How to Score AIR Under 100 in NIPER

This blog has been written after discussion with many NIPER qualifiers. Even the Writer of this blog is Ex NIPERian. He got 56 Rank in GPAT and 90 Rank in NIPER. To answer” How to Score AIR Under 100 in NIPER”, this blog is divided into the following categories.

• Introduction
• Exam Pattern
• Eligibility
• Import topics and syllabus -Must read
• Key Advice for every NIPER aspirants
• Recommended Books
• Importance of being a NIPERian

Introduction

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) are the national level-Pharmaceutical Sciences Institutes.

The primary goal of NIPER is to become the centre of excellence for advanced studies and research in Pharmaceutical Science.
NIPER Mohali was the first established NIPER through a Parliament act dated 26-Jun-1998.

During the years 2007- 2008, the Indian Government established six more NIPERs and list of all NIPERs is  as given below:

NIPER, Ahmedabad: https://www.niperahm.ac.in/
NIPER, Guwahati: http://www.niperguwahati.ac.in/
NIPER, Hajipur: https://www.niperhajipur.ac.in/
NIPER, Hyderabad http://www.niperhyd.ac.in/
NIPER, Kolkata https://www.niperkolkata.edu.in/
NIPER, Raebareli http://niperraebareli.edu.in/
NIPER, S.A.S Nager, Mohali http://www.niper.nic.in/

Exam Pattern and syllabus:

• It will be Online test
• Total number of questions will be 200 (One mark each)
• Questions will be an objective-Multiple choice
• Questions will come from B.Pharm. And M. Sc. (relevant field) syllabus
• Few additional questions from General Aptitude, General English, Pharma News, Recent drug approvals, and Recent Big Events
• Negative marking is done for each wrong answer (25% Mark will be deducted)
• Duration of exam: 2 Hours.

• Exam Date: June 10, 2020 (tentative)
• Start date of application: Last week of April-2020 (tentative)
• The end date of filling application/registration: May Second week-2020 (tentative) Actual Dates may vary but above tentative dates can help you to schedule your study time table.
• NIPER JEE 2020 Result declaration: 10 days after the examination (Second week of June-2020
• Group Discussion and Interview for MBA (Pharm): Qualified NIPER test-students will be called for interview (based on RANK)-Second week of July–2020
• Counselling: Second Week of July.(Including for Pharma MBA)
• Total Seats: 600-650 approx
• Course offered at NIPERs: M. Pharm,M.S., M. Tech (Pharm), MBA (Pharm), and Ph. D

Eligibility

• “The candidate should have a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy or equivalent degree (Depends on Courses, you are applying for). See the table below.
• Candidates should have secured 60 percents or 6.75 GPA for the General category.
• 55 percents or 6.25 CGPA for SC /ST candidates and  50 percents or 5.75 GPA for PH candidates’ in aggregate in the qualifying exam.
• Candidates should also have a valid GATE or NET or GPAT score.”

“Important to note that for students awaiting Final year result: Registrar of the respective university has to send confidential results from official email ID  before final counselling to the following E mail ID: [email protected].”

As per the 2019 NIPER brochure: “It is mandatory to bring GPAT/GATE/NET scorecard at the time of counselling/Group Discussion and Interview. Further GPAT/GATE/NET is an essential qualification for all programmes [including M.B.A.(Pharm.) except for the following categories of candidates.”
“Candidates holding B.V.Sc./M.B.B.S./B.A.M.S .degree
Foreign nationals
Sponsored candidate from public/private sector undertaking, Govt. departments and research and development organizations
Candidates applying as NRI or their wards [in case of M.B.A.(Pharm.)]”

Import topics and syllabus -Must read

An official statement from 2019 NIPER brochure: The level of questions will be of B.Pharm. And M. Sc. (relevant field).
They do not provide topic wise syllabus but it covers the following topics

GPAT syllabus + “General Aptitude questions, General English, Pharma News, Recent drug approvals, Recent Big News and General Chemistry

GPAT syllabus: https://gpat.nta.nic.in/WebInfo/Handler/FileHandler.ashx?i=File&ii=103&iii=Y

Important topics: These topics are part of GPAT syallabus as well.
Chemistry: Basic organic, physical and Inorganic Chemistry, Reactions name and type, intermediate and final product name, Stereochemistry- Good number of questions will come from chemistry. Important structures such as diazepam, Sulfonamides etc and SAR.

Basic Statistics: mean, median, mode, ANOVA, paired test etc

Pharmacology: Pharmacology classification and important side effects, Receptor classification and function such as Adrenergic receptor, Opioid Receptors etc., Mechanism of action and Target.

