David Fruman, Director
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
3205 McGaugh Hall
949 824-6034
http://www.bio.uci.edu/
[email protected]
The M.S. in Biotechnology Management is a joint graduate degree that will prepare scientists for leadership roles in biotechnology, science, and engineering-based companies through a curriculum comprised of courses from the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MB&B) in the School of Biological Sciences and The Paul Merage School of Business. Students will receive advanced training in biotechnology through course work, a teaching laboratory, and two quarters of independent research in a faculty laboratory of their choosing. They will also learn to think as a business manager by solving product development challenges through consulting projects, creating business plans, and by exposure to current issues within the biotechnology sector. Students will develop quantitative and qualitative skills along with business communication skills. Students will learn about business from the biotechnology perspective and biotechnology from the business perspective and will be taught to think about their work through the lens of innovation, a crucial view for their careers. Importantly, the MSBTM program is fully interdisciplinary, as students are immersed in the campus cultures of both science and business. They take their science courses with M.S. and Ph.D. students from several campus graduate programs, and they take their business/management courses with students in the full-time M.B.A. or FEMBA programs.
Some of the distinctive features of the MSBTM program include the following:
- Advanced training in biotechnology through course work and an eight-unit teaching laboratory;
- A research component whereby students will engage in research with a faculty member in either the School of Biological Sciences or the Department of Biomedical Engineering (requests to perform research in labs outside of Biological Sciences or Biomedical Engineering will be considered on a case-by-case basis). This research component is considered to be important for careers in the biotechnology industry and makes this program unique worldwide;
- An intensive course, Thinking Strategically in the Digital Age (MGMTMBA 200), which presents fundamental concepts, tools, and solutions from management to initiate students into the concrete challenges that managers in high-performing organizations typically confront. Students will be introduced to the pedagogical methods of case analysis, group problem solving, and group presentations as a means of developing the skills and strategies associated with effective managerial action. The course is structured as a full-time, in-residence intensive;
- An experiential learning component wherein student teams, under the guidance of The Paul Merage School of Business and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry professors, act as a consulting team which works with managers of biotechnology or biological science-based companies on innovative solutions to current problems faced by the companies;
- A business plan component wherein students from biosciences and management prepare a formal business plan for an Entrepreneurship or New Venture Management course;
- A capstone course taught in the spring quarter of the second year by faculty in both Biological Sciences and The Paul Merage School of Business. The cross-listed course, Biotech Management (MOL BIO 253)/Biotech Management (MGMTMBA 293), will integrate the program's two-year curriculum and provide a format for the required comprehensive exam. The curriculum is structured to address a number of management issues in the biotech industry, including finance, product development, pharmaceuticals, project management, regulatory affairs, and ethics. Guest lecturers from the biotech industry will also be invited to talk about both the scientific and management sides of their companies;
- "Proseminar" courses provide students with information and practical skills for success in the program and career planning.