National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, India was established by the Government of India to cater to the long-standing demand for setting up a dedicated nodal for quality higher education and advanced research in the pharmaceutical sciences. Colonial rule in an era of rapid advancement of sciences and technology had left the once a land of pioneers in sciences a few decades behind the frontline researchers. On the lines of similar initiatives in engineering/technology (the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of Science), medicine (AIIMS), and management (Indian Institutes of Management), the policy makers made a humble start in the field of pharmaceuticals.

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Objectives

The main objective of NIPER is to provide leadership in pharmceutical science with industry, national and international collaborations and promoting community and institutional pharmacy apart from establishing national centres in advanced research and emerging areas.

Academics

NIPER offers Masters and Doctoral programs in various fields of the pharmaceutical sciences.

System of Studies

The course duration of Masters programs is four semesters, while the doctoral programs typically take six to ten semesters depending on the subject area of research. A scholar has to take a minimum number of credits offered from various departments depending on the program and branch of study. The Research, its presentation, and defense carry their own credits reflected in the final Cumulative Graded Point Average (CGPA).

Programs offered

NIPER offers masters as well as doctoral programs.

Centres of Expertise

NIPER hosts frontline research facilities and service, offering its expertise in the form of

• National Bioavailability Centre
• National Centre for Pharmacoinformatics
• National Toxicology Centre
• Centre for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, India
• Medicine Information Centre
• Testing Lab for Stability and Impurity Profiling of Drugs
• Instrumentation Centre for Testing and Analysis

Organization

NIPER functions under the Union ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. The president of the Republic of India is the visitor of the institute. Its policy architecture is framed and reviewed by a board of governors which includes eminent academicians and entrepreneurs. The institute is represented by a director, who is also the chief academic and executive officer.

Campus

NIPER campus spans over an area of 130 acres, near the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium of S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali). It is a fully residential institute offering unmarried as well as married hostel accommodation. In addition, it offers accommodation to the faculty, staff and visitors.

Alumni

The institute's alumni has a strong presence in both academics and industry, at home and abroad. More information is available from the alumni website (follow link at the end of article).

Admissions

Every year in June, NIPER conducts national level entrance examinations for admissions to its M.S.(Pharm)/M.Tech/M.Pharm., MBA and PhD programs. Candidates interested in MBA (Pharmaceutical Management) and the doctoral programs are further screened by personal interview. The candidates are required to have qualified the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in a suitable subject area, although exceptions are allowed for some programs. The entrance examination is conducted at Chandigarh, New Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur, Pune, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Depending on the rank secured in the entrance examination and number of seats offered in a department, the applicants get to opt for their choice in a counseling session. Exam for doctoral program is subject and/or department specific. For doctoral studies, normally the PI has sufficient funding to support the student, but in its absence a fellowship via the National Eligibility Test conducted by the University Grants Commission or such student support schemes makes the applicant's case strong.

Other NIPERs

The institutes will run with co-operation from mentor institutes located at the respective places. Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Hajipur (Bihar), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal) are the places where the NIPERs are going to be started. However, counseling for these institutes was held at NIPER, SAS nagar (Mohali), Punjab.

See also

• Centre for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, India