Reliance school seeks deemed varsity status
Reliance School of Life Sciences, part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Life Sciences (RLS), has applied for a deemed university status.
By Jayashree Bhosale, TNN |
PUNE: Reliance School of Life Sciences (RSLS), part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Life Sciences (RLS), has applied for a deemed university status.
The institute has enrolled about 300 employees of Reliance Life Sciences as part of a competency development programme while 15 candidates have made it for a diploma programme which is open to the public.
“The number of candidates has to be seen in the context of RSLS being in existence for just over a year. RSLS has about 300 students and this strength will increase to about 3,000 by 2012,” said a company spokesperson.
“RSLS will be the first ‘centre of excellence’ in the university, where the group plans to have other centres in areas as healthcare services, alternative energy and nanosciences. These will be in addition to bioinformatics and biomedical engineering,” the spokesperson added.
The life sciences company’s proposal for a deemed university status was submitted to the University Grants Commission (UGC), ministry of Human Resource Development in May 2007. A revised version of the proposal was submitted last month, usually done because UGC wants additional information.
RSLS is in dialogue with some international educational institutions for collaborations. “It is premature to disclose the names of the institutions we are talking about,” said the spokesperson.
Currently, operating from the Navi Mumbai campus of RLS, the educational institute is scouting for a location for its university project. However, there is a belief doing the rounds that the proposed deemed university could be located at the multi-product SEZ that Reliance Industries is setting up at Dronagiri near Navi Mumbai. It may be recalled that this SEZ received its clearances in July this year.
Though RLS declined to reveal the location of the proposed deemed university, the company spokesperson said, “Various options in various states in India are being explored. However, proximity to Reliance Life Sciences campus would be of paramount importance for seamless exchange of faculty and for optimal usage of infrastructure.”
RSLS has developed 42 degree programmes at the MSc, MTech and PhD level to be offered in a phase wise manner. It currently offers internal competency development programmes, for Reliance Life Sciences employees, as well as external diploma programmes.
The competency development programmes are designed to train fresh graduates and post-graduates in specific fields of science and technology, to support the growth of various business verticals in Reliance Life Sciences. Currently, seven programmes, consisting of three months of class room training and nine months of “on the job” training, are being run in engineering, clinical research, manufacturing, quality management, research and development, medico-marketing and agriculture.
Programmes on clinical data management, business and finance management and health care are being designed. External diploma programmes, which are open to non-company applicants, include biopharmaceuticals manufacturing and clinical research. These are 42-week duration programmes, aimed at making candidates employable in biopharmaceutical industries or in contract research organisations.
RSLS currently has a mix of full time, adjunct and visiting faculty adding up to a total number of 50 teaching staff. While elaborating on its deemed university plans, the RLS spokesperson said: “It is imperative to obtain university status in order to offer post graduate and doctoral programmes. About seven domains in life sciences and related areas have been identified for higher education and research.”
The spokesperson declined to reveal the investment for this project, saying: “Substantial amounts will be invested in order to create a world class centre for higher learning.”
The institute has enrolled about 300 employees of Reliance Life Sciences as part of a competency development programme while 15 candidates have made it for a diploma programme which is open to the public.
“The number of candidates has to be seen in the context of RSLS being in existence for just over a year. RSLS has about 300 students and this strength will increase to about 3,000 by 2012,” said a company spokesperson.
“RSLS will be the first ‘centre of excellence’ in the university, where the group plans to have other centres in areas as healthcare services, alternative energy and nanosciences. These will be in addition to bioinformatics and biomedical engineering,” the spokesperson added.
The life sciences company’s proposal for a deemed university status was submitted to the University Grants Commission (UGC), ministry of Human Resource Development in May 2007. A revised version of the proposal was submitted last month, usually done because UGC wants additional information.
RSLS is in dialogue with some international educational institutions for collaborations. “It is premature to disclose the names of the institutions we are talking about,” said the spokesperson.
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Currently, operating from the Navi Mumbai campus of RLS, the educational institute is scouting for a location for its university project. However, there is a belief doing the rounds that the proposed deemed university could be located at the multi-product SEZ that Reliance Industries is setting up at Dronagiri near Navi Mumbai. It may be recalled that this SEZ received its clearances in July this year.
Though RLS declined to reveal the location of the proposed deemed university, the company spokesperson said, “Various options in various states in India are being explored. However, proximity to Reliance Life Sciences campus would be of paramount importance for seamless exchange of faculty and for optimal usage of infrastructure.”
RSLS has developed 42 degree programmes at the MSc, MTech and PhD level to be offered in a phase wise manner. It currently offers internal competency development programmes, for Reliance Life Sciences employees, as well as external diploma programmes.
The competency development programmes are designed to train fresh graduates and post-graduates in specific fields of science and technology, to support the growth of various business verticals in Reliance Life Sciences. Currently, seven programmes, consisting of three months of class room training and nine months of “on the job” training, are being run in engineering, clinical research, manufacturing, quality management, research and development, medico-marketing and agriculture.
ADVERTISEMENT
Programmes on clinical data management, business and finance management and health care are being designed. External diploma programmes, which are open to non-company applicants, include biopharmaceuticals manufacturing and clinical research. These are 42-week duration programmes, aimed at making candidates employable in biopharmaceutical industries or in contract research organisations.
RSLS currently has a mix of full time, adjunct and visiting faculty adding up to a total number of 50 teaching staff. While elaborating on its deemed university plans, the RLS spokesperson said: “It is imperative to obtain university status in order to offer post graduate and doctoral programmes. About seven domains in life sciences and related areas have been identified for higher education and research.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The spokesperson declined to reveal the investment for this project, saying: “Substantial amounts will be invested in order to create a world class centre for higher learning.”
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