Biotechnology company Biocon Ltd. has entered the arena
of education by setting up a new centre of advanced learning for
biosciences students.
The new arm, Biocon Academy,
will start 16-week certificate courses in applied biosciences for
engineering and science graduates from January 2014.
A large number of biotechnology graduates
did not have the skills necessary to be employed in the industry. The
initiative was aimed at making them employable through advanced and
industry-relevant training.
Ms.
Mazumdar-Shaw said the biotechnology industry grew at over 20 per cent
in the last decade; each year, 40,000 biotech students pass out of 725
institutions in the country. However, 2,000 of them or barely 5 per cent
are readily employable.
According to Ms.
Mazumdar-Shaw, the academy has tied up with California-based Keck
Graduate Institute to offer the Biocon KGI certificate programme in nine
modules or study areas in biosciences based on the Keck model.
Enrolments for the first batch of 25 opened on Monday. The academy will
operate from Biocon’s second campus in Bommasandra and have faculty
drawn from Keck, Biocon and industry. Each course costs Rs. 1.5 lakh.
Biocon would offer merit scholarships and enable students to get
employed with it or other leading companies, she said. Karnataka IT and
BT secretary Srivatsa Krishna said the State had also initiated an
advanced biotechnology institute to bridge the talent gap.
Source: The Hindu
