Pharmacists are one of the most highly respected and trusted medical professionals. And rightfully so. To be a practicing pharmacist, your record needs to be pristine. Pharmacists dispense and package prescription medications to patients and offer expertise in the safer use of drugs. A job that everyone takes very seriously and require the utmost of credibility.
To add to it, even when they are starting out, pharmacists are practically guaranteed to take home a sizeable salary. Specially in a country like India in a time like this. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally, and the pharmaceutical market is considered as the third largest by volume. All these point to the unarguable fact that pharmacy profession is a safe, well-paid and of high demand in the country.
To make the optimal use of this situation, we need prominent research-oriented pharmaceutical institutions who can take aspirants and turn them into skilled, competent, and cultivated professionals to be let loose in the industry and capture the market to the best of their ability. We need institutions like the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Appejay Stya University.
Established in 2010, Apeejay Stya University (ASU) is spread on a wide campus with lush green sprawling lawns. It has a large building, fully and centrally air-conditioned. It has a separate hostel for girls and boys inside the campus and a rich library. Besides, it has a residential facility for the university’s administrative staff.
The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Apeejay Stya University, is one of the best pharmacy universities in Delhi NCR. Approved by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and University Grants Commission (UGC), it offers career-focused pharmacy courses designed in collaboration with pharmaceutical organisations of repute. ASU is a pioneer in India with its R&D (research and development) centre for pharmaceutical research, that further ensures holistic and experiential learning for students.
The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences was established in 2012 with unique labs spanning diverse areas of the pharmacy profession. It offers pharmacy programmes at various levels – Bachelor’s, Master’s, Diploma, and Ph.D. The school has two centres of excellence – centre for Novel Drug Delivery System (NDDS) and Centre for Formulation Development and Analysis.
Complementing its success further, the Co-Founder and Chancellor of Apeejay Stya University – Mrs. Sushma Paul Berlia, said – “ASU has an unbeaten track record of achieving top placements in renowned pharma companies every year.”
Core Values
Commitment to research
Freedom to realign educational goals
Freedom to graduate at one’s pace
Trans-disciplinary approach
Mission
- To take minds full of potential and propel them towards greatness.
- To explore and expand the human knowledge base.
- To deepen the understanding of the human condition, fostering universal values while being rooted in the Indian experience.
- To do public good, to benefit society and the country as a whole.
Vision
To provide a supportive and nurturing environment that produces young renaissance men and women who would be the leaders of today and tomorrow.
Standing Apart
What sets the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences apart is the fervent determination of the school and its faculty towards the holistic development of its students into industry-ready pharmaceutical professionals equipped with all necessary skills and competencies. How the school achieves this can be explained through the following pointers:
- Use of ICT and latest teaching-learning pedagogy
- Real-time industry projects
- Academic programs based on technology, research, innovation, and liberal arts
- Promotion of human values and community service
- Trans-disciplinary courses
- International credit-based system
- Choice-based credit system
- Faculties from reputed institutes/with extensive industry experience
- Faculties involved in quality research and publications. The school’s Ph.D. students have filed many patents also.
Several awards and accolades have been bestowed upon the university. It includes being awarded for ‘Best Institute for Research and Development in India’ at the 27th B-School Affaire & Dewang Mehta National Education Awards 2019.
The Indomitable Leader
The towering personality behind the success of Apeejay Stya University is Mrs. Sushma Paul Berlia, the Co-Founder and Chancellor of the university. She is also the Chairman of Apeejay Education, and the President and Co-Promoter of ‘Apeejay Stya and Svran Group’ – a leading business conglomerate.
A multidimensional personality, Mrs Berlia is a leading entrepreneur, industrialist, and educationist who has devoted her life to nation-building. Daughter and only child of Dr Stya Paul, she has played a stellar and pivotal role in shaping up the university in its present innovative and dynamic form.
Mrs. Berlia has won numerous awards and accolades for her immense contributions towards academia and industry. She was felicitated by the Skill Tree Knowledge Consortium at the House of Commons, London for her contribution to Indian education industry. She was conferred the ‘Hall of Fame Award’ by the Asian Leadership Awards, Dubai, and the prestigious ‘Udyog Rattan Award’.
She was also the recipient of the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by ASSOCHAM for promoting education for a social cause; the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Samman’ at the House of Commons; the ‘ET-Inspiring Entrepreneur of India’ by Economic Times; and recently, recognised and honoured as one of the ‘Most Promising Business Leaders of Asia’ by the Economic Times for demonstrating exemplary leadership qualities, amongst others.
Very recently, she received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ as part of Dainik Jagran’s Iconic Awards 2021.
The Prime Mover
For the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the focus has always been to give real-time industry exposure to every student. Its library has the most comprehensive search database. The labs are equipped with modern and sophisticated instruments. For student placements and training, the school is supported by its Corporate Resource Centre.
Their very own pharma companies also absorb students from the institute. Few of the major recruiters are Wipro, IDS Infotech Ltd., Jubilant, Piramal, Mylan, Medicare, Dr. Reddy, Pfizer, Dabur, Biocon, Sun Pharma, Fresenius Kabi, Netmed, etc.
Struggles Then and Now
The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences offers varying practical-oriented programmes that require hands-on training for a better understanding of concepts. But when the programs first started, ASU faced many problems, as many were not aware of pharmacy as a programme. To increase awareness, the school launched many initiatives.
Now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, laboratory/hands-on training is not a feasible option. To overcome this, the school’s faculties gave a live demonstration of experiments in laboratories and also using different types of software. Also, looking at the growth of its campus, many pharmacy colleges have opened in area surrounding ASU. However, the quality of education offered by ASU’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences helps it rise above the herd and leads discerning students to find their way to the college.
“We have introduced an e-learning program wherein students have shown overwhelming responses. It has also provided an opportunity for institutions to introduce customised learning. Our institution has introduced various digital platforms that the students capitalise on to continue their education,” remarked Mrs. Berlia.
Scaling the Future
Looking ahead, the college would like to sign more MoUs with national and international universities and initiate student exchange programs. Three skilled development courses have been approved by UGC and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and these courses will be launched in the coming academic session 2021. Soon the college plans to promote research at each level starting from the first year itself. It is also going to implement multiple exit options (with due recognition/certificate/diploma, etc.) shortly as NEP 2020 enables the same.
