Birkbeck's main building in Bloomsbury, central London
This new programme combines learning about the biosciences and business in a unique way. It will benefit students embarking on careers in the biosciences and it will boost the sector as a whole by developing the next generation of talented individuals.
(PRWEB UK) 10 December 2013
A new postgraduate degree at Birkbeck, University of London, will provide students with the business skills to launch, or further, their enterprises in the biosciences.
The MSc in Bio-business has been developed to attract business minded and entrepreneurial people eager to work in the biological and chemical sciences – growing industries within the UK economy. According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, manufacturing in the life sciences accounts for eight per cent of the UK’s manufacturing and remains important for the UK’s growth.
Staff will promote the course at the Genesis 2013 conference – London’s premier life science and healthcare networking conference – on 12 December at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. The new course will start in September 2014.
The content of the course is tailored to the unique demands of science-based projects, including the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. A combination of scientific and entrepreneurial modules will enable students to move between scientific and business careers.
The course is a pioneering partnership between Birkbeck’s Department of Biological Sciences and its Department of Management. Students will learn about management and business principles, and research methods, from staff at Birkbeck’s Centre for Innovation Management Research (CIMR) in the Department of Management, and the Department of Biological Sciences.
The MSc in Bio-business will provide students with a thorough understanding of:
- The importance of innovation, research and technology in business strategy
- The role of risk management, regulation, public perception and media coverage
- The types of technologies and outputs used in biological and chemical science industries
- Historical and forward-looking perspectives about the biological and chemical science industries.
Dr Renos Savva, course organiser and Senior Research Fellow in Structural Molecular Biology at Birkbeck’s Department of Biological Sciences, will be leading the two biological science modules. He said: “This new programme combines learning about the biosciences and business in a unique way. It will benefit students embarking on careers in the biosciences and it will boost the sector as a whole by developing the next generation of talented individuals.”
Andrew Atter, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics, will be leading the entrepreneurial module. He said: “Entrepreneurship in the bioscience and pharmaceutical industries is an increasingly important topic in public policy and is growing in significance to the UK economy. It is recognised that the transition from research science project into a viable business is fraught with difficulty and risk, so this MSc in Bio-business will make a valuable contribution to overcoming these problems.”
For more information and to register your interest for the MSc in Bio-business, visit: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/MScBio-Business. Applications will open in January 2014.
Notes to editors
- To interview Dr Renos Savva or Andrew Atter, please contact Guy Collender (g.collender(at)bbk(dot)ac.uk , 020 7380 3108).
- For more information about the course, visit Birkbeck’s stand at the Genesis 2013 conference (visit http://www.genesisconference.com ) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 12 December, or speak to staff at Birkbeck’s Open Evenings (visit http://www.bbk.ac.uk/openeve).
- The fees for the course are as follows:
-Part-time two-year course, home/EU students: £ 4975 pa
-Full-time one-year course, home/EU students: £ 9950 pa
-Part-time two-year course, overseas students: £ 7425 pa
-Full-time one-year course, overseas students: £ 14775 pa
- According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the pharmaceuticals sector alone accounts for more than 28 per cent of all business research and development in the UK, more than any other manufacturing sector.
- Birkbeck is a world-class research and teaching institution, a vibrant centre of academic excellence and London’s only specialist provider of evening higher education.
- 18,000 students study at Birkbeck every year. They join a community that is as diverse and cosmopolitan as London’s population.
- Birkbeck welcomes applications from non-traditional students and is committed to widening access to higher education.
- This autumn Birkbeck opened its £33m state-of-the-art campus, called University Square Stratford, in east London as part of a collaboration between Birkbeck and the University of East London.
- For more information about Birkbeck contact Guy Collender (g.collender(at)bbk(dot)ac.uk , 020 7380 3108).