National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is the first national level institute in pharmaceutical sciences with the objective of becoming a centre of excellence for advanced studies and research in pharmaceutical sciences. The Government of India has declared NIPER as an 'Institute of National Importance' and it is an autonomous body set up under the aegis of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India.
The Institute, located about 250 Km north of Delhi at S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali), Punjab on a total area of 130 acres, is conceived to provide leadership in pharmaceutical sciences and related areas not only within the country, but also to the countries in South East Asia, South Asia and Africa. NIPER is a member of Association of Indian Universities and Association of Commonwealth Universities.
The main objectives of the Institute include toning up the level of pharmaceutical education and research by training the future teachers, research scientists and managers for the industry and profession, continuing education programmes, creation of National Centres to cater to the needs of pharmaceutical industries and other research and teaching institutes, collaboration with Indian industries to meet the global challenges, national/international collaborative research, curriculum and media development, study of sociological aspects of drug 'use and abuse', and rural pharmacy, etc, conducting programmes on drug surveillance, community pharmacy and pharmaceutical management.
The institute has excellent infrastructure facilities to undertake advanced research in pharmaceutical sciences. The central instrumentation laboratories are equipped with most modern instruments. Each department also has a separate specialized instrument laboratory to fulfil individual departmental needs based on the research programs. The Computer Centre caters to the needs of faculty and students for their research and teaching. NIPER has subscribed the Scientific and Technical Information Network (STN), a leading and comprehensive scientific online information service giving access to over 200 scientific and technical databases of chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences and biotechnology. A centrally air-conditioned Computer Centre operates sixteen hours a day.
The library at NIPER is being developed in a manner that it can eventually gain the status of National Library and Information Centre on Pharmaceutical Sciences. The library has chemical abstracts from 1907 till date and cumulative indices up to eleventh bound volumes. A number of CD-ROM databases such as International Pharmaceutical Abstracts and Drug Information Full Text (1977-1997), Ekaswa, Syntheline, MFline & DRUGDEX are also available. The library is accessible to all the Pharmacy professionals from the country and abroad and provides information to the academia, researchers and the industry personnel.
The Central Animal Facility (CAF), NIPER is registered with CPCSEA, Ministry of Environment and Forest, GOI. The different species of small laboratory animals like mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and rabbits are being bred and maintained to provide the quality animals for various research purposes in NIPER. The institute also supplies required animals for conducting pharma research.
The bioavailability centre of the Institute is capable of conducting bioequivalence studies in healthy volunteers. Already a few industrial projects have been completed and many more are planned. The centre has been accredited by WHO and is one of the two centres in the world for conducting bioequivalence studies of the fixed dose combinations of anti-tubercular drugs. The centre in close collaboration with hospitals around Chandigarh is also involved in conducting pharmacokinetics studies in patient population.