ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Welcome to the University of Minnesota 's Biotechnology Training Program, supported
by an NIGMS grant from the National Institute of Health. In
place at the University of Minnesota since 1990, this program
has brought together gifted graduate students and faculty trainers
from many different disciplines to pursue unique and innovative
research and educational programs that span the many facets
of biotechnology. The goal of the training program is to provide
students with opportunities that will enable them to identify
themselves as biotechnologists. A salient feature of this program
is its many educational activities aimed at integrating concepts
from engineering and the biological and chemical sciences. Each
year, this program financially sponsors sixteen select students
from designated graduate programs and enriches their traditional
studies by an additional emphasis on cross-disciplinary courses,
collaborative research, industrial and global interactions,
ethics training, and specialized retreats and seminars.
BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
The BioTechnology Institute
(BTI) provides advanced research, training, and university-industry
interaction in biological process technology, a major area of
biotechnology research. The Institute is the central University
of Minnesota vehicle for coordinated research in the biological,
chemical, and engineering aspects of biotechnology. Faculty
perform basic research in biocatalysis, microbial physiology
and the production of biofuels and other products made from
renewable resources. Faculty educate graduate students and postdoctorals,
and consult and collaborate with industrial scientists. In addition
to the faculty laboratories, the Institute has established the
Biotechnology Resource
Center (BRC), a process scale pilot plant unique in the
state, which is accessible to industrial and academic scientists
for collaborative and contract research. The BioTechnology Institute
also coordinates an active industrial outreach program which
sponsors short courses and mini-symposia.
