India poised to be next global petri dish

The good news is that science is in vogue. According to the India Science Report, 2005, nearly one-fourth of Indians who qualified at the
graduate level had a background in science. Further, as per the National Science Survey 2004, around 3/4th of the respondents felt that science and technology was vital for education. The C in the PCM group of subjects at high school chemistry offers lot of scope in the industry today. According to career counsellors, a specialisation in chemistry opens up avenues in the areas of clinical research, environmental sciences, food technology and leather industry. After IT and ITES, India is soon poised to be the global petri dish. According to industry estimates, the market for clinical research activities is expected to touch $two billion by 2010. Spiralling R&D costs and rising overheads are forcing many global pharmaceutical majors to outsource clinical research to India. Not only that, even Indian pharmaceutical majors have moved out from reverse engineering to new drug discovery (NDD). This, in turn, provides ample career opportunities for chemists and analysts. "Clinical research organisations are on the lookout for people qualified in biochemistry," says Arun Bhat, president, ClinInvent. The starting salaries for a clinical research analyst (CRAs) is anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per annum.
The next in the hierarchy are senior clinical research analyst, clinical team leader, clinical study manager, project manager, and so on. According to a senior official from Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals: "An under-graduation in chemistry is not enough. Its a must to have a Phd if one aspires to be a group leader." "Chemistry offers career scope in the field of environmental sciences. With numerous chemicals polluting the environment, companies across the globe are looking at ways and means of containing such pollutants," says educational counsellor Kalavathi Amarachelvam. And, with working couples becoming the norm, the dependance on processed foods is higher than before and these contain certain natural and chemicals. This in turn offers career opportunities for young graduates.