Sastra University, No.1 Private Biotech School



5th BioSpectrum Biotech Schools Survey 2009—Methodology
The BioSpectrum Top Biotech Schools study includes institutions offering BTech, Masters and PhD courses but not of BSc courses. This study was conducted during April-June 2009. The ranking is based on measurable and quantifiable data. The research team did not seek perceptions and opinions of stakeholders such as students or industry to rank the institutes. BioSpectrum team sent questionnaires to over 200 institutes and followed up with them. We received about 50 questionnaires.
Step - I: Identification of Parameters for Ranking of the Institutes
Like the previous year’s studies, the parameters suitable for ranking of the institutes were identified in consultation with experts from the industry, education and R&D. Over 10 experts were consulted. Faculty, industry interface, infrastructure and placements emerged as the most important parameters.
Step - II: Importance Ranking of the Parameters
Structured questionnaire was used to take opinion on relative importance of the four parameters prior to the study. Their opinion was sought for deciding on weights to be assigned to each parameter.
The following means emerged based on data received from experts: Faculty, infrastructure, and industry interaction had emerged as the two most important parameters ahead of placement.
Step - III: Data collection, analysis and ranking of the institutes
A pre-tested structured questionnaire was sent to Directors/ Principals/ Deans of Biotech institutes by the BioSpectrum team. BioSpectrum scrutinized and validated the responses given by the institutes for accuracy, consistency and sufficiency of the data, data entry, analysis of the data and ranking of the institutes.
The research team spent considerable amount of time accurately analyzing the filled in data for each institute. For each institute, a score was arrived at for each parameter. For a particular parameter, the score was a composition of each of the sub-parameters.
Faculty score of an institute would be composed of faculty per student, qualification of faculty members, research articles published, contribution of the faculty to national and international journals, patents filed and granted.
Infrastructure score would be similarly composed of capital expenditure on lab equipment and consumables, expenditure on books and journals, and availability of dedicated and shared PCs per student. Similar scores were arrived at for industry interaction and placement using sub-parameters.
Appropriate and largely consistent weights were used for sub-parameters wherever necessary. Sub-parameter scores were indexed with hundred points being granted to the institute with highest score for a particular sub-parameter. Indexed scores were than added up for each institute to arrive at the Total Score for a particular parameter. Scores were than averaged on hundred.
Each of the parameters (faculty, infrastructure, industry interaction, and placements) was further weighed as per weights provided by experts to arrive at the total score of an institute.
The institutes were than ranked as per this score on an overall basis. The Ranking was done separately for the Public and Private Institutes.




Ranking Parameters