The Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) is planning to set up 10 BT Finishing Schools in the state. The state government announced financial support to the Finishing Schools towards setting up necessary lab instruments and other technology-related gadgets and equipment required to train the students which is 25 per cent of the cost and subject to a maximum of Rs 1 crore per BT Finishing School.

The state along with the Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs (ABLE) has now issued guidelines for the setting up of schools in the existing educational institutes.

The BT Finishing Schools will have to seek recognition from ABLE and accreditation from a recognized University. It will monitor the functioning of the BT Finishing School and assess on a regular basis the competency of the institution. It will also ensure employment in the relevant biotechnology industry to those who have completed the course, to the maximum extent, in India and abroad.

In this regard, it has appointed professor Sharat Chandra, director, Centre for Human Genomics and professor G Padmanabhan, scientist emeritus and former director, Indian Institute of Science to evaluate the colleges and training centres, if they were suitable to become Finishing Schools.

The criteria for selection calls for colleges to have the expertise in any of the specializations of fermentation and bio-processing, cellular and molecular diagnostics, protein expression & scale up, biosensors & medical devices, nutraceuticals and food processing, plant genetic transformation, genome, seed & marker analysis, bioinformatics & rational drug design, pre-clinical, clinical research, biostatistics and data management and plant tissue culture & micro propagation. The academic institutions keen to participate in BT Finishing School Programme had to select minimum three subject areas and elicit support of relevant industry partners.

The institutions including CMR, Biozeen, Lotus Clincial Research Academy, Adarsh College, Garden City, Siddaganga Institute Dayananda College and PES among others have made a presentation on the capabilities to the panel and which will announce the final list in the first week of June.

According to Dr Vijay Chandru, president, ABLE and chairman-CEO, Strand Genomics, 10 Finishing Schools will be set up by the end of the year.

There is a severe shortage of industry-ready Graduates and Post Graduates to meet the growing demand of the Biotech Industries, said Ashok Kumar C Manoli, principal secretary, Karnataka department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology.

In the Millennium Biotech Policy-II, the state indicated its interest to open 10 BT Finishing Schools with appropriate course content and duration to equip graduates and post-graduates, with necessary employable skills to make them industry-ready, he added.

The mandatory subjects in all the options would also cover documentation/data analysis and communication skills, research pertaining to nanotechnology & clinical research, good manufacturing practices (GMP) and good laboratory practices (GLP)

The total duration of the course is one year which covers six months of theory and internship each. Criteria for admission of Students is a minimum of 50 per cent marks in degree or PG of bio-technology/ bio-science, agriculture/veterinary science/ B Pharm/M Pharm/MBBS. Candidates with BE/B Tech in chemical engineering/biotechnology/bio medical could also apply. The Fees for the year-long programme will be around Rs 50,000 per student.