With the Union government allocating Rs. 6,500 crore to the department of biotechnology (DBT) and setting aside 10 per cent (Rs. 650 crore) for training, Biozeen has proposed a public private partnership (PPP) model in biotech education. Under the format, DBT should help create four zonal centres of excellence in the West, East, South and North.

According to Biozeen, each centre can have a specific focus going by the expertise available in the region. For instance, while North could focus on molecular biology, East could offer process development and West, chemical engineering.

Right now the South has two leading centres: Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) and Biozeen which has the expertise in bio-pharma engineering, microbial fermentation and animal cell culture.

"There is a serious shortage of trained manpower. Biotech graduates and post graduates need ample training before industry hires them. The Central government has realized the shortfall of quality candidates in this sector,'' said Dr Anil Paul Kariath, president, training and consulting, Biozeen.

"Although there is a hue and cry about the paucity of personnel, the reality in the biotech sector is that only 1,000 candidates can be absorbed annually at the new companies," he added.

Since its inception two years ago, Biozeen has been sought-after as a knowledge training centre. Last year, DBT inked a pact with Biozeen for a skills honing exercise for M.Sc and M. Techs through a six-month industrial training programme.

In order to bridge the gap between the industry and academia, Biozeen offers a comprehensive package of customized training solutions spanning one week to 12 months. In the last two years, Reliance Life Sciences, Panacea Biotech, Shanta Biotech, VBRI, Intervet, Sigma, Cambrex, ABL, Syngene, Invitrogen, Gland Pharma, Lechler, Merind, Omega Scientific, Parkson Filters, Praj Industries, Serum Institute, Shanta Biotech Ltd., Sigma Aldrich Chemicals, Smart Labtech, Zytex Corporation, Alfa Laval, JNTU have depended on Biozeen to train freshers and experienced candidates.

It also provides manufacturing knowledge to equipment suppliers for better customer service. It will complete training of 290 candidates by March-end for the 12 courses held at its campus in Bangalore.

Of the 290 candidates, 180 are from the Reliance Lifesciences and 40 from DBT. For the industry training projects, Biozeen is now targeting the new companies and not established enterprises. Biozeen also collaborates with biotech colleges offering degrees and diplomas for a Training-the-Trainers' programme for the faculty to update skills and keep pace with new trends and practices.

Courses driven by specific company interests like chromatography and disposable fermentation which are emerging technologies are designed in consultation with multinational companies like GE and Bio-Rad Laboratories.

A visible trend in biotech training is that students and industry have realized the poor quality education imparted in most of the biotech institutions. Also, the current curriculum is not industry specific. Dr Kariath calls for a uniform curriculum in a phased manner as it is difficult to achieve it in a short span of time.