NIPERs should consider ways to fill faculty positions in the absence of suitable applications: DoP study

The National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) can consider their own in-house scientists for the new faculty positions or recruit pharmaceutical industry professionals for the Professor of Practice positions in the absence of suitable applications for faculty positions, recommends a study by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP). In order to improve the quality of faculty available in these national institutes, merit-based rewards and incentives for exceptional performance in teaching should also be provisioned in the annual appraisal process, said the study on upgrading the NIPERs to meet the evolving needs of pharmaceutical industry and bring the institution in top 50 in world ranking. The DoP had engaged Biovantis Healthcare for the study. Recommending various measures to improve the academic and research infrastructure, it also suggested that attracting and retaining experienced faculty members and scientists with industry experience is essential for providing industry-relevant education, research guidance to students and technical/ testing services to industry. Most of the NIPERs are currently working with fifty to sixty percent of allocated faculty strength due to the challenges related to faculty recruitment. The scientific/technical staff numbers across most of NIPERs are also minimal. During the assessment, it was also observed that the employment and monetary benefits for faculty members across all the NIPERs were not uniform. Further, absence of Career Progression Plan for scientific, technical and administrative staff across all NIPERs should be an area of concern for all NIPERs and should be looked into on priority. In addition, retention of distinguished faculty and scientists in relatively difficult geographical locations (Hajipur and Raebareli) with limited infrastructure and access is also a challenge for NIPERs. “To overcome these challenges, NIPERs should invest in creating a faculty development and have a defined KPI (Key Performance Indicators) based career progression plan for the scientific and technical staff at NIPERs,” it said. “In the absence of limited suitable applications for faculty positions, NIPERs can also consider their own inhouse scientists for the new faculty positions subject to meeting the qualification and experience requirements. In addition, recruiting the pharmaceutical industry professionals for the ‘Professor of Practice’ positions is recommended,” it added. In order to move in the higher ranks in various ranking systems, NIPERs need to work on its overall perception in the market. NIPERs need to come up with a thorough marketing, branding and a positioning plan and differentiate themselves from the other Pharmacy Council of India affiliated colleges and universities in India, said the study. NIPER needs to fill all vacant positions in their Public Relation Offices and develop an industry outreach program. In case of some NIPERs, which are ready to commercialize their testing services or have technologies ready for transfer, dedicated business development positions need to be created for reaching the potential customers. The study further emphasised that none of these activities should be given as additional charge to any of the faculty or scientific team members. The DoP started the first NIPER at SAS Nagar, Mohali in the year 1998 and added six new NIPERs at Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Hajipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Raebareli during 2007-2008. The Central Government has also announced expansion of NIPER with new campuses and has been providing policy and financial support for research and development activities in these institutions in collaboration with the industry.

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