The US-based Tripass Software Solutions (TSS) has recognised the Bioinformatics Centre at Prof. Ram Reddy Distance Education, Osmania University, as a centre for training in Tripass software.

According to Prof. Kavi Kishore, course coordinator, TSS would supply education related software, particularly of life sciences. The parent company in the US would also recruit at least two students from the Bioinformatics Centre. Experts from TSS would visit the varsity to give lectures on specific modules from this academic year, Prof. Kishore said.

The course, he said, was not a distance mode course, but a regular one offered by the Department of Genetics, though conducted at the CDE for want of space and infrastructure. There was a wrong notion that the course did not have much value as the Centre offered it for Distance Education. In fact, the student strength had come down from 80 last year to 40 this year, he informed.

The tough criteria for admission to the course was a restricting factor. Post-graduates with an aggregate of 55% only were allowed to appear for the test.

Even as the first batch of students were preparing to write their examination, some students had already secured placements in reputed companies. While two students got into Aurobindo Pharma and two in TSS, one girl got a teaching job in Chennai firm where bioinformatics would be introduced from this academic year. Scientific institutions like the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) were likely to appoint a few candidates, according to Prof. Kishore.

For the second batch, the Department is trying to upgrade the infrastructure and make the course more attractive. "The idea is to make the bioinformatics diploma economically viable and sustainable. The study material is also being revised," he said.

At present students are working on various projects like protein modelling and drug designing on the five silicon graphic work stations and 60 Compaq systems present in the laboratory.