ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

a rapidly advancing area and teachers employed
several years ago do not get opportunity to improve
their skills. Realising this need, Department has
initiated a new programme to organize short term
training courses for college teachers. The
programme was advertised during the year, 16
proposals were received and 5 proposals have been
supported.
Refresher Courses for Faculty Involved in Post
Graduate Teaching in Life Sciences &
Biotechnology
Considering the need to upgrade the skills of faculty
members involved in postgraduate teaching in
biotechnology, the department has initiated a
programme to run refresher courses for upgradation
of skills of faculty members involved in PG teaching.
On the basis of an average of six faculty members
per teaching programme, about 500 faculty
members need to be offered faculty improvement
programme. These courses will primarily cater to
faculty of DBT sponsored programmes. However,
provision has been made for non-DBT sponsored
institute's faculty also. The programme was
advertised and 3 proposals were received. 3
proposals have been supported.
Biotech Industrial Training Programme
On an average, 1000 postgraduate students are
passing out every year out of DBT supported
teaching programmes.
The Department of Biotechnology is facilitating
practical exposure to biotechnology postgraduates
for a period of six month in industry to bridge the gap
between the skill sets of students produced by
universities and requirements of industry. This
programme is mutually beneficial to the students
and industry. Industrial exposure ( in R&D, quality
control, production & marketing) orients students to
needs of industry increasing their acceptability for
placement. It also provides an opportunity to the
companies to assess the performance of trainees.
This programme has completed 13 years and has
become increasingly popular among students and
industries as is evident from increase in number of
applicants , number of selected candidates. Number
of industries offering this training has also steadily
grown. During the last 4 years, 402 students have
availed this training. Several leading biotechnology
companies like Monsanto, Workhardt, Aurigene
Discovery Technologies, Gangagen Biotech,
Lifecare Innovations, Dabur, Dr. Reddy's Lab,
Panacea Biotech, JK Agrigenetics, Auroprobe Labs,
Nicholas Piramal, Jubilant Biosys, Pepsi Foods,
Pepsico Holdings, ABL Biotech Ltd., Mahyco etc.
have offered training to the students. This industrial
training has facilitated in permanent placement of
students in industry with a success rate of
approximately 25%.
Scholarships/Felloships and Awards
DBT Junior Research Fellowship (DBT- JRF)
Programme
To fill the gap between PG teaching courses and
post doctoral fellowship (PDF) programme of the
Department, JRF programme has been started from
the year 2004. Under this programme, 100 JRFs
are selected through Biotechnology Eligibility Test
(BET) conducted by University of Pune, Pune and
fellowships are provided for an initial period of 3
years which may be extended upto five years
depending upon the progress. Contingency grant of
Rs.30,000/- per fellow per annum is also provided. It
has been decided to provide JRF in two categories
from 2007 . Top ranking 100 students in merit will be
given option to join any institute of their choice in
the country for pursuing Ph.D. 2 JRFs will be
provided to each PG teaching institution to
strengthen their teaching. To encourage medical
and engineered students to take up research work,
26 premier institutions have been identified and 10
fellowships each will be provided.
DBT Postdoctoral Fellowship (DBT-PDF)
Programme
The department initiated a programme for providing
100 PDF per year in 2001. Under this programme,
fellowship of Rs. 11,000 per month in the first year
21 Human Resource Development