Third Level: The new National Pharmaceutical Centre, at Tallaght IT, will provide training for workplace personnel as well as serving students, writes Anne Byrne

The college has developed a new one-year postgraduate diploma in pharmaceutical industry. This is being offered on a one-year full-time or two-year part-time basis from next September.

The course will provide a comprehensive bridging programme for scientists or engineers to address the specific requirements of the pharmaceutical industry with respect to production.

A new honours BSc in pharmaceutical science has recently been approved and will be on offer, through the CAO, in 2003. The college's national certificate in good manufacturing practice is aimed at people currently working in the industry.

Students who avail of these courses will have the use of the new pharmaceutical pilot plant, a 3,000 square foot facility.

Dr Adrienne Fleming, a lecture at Tallaght IT, says there are expanding career opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry in the Dublin area.

The economic downturn has not affected the industry here. More than 120 companies, including the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world, employ some 22,000 people. It is estimated that between 60 and 70 per cent of the workforce are third-level graduates.

The pharmaceutical industry is the second most important sector in the Irish economy, according to Dr Tim Creedon, head of science at Tallaght IT.

See News+ for details of the Tallaght IT open day this Saturday.