Biocon Academy, a Centre of Excellence for Advanced Biosciences Learning, has announced that its 110 students donned their graduation caps to take on aspiring careers in the biotech industry.
 
The convocation ceremony was held for students enrolled for the 16-week Biocon KGI Certificate Program in Biosciences, offered in collaboration with Keck Graduate Institute, California, and the 8-week BITS Biocon Certificate Program in Applied Industrial Microbiology, offered in collaboration with the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani.
 
While 90 students graduated from the Biocon KGI Certificate Program in Biosciences, 20 completed the BITS Biocon Program in Applied Industrial Microbiology,  10 students were awarded Gold Medals for Academic Excellence, while 31 received ‘Kudos Awards’ for their performance.
 
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chief Mentor, Biocon Academy & CMD, Biocon, re-iterated her commitment towards developing industry ready, high end talent for the bio-pharma sector and collectively making the sector globally competitive.
 
“To exploit the potential of biotechnology we need scientists, thinkers and innovators. “Through Biocon Academy we have set a benchmark for a valuable partnership with both  Keck Graduate Institute, USA and BITS, Pilani, India. It is a partnership between organizations committed to the ‘Business of Science’, a partnership between academia and industry,” she added.
 
“We have achieved 100 per cent placement for all our batches in leading pharma and bio-pharma companies and 60% among them are placed outside Biocon and that’s a big step towards achieving our mission of addressing the biotech skill deficit of India,” said Bindu Ajit, Program Director, Biocon Academy.
 
Leading biotech companies visited Biocon Academy Campus during the placements week.  The objective of the programs is to improve the employability quotient. The students have been hired by leading pharma and bio-pharma companies in production, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, research & development and marketing.
 
The Biocon KGI program provides an intensive 16-week advanced learning course and hands-on professional training in diverse areas like molecular biotechnology, bio-pharma quality assurance and control, CMC regulations, pharmaceutical development, mammalian cell biotechnology, and professional skills development. The BITS Biocon Program is aimed at improving the employability prospects of fresh science and pharmacy graduates specialized in microbiology.
 
“By unlocking the true potential of life sciences students we have enabled them to make important contributions to improving the lives of people around the globe through the power of biotechnology”, said Prof. Suman Kapur, Senior Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani.