Our students have developed 30 biotech-related products, 15 of which patented, says Dean of School of Life Sciences

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Dean of School of Life Sciences at B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology Dr S Hemalatha emphasises more on industry involvement in the curriculum for students to be successful and on par with industry standards. Also, she talked about an extensive focus on internship and live projects opportunities to students in India and abroad. Dr Hemalatha has over 20 years of rich industry and academic experience.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the three things that your institute is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from the competition?

A: We are one of the finest School of Life Sciences offering courses in Biotechnology across Chennai. Among many factors that differentiate us from our competitors, few of them are listed below:

Research centre in collaboration with Missouri University, The USA

• We are an established School of Life Sciences. Through this research centre, Biotech Entrepreneurship and Management course are offered to all BTech final year students by faculty from the University of Missouri, The USA
•  Through this centre, two students of our institute get the opportunity to intern with Missouri University on a complete scholarship offered by the Missouri University itself. The selection is done on the basis of the merit scores. We are the only institute across India to offer such kinds of the international internship programme

 We focus on creating employers

• We encourage our students to actively participate in various competitions conducted by government agencies such as DBT, DST, Smart India Hackathon and BIRAC
• Our students have developed over 30 biotech-related products out of which 15 have been patented and launched

• We are funded by DBT-BIRAC-BioNEST to set up a Biotech incubator and to nurture Biotech student entrepreneurs 

We have an industry-embedded curriculum on par with international standards 

• Our curriculum and syllabus are updated every year and are designed by discussing with industrial experts from India and abroad. Hence, our curriculum is industry-ready. And, this is the reason why various companies of Biotech and pharma industries prefer our students over other universities or institutes students

• Our curriculum also helps students to prepare well for GATE and GRE exams. We do not want our students to lack behind anyone when it comes to international standards. We prepare them in a way that they come out to be equally competitive for anyone across the globe

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

A: Industry-embedded curriculum is the foremost need of any institute today. No recruiter or corporate prefers to hire students who are not familiar with the latest practices and trends. So, we focus on:

Involvement of industry professionals

Along with a curriculum that is in sync with latest industry practices and trends, we also have regular guest lectures for students, conducted by professionals and entrepreneurs across various industries. They help them understand concepts with real-life examples for learning to be fun and easy.

Industrial internship and product development

• We have signed memorandums of understanding with industries in India and abroad. This relationship helps our students with various internship opportunities during summer and winter break and eventually, those students are absorbed by the same companies after completion of their degree, if the students are interested
• Our faculty members in joint efforts with the experts and professionals help students to develop products that can be helpful to society in their day-to-day life

Annual undergraduate research symposium

Every year the Institute organises Biotech Industry-Institute consortium in which we invite Scientists, CTOs, CEOs from biotech industries for an annual industrial meet. During such seminars and meets, students, faculty members and scholars get the opportunity to be a part of a strong corporate network which eventually results in good placement, internship and product development opportunities. 

The annual undergraduate research symposium is intended for BTech students where they present their project work in the form of posters or e-posters and are judged by a panel of industry specialists. Students who perform well also get the opportunity to work under the mentorship of professionals in the form of live projects and internships.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and get top grades in your institutes?

A: The two most important factors that determine the selection of any student is their passion towards the subject and learning attitude. If the student has the zeal to learn something new in Biotechnology every day and patience to accept challenges, the School of Life Sciences is the right place for them.

Hardworking, regularity and dedication are the only mantras to sail through the journey of Biotechnology and become a successful Biologist.

Q: Which programme/s would you say is/are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme? What are you doing to improve/drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni?

A: All the programmes offered at the School of Life Sciences are good and open a pathway for students but the BTech in Biotechnology is the one such programme where we focus more on practical exposure, as the subject demands. The reason for this programme to be the best is:

• 100 per cent placement assurance
• Student-owned start-up companies
• 100 per cent support to students who aspire to pursue higher studies abroad
• With industry embedded curriculum and students trained under the mentorship of industry-specialist, our students are preferred over and above students of other institutes.

To ensure good placements, we focus on:

• Annual industry-institute interactions
• Inviting industrial experts for an undergraduate research symposium
• Industrial internship during summer and winter breaks
• Industry-ready curriculum

Q: What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: The employers come with multiple options for students to choose from. The profiles include research analyst, scientist, biotech specialist, technology expert, molecular diagnostic scientist, consultant, bioinformatician and genome expert.

Looking at the recruitment trends, we can say:

• The number of students placements has been incremental year on year
• Our students are placed in top international Biotech companies such as Biocon, Dr Reddy’s Lab and Life-cell
• They are also placed in the life science research division of software companies such as IBM and Episource