Karnataka’s Biotech Finishing Schools are slated to open up for admission next month. The state has 10 schools of which two are in the Tier II cities and remaining 8 in the metros. The government chipped in with a financial assistance of Rs.1 crore to procure equipment for the laboratory to be established in the finishing school and the college identified to house the Biotech Finishing School had to invest Rs.3 crore to create the required infrastructure.


The criterion for selection is that the candidate should be armed with Bachelor or Master Degree in Bio-Technology/Bio-Science, Agriculture/Veterinary Science/B.Pharma/M. Pharma/MBBS. There are also opportunities for the engineering graduates (BE/B. Tech) in Chemical Engineering/Biotechnology/Bio Medical. The student is required to have a minimum 50 per cent marks to seek admission.


The biotech finishing schools concept came following repeated requests from the industry which faced the challenge of severe shortage of industry-ready graduates and post graduates. There were repeated representations to the government and after several rounds of discussion with the members of the Vision Group on Biotechnology and the Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs (ABLE), the government went ahead to clear the same.


“This is pioneering initiative from the state government. We have devised a model where each of the Finishing Schools has an industry partner. Of the 10 Finishing Schools, two are in the Tier II cities at the Vishweshwaraiah College of Applied Sciences in Gulbarga and M M Arts and Science College, Uttara Kannada which proves the capability and ambition of both the college and the candidate, stated Prof. H Sharat Chandra, Professor Emeritus, Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore and director, Centre for Human Genetics and member Vision Group on Biotechnology on Karnataka.


The remaining eight schools are at Probiosys, Bangalore; PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore; JSS College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Mysore; St. Aloysius College, Mangalore; Padmashree Institute of Management and Sciences, Bangalore; The Oxford College of Science, Bangalore; Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College of Women, Bangalore and Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur.


The academic institutions were selected after they sent in a proposal detailing the syllabus, faculty and infrastructure available for the programme to be conducted. The final selection was made by a sub-committee of the Vision Group on Biotechnology.


The duration of the course is one year and the candidate will have six months of industry internship. The BT Finishing Schools will have to seek recognition from ABLE and accreditation from a recognized University. In fact, the Association would monitor the functioning of the BT Finishing School and assess it on a regular basis once in two years.


There are 10 domains of specialization identified covering fermentation and bioprocessing, 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, plant tissue culture and micro propagation.


“The subject offerings have been selected to meet the requirements of the industry. It will have an impact on the employability of graduates and bridge the gap of industry-ready candidates,” said Prof Chandra.