Hopkins will be offering a new graduate program that can award its students a Master's in Biotechnology Enterprise and Entrepreneurship starting in the Spring 2012 semester. The degree aims to help students study biotechnology through the lens of commercialization and industry. The program is currently accepting applications on a rolling admissions cycle.
"There are regulatory guidelines and laws that dictate the commercialization pathways for biotechnology products," Jamie Austin, Program Coordinator for Biotechnology Enterprise and Bioscience Regulatory Affairs, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter. "So, we are providing a unique educational venue whereby scientists can gain an understanding of regulatory and business considerations that are unique to the biotechnology industry. It is our hope that this educational training will equip scientists with the tools and knowledge necessary to commercialize their product ideas and/or manage a biotechnology organization."
The idea for the program was conceived and proposed by Dr. Lynn Johnson Langer, Director of Enterprise and Regulatory Affairs Programs at the Center for Biotechnology Education at Hopkins.
"When I've looked around the country and the world for what educational opportunities are available to help scientists commercialize their product ideas, or to advance within an organization, I was not able to find a program that addressed these issues as much as I believe they can and should," Langer wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
The program took three years to devise and develop. It involved the input from many leaders in science and business. The degree acts as an extension to the already-existing Certificate in Biotechnology Enterprise.
"We think that it's important to integrate the two fields because the biotechnology industry is a multidisciplinary field where science, business, and regulation are all interconnected," Austin wrote. "After all, scientists generally explore new ideas with the goal of creating a useful product or invention."
The program is open to qualified applicants with a Bachelor's Degree. Although the program is open to a wide array of disciplines, it is targeted for students who have concentrated in life sciences or engineering and have taken at least one semester of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.
Students completing the program with an undergraduate degree from Hopkins are eligible to count up to two undergraduate courses towards their master's degree. With only eight courses remaining to graduate from the program, a Hopkins graduate can earn their master's in one year.
The Master's in Biotechnology Enterprise and Entrepreneurship can be completed online, on campus at either Homewood or at Hopkins's Montgomery County campus, or through a combination of both.
Applicants should have an adequate science background. Additionally, they should be interested in focusing on the business implications of a biotechnology organization.
