Biocon has partnered with Keck Graduate Institute, California to set up the Biocon Academy, a one-of-its-kind Centre of Excellence for Advanced Learning in Applied Bio-Sciences. The key objective is to train and develop industry-ready talent for India’s biopharma sector and enable global competitiveness.

The Academy is located in the Biocon House at Semicon Park, Electronics City, Hosur Road in Bengaluru. It will provide the required proficiency for enhanced career prospects in biotechnology for engineering and science graduates. It will connect the industry and academia to maximize the opportunities for aspiring biotechnologists and to address the skill deficit of the sector. The flagship programme ‘Biocon KGI Certificate Programme in Biosciences,’ is being opened for enrolments today, for the January 2014 session. The deadline for online application submission is December 6, 2013.

“KGI is a premier American graduate institution, dedicated to  bioscience education. Its faculty and its advanced infrastructure includes the Amgen Bioprocessing Centre. Given the growing stature of India’s life sciences industry, both Biocon and the Indian life sciences sector will benefit from this collaboration,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and managing director, Biocon Limited.

“Biocon will offer a merit scholarship of 75 per cent of the course fee for all the meritorious students selected through an intensive selection process. Every selected student will be awarded Biocon scholarship to pursue this certificate programme. In addition, the company will also assist the students to avail a study loan from reputed banks for the rest of the course fee. The first batch of up to 30 students will commence in January 2014,” she added.

Sheldon M Schuster, president, Keck Graduate Institute, said, “In our partnership with Biocon, we would provide a unique educational experience for students and scientists who want to develop skills for working in a complex, global, highly regulated industry. Through our collaboration with the scientists and subject experts at Biocon, KGI has developed an applied, graduate level curriculum that will be focused on teamwork and will reflect current industry dynamics. Graduates with the Biocon Academy-KGI certificate in Bioscience will have added skills that will help them to be immediate contributors as employees.”

India’s biotech industry is currently valued valued around $11 billion, having grown at a CAGR of more than 20 per cent over the last 10 years. Currently, over 40,000 biotech graduates from over 725 institutions across India. However, the lack of hands-on trainings and practical industry exposure prevents most of these students from unlocking their true potential and building a successful career in biotechnology, noted Shaw.

The 16-week has three key modeules: technical course, professional skills and industrial expert mentorship. It will include Molecular Biotechnology; Pharmaceutical Development; Biopharmaceutical Quality Assurance & Control; CMC Regulations of Pharmaceuticals; Introduction to US FDA & European Laws and Regulations; Fermentation Principles; Mammalian Cell Biotechnology; Bioseparation Engineering & Science and the Professional Skills Development.

Candidates eligible are BE/B.Tech in Biotechnology/ Industrial Biotechnology; MSc. in Biotechnology/ Microbiology/ Biochemistry/ Biology; and B. Pharm with a CGPA of 7.5 (71 percentage).