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To coincide with the growing pharmaceutical sector, many colleges and universities have adapted their programmes to suit the industry’s needs

JOURNALISTS, TDs and industry analysts have been telling students the same thing for the past three or four years - that there has never been a better time for science graduates in Ireland.

Now one of the world's largest exporters of pharmaceuticals, Ireland is home to 13 of the top 15 companies. More than 17,000 people are employed by these companies, with many more working in associated firms and industries.

Multinationals continue to recruit graduates; the Higher Education Authority is investing ¤1.5bn in scientific research; and the points requirements for many science programmes are the lowest they have been in years.

To coincide with the growing pharmaceutical sector, many colleges and universities have adapted their programmes to suit the industry's needs.

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology began offering a new chemical and pharmaceutical science degree this year.

National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) offers chemistry with pharmaceutical science; University of Limerick offers pharmaceutical and industrial chemistry; and Dublin City University (DCU) offers a chemical and pharmaceutical sciences degree.

"The courses we offer here equip our students with the knowledge they'd need to work in any pharmaceutical company," says Kieran Nolan, a lecturer in the School of Chemical Sciences at DCU.

"We teach formulation and regulation, which are essential in the industry. Pharmaceuticals operates under a regulated environment, which is quite a culture shock for someone with a science background to see."

The analytical science degree at DCU takes an interdisciplinary approach to educating students in a way that is directly relevant to the industrial sector.

The theoretical and practical aspects of chemical, biochemical and microbiological analysis are taught side by side. The university enjoys close links with the industry and the course includes a work placement.

"One of the reasons we changed our programme is that we have to supply the market with graduates. We tailor-made our chemical programme for the pharmaceutical industry," says Nolan.

DCU also offers a degree in biotechnology, which is a science degree with an engineering component to educate students in the manufacture of useful products from living organisms and biological systems.

The university's ability to provide hands-on experience has gone down well with the industry.

"From DCU's perspective, we will be supplying and producing a lot of graduates over the next few years. Some of our students have gone on to do PhDs and some have gone straight into industry. Most end up in the pharmaceutical industry if they leave straight after the undergraduate degree."

Nolan believes that the pharmaceutical industry will continue to thrive and that its ability to compete even during adverse times should attract students.

"The pharmaceutical industry is recession-proof; people are always sick so you always need the production of drugs," he says. "There's an adage we have -- what in the world isn't chemistry?"

Chemistry is the central science for a wide range of industrial applications. Not only do chemists develop new drugs and pharmaceuticals, they also design cleaner and more efficient reaction processes to produce them. They monitor the environment and ensure its protection and they help provide new materials, devices and medicines.

The institutes of technology in Athlone, Sligo and Tallaght offer pharmaceutical science, while Limerick Institute of Technology (IT) combines this with forensic analysis. Ireland's first pharmaceutical technology training centre was opened at Tallaght IT in 2002.

Since opening, the facility has provided the skills and training necessary for graduates to immediately enter the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

While the courses are targeted at careers in the pharmaceutical industry, they are broad-based and graduates are employable in many other areas of industrial and scientific work.

James Brennan, head of the department of applied sciences at IT Sligo, says opting for a pharmaceutical science degree will give students many options.

"By doing the pharmaceutical programme you're not making the decision to be a chemist or microbiologist. You can choose at the end of it where you want to go and even then if you don't like the direction you've taken, you can change again," he says.

A year before the centre was opened in Tallaght, IT Sligo opened a pharmaceutical science centre, which is offered to local companies such as Abbott for process development work and staff training. Its establishment highlighted the institute's ability to provide top-level degrees.

IT Sligo now has the biggest school of science in the institute of technology sector, with more than 850 students. It offers three courses: the pharmaceutical science (add-on) degree; the ab initio degree; and the honours degree.

The ab initio degree is a four-year, full-time course, which is designed to educate and train professional scientists for the pharmachemical industry. It is a multi-disciplinary programme, meaning science subjects are taught as well as applied modules such as quality assurance validation and management.

"The programme is very well regarded by the industry and there are many job opportunities. Unfortunately, the difficulty is selling it to second-level students. We're starting now to bring the message to transition-year students," says Brennan.

Students don't need to have studied chemistry at second level to do the pharmaceutical science degree and most of those who have taken the course so far haven't done.

Pharmacology, microbiology and computing are just some of the modules and students also undertake a five-month paid placement in the healthcare or pharmachemical industry. There is also an option to go abroad.

In an era when jobs are no longer for life, students choosing a career path should bear in mind that the pharmaceutical industry is flourishing here.

The top pharmaceutical firms are among the richest in the world and even in bad economic times people can expect steady employment.