentoring by one of the partners in industry, and an attractive three-and-a-half-year scholarship. The program is headed by Charlotte Kloft, a professor of clinical pharmacy and biochemistry at Freie Universität, and Wilhelm Huisinga, a professor of mathematical modeling and systems biology at Universität Potsdam.

In PharMetrX research projects, scientists explore relationships between administered doses, drug concentrations produced (including at the site of action), and the resulting effects and therapy results, all based on experimental and clinical data. They take into account knowledge about the mechanisms of drug effects – both desirable and undesirable – in biological networks and the development of disease in different spatial and temporal resolution in the body. These in silico models of pharmacometrics are becoming increasingly important, as they facilitate an understanding of the mechanism of action for different drugs and thus the occurrence of desirable and undesirable side effects, the disease process, and the influence of patient-specific factors, while also facilitating possibilities for prediction.

In addition to five one-week training modules at Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Potsdam, the curriculum also includes a one-week on-site module with partners in industry as well as individual industry internships, which last two to three months. Industry and university partners exchange ideas at regular symposia, and there are day-long meetings of the working groups at the two universities. Every two years graduates of the program meet with current doctoral students within the Network of Former and Present PhD Students of the PharMetrX Program, which was founded in 2013 for intensive exchange and networking.

Graduates of the program work at universities, research-based pharmaceutical companies, non-university research institutes, consultant institutes, clinics, and regulatory agencies.