Pharmacognosy: Pharmacognosy classification, testing methods  eg alkaloids, active constituents and use, Basic Pharmacognosy

Pharmaceutics: Role and names of various ingredients in the tablet, capsule, injection, aerosol etc and their evaluation method and apparatus used, Different limits (all tables), Novel drug delivery system such as dendrimers.

Pharmaceutical analysis: Various stability testing, HPLC, Chromatography, various formula, pH, PKA, surfactant HLB values, complete Spectroscopy

Biotechnology: Gene expression, transcription, replication translation, recombination and mutation and Gene therapy

Microbiology: Everything about antibody, various microbiological test, sterilization methods

Forensic Pharmacy All Schedules and forms numbers

Biochemistry: Protein, Peptide and Enzyme and basic biochemistry

Frequently asked question in Previous papers `(Taken From Pharmatutor)

“Polarity of solvents for chromatography,
Rf values for better separation,
Absorbent in reverse phase chromatography,
Partition coefficient between liquid-liquid phase, Naming of peptides (i.e. pentapeptide, hexapeptide)
Hetero and homo diens, Setro of biphenyl,
cyclohexane(conformations)

Haemllet equation and saturation kinetics,
IR frequency of carbonyl compounds,
Solvents for IR and NMR,
Mechanism of action of barbiturates, pyrimethamine, co-trimoxazole

The technique for separation of isomers and racemic mixture, Applications of spectroscopic technique, Gas laws (boyle charles etc), Polymers in pharmaceutics, Calculation for J value (NMR), Isomers of important phytopharmaceuticals and its use, Alpha carotene contains how many rings, Squalene contains how many isoprene units,

Use of each 5 HT receptors, Measurement of flow properties and its importance, Role of excipients and stage of the addition of each Solvents for oral use, iv use and reconstitution, All IP standards for tablets and capsules, Accelerated stability testing,

Applications of various mixers and dryers, Identification of peaks in mass spectroscopy, Surfactants its classification and HLB values for different surfactants, Antimalarial drugs their structure, IUPAC, mechanism of action Enzymes as biomarkers in a various disease state, Protein binding of important drugs, Vitamins: name, deficiency“

Additional Important topics which are not in GPAT syllabus

• Recently approved drugs by the FDA and EMA
• Recently given Nobel Prize winners- name and work
• Basics of Clinical Research like Phase of clinical trials, type of studies, Important labs in India and their locations.
• The drug approval process in India and the USA
• Patent and exclusivity
• Recent Big Merger/Acquisition in Pharma Industry.
• Brand name of Highest Selling (Blockbuster) drug in India and their Manufacturer name
• Any recent big news  Like Coronavirus outbreak, International games
• General aptitude questions: Coding and Decoding, Chain Rule, Alligation or MixtureProblems on NumbersTime and WorkRatio and Proportion, Average,  Percentage, diagram-based questions
• Basic English Grammer Question: Active and Passive voices, Synonyms Idioms and Phrases Word, Correction Questions, Common Errors in Tense Grammar

Key Advice for every NIPER aspirants:

Who scored less in GPAT (Just qualified) or could not get a good rank, should not be disappointed. You can score quite well in NIPER as both exams are quite different. There are many individuals who got AIR 2300 or >2200 in GPAT but got AIR under 100 in NIPER. You need to work hard with a positive attitude.

• Revise the key topics
  
•  You must give mock tests as much as possible. This is the best thing you can do now. You have to finish 200 questions in 120 minutes, so accuracy and time management is the key. Both these things can be learnt through the mock test.
• Read the Pharma-News daily and Note down the important news. https://lifepronow.com/blog/category/latest-pharma-news/

• Attempt the question paper in two Steps:
  
• In the first attempt, you should solve those questions, where you are 100 percent sure.
  Do not waste much time on any one question. Any question should not be unseen when the timeout.
  
• In Second attempt, you can start answering, where you are not 100 percent sure.  Attempt those question as well, where you are reasonably sure (not necessarily 100 percent)
  
  Leave those questions, where you do not have any Idea.

Avoid Social Media for three months.
Take care of your health.

Recommended Books

Why NIPER:

This is quite an important question and We are sure that the answer to this question can motivate you. There are six unavoidable reasons to choose NIPER and they are:

• First of all, it is a National Institute for excellence- It means you will carry a brand value with you always.
  
• Highly talented teaching faculty- Even Scientists come for teaching. You will get the opportunity to attend many workshops and National seminars.
  
• All NIPERs are associated with Research Institutes like CSIR and have collaborations with many Pharma companies: You will get the chance to do project work in Big Pharma companies and CSIR or ICMR labs.
  
• Awesome Hostel Life- All NIPER hostels are well maintained. You will remember hostel life throughout your life. Good facility for sports as well.
  
• Reasonable Fees- Needless to mention this. you can easily compare with Private Institutes.
  
• Placements are quite well. You can get jobs in Many MNCs