Chandigarh University Pharmacy Growth in NIRF 2025

Chandigarh University’s Pharmacy Growth in NIRF 2025: A Journey of Recognition & Excellence

A Ranking is more than numbers; it is a reflection of the realm of higher education. Every year, thousands of students, parents, and institutions wait for the big announcement of the NIRF-National Institutional Ranking Framework by the Ministry of Education for the entire Indian nation.

The NIRF on 4 September 2025 entered into its 10th edition, and this milestone year proved to be the most competitive. A record 7,692 unique institutions participated with over 14,000 entries in categories like Overall, Universities, Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Medical, Law, Architecture, newer categories like Open Universities, Skill Universities, State Public Universities, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Thus far, it has been the largest exercise in evaluating higher education in India.

What is NIRF & on what key parameters is it based?

NIRF was started in 2015 by the Ministry of Education (then MHRD) with the aim of creating an open and uniform system to rank higher educational institutions across the country. The institutions are evaluated based on five key parameters:

Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)
Research & Professional Practices (RP)
Graduation Outcomes (GO)
Outreach & Inclusivity (OI)
Perception (PR)

These five parameters are believed to present a comprehensive picture of the institution's strengths, both in academics and research, innovation, inclusivity, and relevance to the industry.

Chandigarh University’s Performance in NIRF 2025

The NIRF Rankings 2025 bring to light once again the firm standing of Chandigarh University (CU) on the national scene. In the Overall Category, the university has been rated 32nd in India, among the topmost colleges of the country. Among the private universities in India, the university stands proudly in 8th position, whereas in North India, it has been conferred the title of No. 1 among private institutions. In Punjab, Chandigarh University is also ranked No. 1 in the Overall Private Institutions category, displaying its leadership in the region.

In addition, Chandigarh University has achieved excellent rankings in the fields of architecture, management, engineering, and pharmacy.

The profession of pharmacy is highly respected. The ranking of pharmacy schools in India, which is known as the "Pharmacy of the World," says a lot about how well this nation is preparing its future generation of researchers, scientists, and medical executives. Chandigarh University (CU) is one of the universities with the quickest rate of growth in this journey.

A Journey of Growth in the Pharmacy Domain

Over the years, Chandigarh University has demonstrated consistent advancement in the pharmacy field. An increase in NIRF ranking is a testament to dedication, perseverance, and hard work.

2021 → 51st Rank
2022 → 37th Rank
2023 → 34th Rank
2024 → 20th Rank
2025 → 15th Rank

Chandigarh University's pharmacy department achieved unprecedented heights in the NIRF Rankings 2025:

15th Rank in Pharmacy (Overall India)
9th Rank among All India Private Pharmacy Institutes
3rd Rank among North India Private Pharmacy Institutes
2nd Rank among Punjab Private Pharmacy Institutes

Parameter-wise Score

Parameters	2025
Overall Score	68.34
Overall Rank	9
Teaching, Learning & Resource:	72.94
Research & Professional Practice:	69.13
Graduation Outcome:	68.18
Outreach & Inclusivity:	72.92
Perception:	47.94

How Chandigarh University Became a Leader in the Domain of Pharmacy?

One of the most prestigious institutions for pharmaceutical research and education is Chandigarh University's University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS). With its state-of-the-art labs and industry-focused curriculum in specialized areas like biopharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, synthetic chemistry, and pharmacovigilance, UIPS is preparing its students to be future leaders in the global pharmaceutical and healthcare sector. Across all NIRF criteria, the institute is also strong in the fields of professional and academic endeavors.

NIRF Parameters for Growth of CU Pharmacy

Teaching, Learning, and Resources

The teaching model for UIPS takes students beyond the four walls of classrooms. The department aims to develop graduates for opportunities around the world; therefore, they continue to reinforce the career development efforts initiated by Chandigarh University, along with direct exposure to industry experience, skills, and practical training. A GPAT Help Center was also initiated to assist students with prep for examinations and employability in general.
Much of the learning is based on a pharmacy and medical industry background. There are practical training sessions, internships from industries and hospitals, and application of learning from a classroom to practice.

The university also offers industry-sponsored professional workshops and certifications frequently. As a result, all of these learning strategies are beneficial for students and continue to prepare them for pharmacy employment opportunities.

Equally important is that there is a CPCSEA-approved, fully air-conditioned animal facility where you can conduct preclinical studies and be ethical. This is a significant value added for pharmacy research.

