This course, titled “Valorisation of Plant-Derived Bioactive in Novel Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms: Sustainable Green Extraction and Particle Engineering,” offers an introduction to natural bioactive compounds, focusing on their sources, methods of extraction, and implementation of these compounds into different delivery forms used in the pharmaceutical or supplement industry. It is intended for Master’s and PhD students in pharmacy, chemistry, biotechnology, food technology, and pharmaceutical technology, as well as other related fields.

The online lectures will provide both theoretical knowledge and the design-thinking model for creating a novel plant-based pharmaceutical product. Starting with lectures on medicinal plants, bioactive compounds, green extraction techniques, and green solvents, and progressing to particle engineering and delivery forms, students will be able to both learn and create together with their lecturers.

All online lectures will consist of a theoretical part (with concrete lectures and case studies) and a teamwork part, in which students will work together with lecturers to develop ideas for new pharmaceutical products. Each new online lecture will be a step forward towards the completion of your ideas. At the end of the course, you will present your final ideas during an in-person event (25.05. – 26.05.2026) at the University of Porto.

The evaluation of applicants will be based on their CV and motivation letter, in which we kindly ask you to explain why you are interested in green technologies and pharmaceutical engineering.

This course will offer 6 ECTS.

This course offers five weeks of synchronous online lectures, followed by an in-person event. Each week, the focus will be on a specific segment in the process of developing novel plant-based pharmaceutical products. During the online lectures, students will be able to communicate and work together on their ideas. All of the ideas will be discussed with lecturers.

The full course description:

• Week 1: Introduction to natural sources of bioactive compounds (21.04.2026, and 23.04.2026, from 09:00-13:00)


• Week 2: Green extraction techniques for bioactives extraction (28.04.2026, and 30.04.2026, from 09:00-13:00)


• Week 3: Green solvents for bioactive extraction (05.05.2026, and 07.05.2026, from 09:00-13:00)


• Week 4: Particle engineering and improvement of bioactive compounds delivery (12.05.2026, and 14.05.2026, from 09:00-13:00)


• Week 5: Novel pharmaceutical forms for delivery of bioactives (19.05.2026, and 21.05.2026, from 09:00-13:00)


• Week 6: Final project, on-site (25.05.2026 – 26.05.2026), Face to Face, 2-day event

At the end of the course, participants will be evaluated based on how well they implemented theoretical knowledge from the lectures into their final ideas.

Closed