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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. 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. Trainee Requirements Consideration Prospective students The training program is divided into six areas of emphasis based upon the expertise of the trainers as well as the areas that we consider as critical to the future generation of scientists and engineers in biotechnology. These areas are used as a framework to organize workshops and focus areas for seminars. (1) Structural Biology and Biomolecular Engineering (2) Bioreaction Engineering (3) Bioinformatic Science and Engineering (4) Genomic Science and Microbial Ecology (5) Complex Biological Systems (6) Systems Engineering in Biology New for the Fall 2004 semester, the training program has created a course designed for the Biotechnology Training Grant trainees, entitled "Systems Analysis of Biological Processes." This three credit course is a lecture series conducted by training grant faculty and coordinated by Professor Wei-Shou Hu. This course is designed for graduate students from all of the different programs the training grant supports-life sciences, chemical and physical sciences, and engineering and focuses on the quantitative analysis of biological systems. The course aims to introduce methodology for analyzing data attained at a genomic level to their integration for interpreting physiological events. It emphasizes the conceptual appreciation of the quantification of molecular interplays which are the basis of "chemical processes" in living systems. Our training faculty and BTI maintain very strong ties to industry. Many trainees work on collaborative projects with industry. Many trainees attend the Cell and Tissue Reactor Engineering course offered by key trainers, which draws over 60 industrial scientists and engineers every year. All have had a very positive impact on the training experience of the students. Overall, we are very satisfied with the trainees' industrial interactions through luncheons with visitors, seminars at industrial sites , and plant tours and retreats. Trainees are invited to an occasional luncheon with entrepreneurial scientists from the start-up companies in the University's industrial incubator facility (BTI-Technology Development Laboratories). Many of those scientists from the Technology Development Laboratories companies are the original inventors of the ideas they are trying to commercialize. Meeting with them and hearing about their quest for venture capital, and balancing intellectual pursuit and the business reality adds a very different dimension to the trainees' conception of research. Another important component of our trainee's industrial interaction is through the internship. In 2003 Prof. von Keitz began helping trainees identify potential industrial institutions that match trainee's research interest and potential constraints then and make initial contacts with the company if necessary. This mechanism has produced a high rate of success for placing trainees. Our training program has high industrial relevance, and our trainees are highly regarded by the biotechnology industry. The training grant provides not only financial support and an opportunity for cross-disciplinary coursework, but also a wide range of learning experiences outside of the classroom. Retreats Exchange Program Multi-Disciplinary Seminars Attendance of national conferences/workshops Campus workshops, short courses, and symposia Virtually all research, development and even manufacturing in the industrial sector is performed through teams made up of scientists, engineers and other professionals from many different disciplines. This training program provides students with an opportunity to learn to work in such an environment. The Ph.D. graduates from the training program all go on to successful careers. With the high industrial relevance of the training program, trainees are highly regarded by the biotechnology industry. The graduates from our training program have developed successful careers in industry or academia. Some companies that our graduates are employed at are: A number have entered academic careers and are currently teaching at: Montana State University , Bozeman; State University of New York; and the University of California-Davis Contact Us
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