'Education will lead to discovery, entrepreneurship, skilled students'

National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Mohali was one of the first NIPERs set up in India. While the institute is revamping its curriculum, Sheena Sachdeva spoke with Dulal Panda, its director, about the new centre of excellence, placements, admissions, ranking and much more. Edited excerpts from the conversation:

- Dulal Panda

Q. Last year, a centre of excellence was set up for antibacterial and antiviral drug discovery and development. How has this helped students?

A. The government of India is looking to transition from a developing state to a developed state. For this, we need to have research-oriented products. While India is a leader in generic products, we now need to be a leader in research-based products.

Also, the Indian population is aging, and bacterial and viral diseases are on the rise. Hence, we need good medication for our people. We need a dedicated research centre where a large number of people will be engaging to do fundamental research that will lead to such a product. Through this centre, our goal is to get some good new antibacterial, antiviral, diagnostic, and vaccine formulations.

Under this centre, we have started 32 projects which will have multiple students and researchers that means at least 100 students or more will be directly involved in this. These projects address discovery of new antiviral, antibacterial diagnostic, formulation for antiviral and some other areas.

Q. Recently, candidates of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and ResearchJoint Entrance Examination (NIPER-JEE) have complained of discrepancies in the admission process.

A. These are operational issues each NIPER faces. Decisions are taken in the best interest of all NIPERs. Last year NIPER Guwahati held the baton. This year, NIPER Mohali is making sure the best possible decision is taken. We have a decision-making body where a large number of people are consulted. That said, not every decision requires justification as sometimes some operational ones need to be taken by the authorities.

Q. Any plans to introduce new courses?