State-of-the-Art Infrastructure

No pharmaceutical education is complete without experiential learning. CU has invested in high-quality laboratories that are directly connected to the industrial world. Some examples are:

Pharmacy Practice Lab
Research Lab
Pharmaceutical Chemistry & Analysis Labs
Pharmaceutical Engineering & Machine Room
Human Anatomy & Physiology Lab
Pharmacology & Pharmacognosy Labs
Pharmaceutical Microbiology Lab

Visiting Experts from Industry and Academia

To enrich classroom learning, UIPS regularly hosts visiting experts from academia and industry including:

Dr. G S Pandey, GAMP Technologies Ltd
Mr. Ravinder Singh, Torque Pharmaceuticals
Dr. R A Singh from RDTL Chandigarh
Mr. Jyoti Swaroop, Unnati Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd
Dr. Pramil Kumar Tiwari, NIPER Mohali.
Dr. Deepak Sharma (Principal Scientist) from CSIR IMTech
Dr. Harish from MD University
Dr. Anoop from DPSRU
Dr. Bikash Medhi, PGIMER Chandigarh
Dr. Subheet Jain, GNDU Amritsar
Dr. Balbir Singh, GNDU Amritsar
Dr. Sanyog Jain, NIPER Mohali.
Dr. Kashyap Nagariya, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Govind Vyas, Inva-Health Inc, Cranbury, NJ

UIPS Student & Faculty Achievements

Achievement	Details
Patents by PG Students	3 patents filed from research projects
Patents from DST Project	2 patents filed (project worth ₹30 Lakhs)
Startup Recognition	1 student ranked in Top 10 pitching ideas at IGNITE 2024 for E-Laboratory System
International Representation	In 2023, a student represented CU Pharmacy in China

Research & Professional Practices (RP)

Category	Achievements
Patents	100+ (last 3 years) 6 patents filed (Jan–Aug 2025)
Research Papers	650+ published overall ~120 in 2024–25 102 papers in Scopus-indexed journals (Jan–Aug 2025)
Journal Distribution (2025)	Q1: 29 papers Q2: 35 papers Q3: 28 papers
Books	15 (Edited + Textbooks)
Book Chapters	50+ overall 10+ chapters (Jan–Aug 2025)
Edited Books (2025)	2
Faculty Recognition	2 faculty members ranked in Top 2% Scientists globally (Elsevier & Stanford, 2024)

Graduation Outcomes (GO)

A key strength behind Chandigarh University's Pharmacy stream is the great employment outcome. Students get placed as Research Pharmacists, Drug Inspectors, R&D executives, Chemical/Drug Technicians Drug Safety Associates, Clinical Research Associates, Clinical Research Coordinators, Clinical Medical Writers, etc.

In the academic year 2024-25, around 60-65% of students were placed in multiple pharma & healthcare domains while 10-15% students preferred to pursue an academic career in India and worldwide.

Some of the well-known names of some of the top recruiters are Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's, Alembic, Lupin, Spinco Biotech, Alkem, Biocon, Abbott, Wockhardt, Cipla and Root Analysis, IDS Infotech, Parexel, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Mu Sigma, and many more.

The highest package of the academic year 2024-25 was Rs 7 LPA at Mu Sigma while the 2nd highest package was Rs 5.5 LPA at Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and Parexel. This again establishes the great value of CU's pharmacy graduates within the pharma industry.

Government Sector Employment

Approximately 5–7% of students in government jobs while the vast majority secured positions with leading private companies demonstrating CU's strong industry relevance.

Internships & Industrial Training

They also provided students with the true exposure by taking them for internships at reputed organizations such as Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Choksi Labs, Endo India Par Formulations, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Livasa Hospital, Indus Group of Hospitals, Sun Pharma, and Jackson Laboratories.

Industry Research Projects

UIPS students also had opportunities to work on industry research projects sponsored by many companies including, Sun Pharma, Avenida Innovations, CliMed Research Solutions and Kusum Healthcare. This activity built pathways between academia and industry innovation.

Outreach & Inclusivity (OI)

The role diversity and global reach plays as a factor in pharmacy education curriculum, including approximately; 10–12% of students come from 20 different countries each year, such as Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, Harare, Nepal, Liberia, Malawi, South Sudan, Bangladesh, Sylhet and Juba and Kwekwe. On the reverse, however, the university also encourages its own students to pursue opportunities abroad. Each year approximately; 20–25 pharmacy students begin studying further abroad in countries such as Canada, England, USA, Ireland and Australia.

The academic year 2024–25, is noted with 4–5 students studying abroad, displaying a noteworthy global reach at CU as well as inviting students from outside countries.

Perception (PR)

In the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Perception relates to an institution's standing, thus calculated via surveys of employers, academic colleagues, and research funders, which reveals their preferences of graduates along with rankings the institution earned in the academic and professional communities. The Pharmacy wing of Chandigarh University has repeatedly rung the NIRF rungs-from 51st in 2021 to 15th in 2025, which speaks for itself in terms of recognition.

Conclusion

A vision, through a strategy and commitment has made Chandigarh University's journey-from 51st in 2021 to 15th in 2025 in the NIRF Pharmacy rankings-into a history. UIPS presents to the world as a hub for pharmaceutical innovation ready to define who will be the future scientists, researchers, and leaders in health care.
CU, with its solid research culture, global outlook, industry-driven training, and world-class placement, is not only competing with the best, if not quickly becoming the best.