The Manipal-based School of Life Sciences (SoLS), which has previously completed the first phase of the Biotechnology Finishing School (BTFS) programme, School of Life Sciences (SOLS), along with 17 other institutions has been selected for the second phase of this programme that is now renamed as Biotechnology Skill Enhancement Programme (BiSEP) by the Karnataka Biotechnology and Informational Technology Services (KBITS).
Dr Mittur N Jagadish, head of biotech facilitation cell, KBITS, said School of Life Sciences, one of the 12 host institutions selected all over the state, had successfully completed the first phase of the programme. “This year, it will be held in 18 institutions. Of them, seven will be in Bengaluru and the remaining 11 in other districts. Institutions in Ujire and Mangaluru are also included,” he added.
Karnataka is one of the major investment destinations in the biotech industry. “Currently, the state contributes around 35 per cent of the Indian biotechnology sector. The state government has established Biotechnology Bio-Innovation Centre at Bengaluru Helix and that theme-based biotech parks are at various stages of implementation in
Bidar, Dharwad, Mangaluru and Mysuru,” Jagadish added.The programme is meant to address the issue of shortage of quality professionals in the country in biotechnology sector. The course is one-year long and is split into six months of academic training and six months of industry internship. It is mandatory for the students to undergo industry training to enable them to be industry ready. The students are provided with a fellowship of Rs 10,000 per month during their training.
Dr Satyamoorthy, Director School of Life Sciences said, “The programme also creates a start-up ecosystem within the academic set up and ensures students are nurtured and mentored towards entrepreneurship in their expert areas of biotechnology.
About the first phase, Dr Satyamoorthy, director, SOLS said, “As part of this program, SOLS provided opportunity in field of cellular and molecular diagnostics domain and trained students in advanced cellular and molecular biology, genetics, quality control, research and development, quality assurance, diagnostics approaches to infectious disease, cancer, cytogenetic and various other disorders. The School had 88% placement record in last five years,” he said.
