The PSG Group of Institutions will be the third in the country to start an independent bioethics centre. The official announcement regarding the centre was made on Wednesday morning at the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.
This will be third centre exclusively set up for bioethics and related research. The other two centres are in Chennai and Mangalore.
The PSG Centre for Research and Bioethics will be setup within the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences Research. The institute will offer a postgraduate diploma programme on bioethics. “A lot of clinical trials are conducted in India, and the growing pharmaceuticals market has evoked several research projects on new drugs. Consequently, there have been several debates on bioethics that govern such research,” said registrar-research, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Dr Sudha Ramalingam.
The postgraduate diploma course is a one-year course, and would be taught through distance education. The programme would started from the current academic year, and admissions for the 2015-16 batch began in July. “It is a batch of 20 students, and we have only a few seats left,” said Ramalingam. The tuition fees for the course has been set at Rs40,000. The institute would also offer scholarship to four students with merit. “It will be a partial tuition fees waiver,” Ramalingam said.
The course, taught through the distance education mode, is recognized by Bharathiar University. “There would be five contact sessions every three months. Students would be continuously monitored through online assignments. There would be a final exam at the end of the course,” said Ramalingam.
Any graduate is eligible to apply for the course. “People in the pharmaceutical industry and those in biology, biotechnology and allied fields would find better job opportunities after they complete the course. For people in academia, it will be a value addition,” said Sudha Ramalingam. The course is likely to be upgraded to a two-year Masters programme in the future. This course could also help people become part of ethics committee in colleges and educational institutions. “Every institution has an ethics committee that monitors the activities of the staff and students. Not just research, but routine activities like classroom sessions, tours, laboratory activities, events and hostels too,” said Ramalingam. “This course would not only teach ethics in biology and related fields, but it encompasses philosophy, law and public health.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / August 06th, 2015