Innovations in Biotechnology Graduate Education

Abstract

Today's graduate students in biotechnology have a range of career options in the public and private sectors, including academia, industry, government and non‐profit organizations. It is not enough to be excellent researchers and university classroom teachers in today's job market; graduate students must develop a suite of transferrable professional skills that transcend STEM disciplines and academic norms.The trend toward interdisciplinary graduate education and public‐private research collaborations roughly 30 years prompted the formation of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program in 1986, and the subsequent launch of a formal doctoral degree program, the Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) in 1997. Since that time the DEB has grown into the largest interdisciplinary degree program on campus, with a “steady‐state” of over 200 students from 29 different disciplines.Doctoral students see value in the DEB training model, which includes exposure to the “business of biotech”, including bioethics, intellectual property, regulatory affairs, project management and entrepreneurship. Through coursework, seminars, one‐on‐one career mentoring and industrial internships, DEB students gain a thorough understanding of non‐academic STEM career paths and an appreciation for the importance of interdisciplinary “team science” in developing new technologies.An overarching theme of DEB training is the development of strong communication and professional networking skills. DEB participants are presented with numerous opportunities to hone science communication skills for non‐specialist audiences (e.g. business plan competitions, K‐14 stem outreach, policy brief workshops, etc.), which is key for success in all STEM fields. This talk will elaborate on the mentoring tools and strategies we employ to help DEB doctoral students successfully transition from students to professional colleagues across a range of career paths.