1. Introduction

Department of Pharmacognosy - Traditional Pharmacy –Botany – Organic Chemistry (formerly named Department of Pharmacognosy - Traditional Pharmacy – Botany) was founded according to the decision No. 543/QD-DHH-TCNS of the Rector of Hue University about the establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy on 9^th November 2004.

In the first period of establishment, due to a shortage of human resources and to ensure the teaching quality, the training programs of undergraduate degree were supported by the department of Biology, Hue University of Sciences, and the department of Traditional Medicine, Hue College of Medicine and Pharmacy. Nowadays, with the development of teaching staffs and facilities, we have gradually taken responsibility in teaching all related subjects.

In term of human resources, there are 15 staff members including 1 Professor, 2 PhDs, 10 Masters of Pharmacy and Masters of Science, 1 Bachelor of Science and 1 Bachelor of Pharmacy.

2. Research interests

- Extracting, isolating and determining the structure of natural compounds.

- Screening the pharmacological effects of medicinal herbs and potential natural compounds.

- Synthesis or semi-synthesis of bioactive compounds.

- Studying on the ecological and botanical characteristics of potential medicinal herbs.

3. Staffs

4. Training objectives

- Providing the basic knowledge of the origin, characteristics, distribution, chemical composition and the effects of natural compounds; the conception and the chemical structure; the qualitative and quantitative methods of natural compounds.

- Providing the basic knowledge and skills in analyzing and building some traditional remedies, producing and testing some traditional medicines.

- Providing the basic knowledge about the plant morphology, characteristics, location, classification and evolutionary relationships of taxonomies, the medicinal plant diversity, significance, conservation and development measures.

- Providing the basic knowledge about the orientations for research and development of potential pharmaceuticals, new drugs; Screening of leading compound, building the natural drugs standards, then transferring the techniques and application of scientific and technological achievements to the production of natural drugs.

- Providing the basic knowledge about the status of growing and developing medicinal plants in Vietnam, the planning policies, the zone of medicinal plants, the conservation and the development of medicinal plants and the gene sources of medicinal plants, the cultivation of medicinal plants, the principles of growing practices and the collection of medicinal plants according to the GACP.

- Providing the basic knowledge and the skills of the extraction of active ingredients, the qualitative and quantitative methods, the isolation and the determination of the structures of natural compounds.

- Providing the basic knowledge of organic chemistry including structure, reaction mechanism, chemical properties, chemical transformation, and chemical synthesis. Developing skills in the analyses of structural-chemical and physical properties relation applied in chemical synthesis, especially for pharmaceutical and natural product synthesis.

5. Training students

5.1. Undergraduate training

- 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th grade students in the 5-year regular degree of Pharmacy

- 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th grade students in the 4-year inter-college degree of Pharmacy

- 1^st and 2^nd grade students in the 3-year inter-college degree of Pharmacy

5.2. Postgraduate training

First-level specialized pharmacists with 2 majors:

• Pharmaceutical Management and Organization
• Pharmacognosy-Traditional Medicine

6. Required books and reference books

List of textbooks published by the deparment (in Vietnamese):

1. Nguyễn Thị Hoài (Chủ biên), Nguyễn Khánh Thùy Linh, Lê Thị Bích Hiền, Trần Thị Thùy Linh, Võ Quốc Hùng (2019), Giáo trình Đại học Phương pháp nghiên cứu dược liệu Tập 1: Các phương pháp sắc ký dùng trong nghiên cứu hóa học cây thuốc, NXB Đại học Huế. (ISBN: 978-604-974-096-1)

2. Phan Văn Kiệm, Nguyễn Thị Hoài (Đồng chủ biên) (2018), Giáo trình thực hành Dược liệu học đào tạo Dược sĩ Đại học, NXB Đại học Huế (ISBN: 978-604-912-901-8)

3. Nguyễn Thị Hoài (Chủ biên), Nguyễn Khánh Thùy Linh, Nguyễn Đình Quỳnh Phú (2018), Thực hành Dược liệu học, NXB Đại học Huế, Huế. (ISBN: 978-604-974-042-8)

The department has compiled the textbooks for internal use

- Pharmacognosy I and II

- Traditional Pharmacy

- Botany

- Research and development of new drugs

Also, the department participated in compiling a textbook: «Field teaching», Hue University of Publishing, in 2012.

7. Published research

+ Scientific grants:

- 01 Nafosted grant

- 05 grants from Ministry of Education and Training

- 02 provincial grants from Department of Science and Technology, Thua Thien Hue province

- 06 grants from Hue University and many other grants from Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy

+ Publications (Aug 2020): 49 articles in international journals, and more than 100 articles in national specialized journals.

+ Conferences: author/ co-author of 16 posters, 2 oral reports at international conferences.