Counselling

Ph.D. after M.Sc. Botany and Other Science Subjects

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An aspiring Research Scholar asked a few days back through email: ‘I have completed my M.Sc. in Botany. I want to do Ph.D. Please tell me which Ph.D. Courses are suitable for me? What are the good institutes for me?’. Following answer will clear these doubts. Fortunately, there are plenty of reputed institutes in India for research in Basic Sciences such as Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics etc. Let us confine to the Botany in this post. First thing any candidate aspiring to pursue Ph.D. should remember is, clearing any exam that offers good financial support along with a seat in a reputed and recognized university or institute. There are number of national level test for this purpose. Following are these:

1. CSIR UGC- NET: This is a highly popular exam among science students as it offers excellent fellowship under JRF and SRF. Those qualified for JRF will also get research opportunities in India’s best institutes supported by CSIR. The CSIR has more than 30 world class research institutes across the country for training and research in basic and modern sciences. For more details: csirhrdg.res.in

2. ICMR: Indian Council of Medical Research is another organization which offers research opportunities for eligible students in institutes under its purview. ICMR also offer fellowships almost equivalent to CSIR- NET. Check for more info: www.icmr.nic.in

3. DBT Junior Research Fellowship Tests: Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India offers various fellowships for candidates interested in research in sciences, particularly Biotechnology related subjects. See for details: dbtindia.nic.in

4. Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) exams will be another best choice for you as it is specialized in plant sciences and agri-sciences. To name a few of them, National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow, Another lab is, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (formerly known as National Centre for Plant Genome Research) is a premier institution for plant genomic research. It has been established by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. For more info, see www.iari.res.in

School of Life sciences University of Hyderabad etc., If you diversify towards allied sciences like plant biotechnology, bioinformatics IARI is another excellent option. Once you clear any of these exams, choose Institutes which provides Ph.D course in plant sciences.

Career with Pharmaceutical Technology and Pharmacology

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A student of Bachelors in Pharmacy (B.Pharmacy) recently asked a question which says: I am doing B. Pharmacy 3rd year. I want to write GPAT and join in Pharmaceutical Technology OR pharmacology. Where these courses are available and how to prepare for GPAT exam? What are the future jobs and opportunities we can get if we take pharmacology as specialization?

Pharmacy courses are available in all NIPER Institutes in India. Its website is www.niper.nic.in. Based on your score in national entrance / eligibility test you can select the NIPER centre or any university for PG program in Pharmacy. This is the time for you to prepare rigorously for GPAT Exam. As such there is no separate pharmaceutical technology course offered by any reputed institutions. It is an integral part of M.Pharma. GPAT is Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test which is conducted by All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi. GPAT exam structure has ben changed from 2011. GPAT 2010 exam structure is 100 multiple choice questions with a maximum 100 marks with negative marking (1/3 mark will be deducted for wrong answer. Each question will have four choices of answers and the duration of the exam is 3 hours

In the present GPAT from 2011, pattern is different from the earlier one. In the current year the paper will have 150 MCQs. The main requirement is to have strong back ground on fundamentals. You must look into your undergraduate syllabus along with the prescribed syllabus of GPAT. If you are strong in academics you need not go for coaching otherwise it is advisable for making you perfect in the exam. You must have time sense and accuracy in answering within stipulated time.

For Pharmacology students, jobs are available in R and D Institutes and pharma companies of India and abroad. Any NIPER could be the best choice for studying this course. The fundamental criteria to grow in Pharma field are to have strong background in subjects and good academics. You must select a good university for PG and Ph.D. as well. Since many diseases like Chikungunya and Dengue are emerging and no specific medicines are not available Pharma has an excellent future from career point of view. To become competitive, you must also look into Management course with the back ground of Pharma and some institutes are offering such kind of course like MBA Biotech and MBA Pharma which is the narrow specialization and more jobs with competitive salary. Making a drug at bench scale is multi million dollar project without any guarantee due to which many companies are looking into drug design and candidate from pharma background will have tremendous opportunity.

All the leading Pharma companies such as Ranbaxy, Lupin, Dr. Reddys, Aurobindo, Aventis, Astra Zeneca, Divis offer employment opportunities for these candidates.

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