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Do a quick Google of “biologics market” and you’ll find pages upon pages of reports highlighting the rapid growth of the global industry value for developing and distributing biologics (i.e., drugs derived from biological materials). According to most of these reports, this industry is expected to surpass $700 billion in value by 2030, nearly doubling in size in less than a decade. This means plenty of new jobs and career advancement opportunities for those with the right skills.
The University of New Hampshire College of Life Sciences and Agriculture’s one-year master’s degrees in molecular and cellular biotechnology (MCBT) and in bioinformatics equip students with the advanced training and connections necessary to either break into biotechnology or the management of biological data or accelerate their careers. The MCBT program offers career training and internship opportunities to those seeking work as a biological or medical scientist, biomedical engineer, biomanufacturing specialist or similar role. The master’s in bioinformatics teaches students the analytical and data management skills that are increasingly in demand across a range of industries — from biotechnology and pharmaceutical development to finance, agriculture and environmental management.
“We’ve known for a while that COLSA students graduating with bachelor’s degrees have been highly sought after by biotechnology, bioinformatics and related industries,” says Rick Cote, a professor in the department of molecular, cellular and biomedical sciences. “So we launched these graduate degrees to offer advanced workforce training to improve career placement through internship experiences and networking with the many COLSA alums working in these fields.”
“We launched these graduate degrees to offer advanced workforce training to improve career placement through internship experiences and networking with the many COLSA alums working in these fields.”
Don Wojchowski, professor and director of the MCBT program, highlights the opportunity for students to work with leading UNH researchers and use cutting-edge instrumentation.
“It’s a very customized program,” he says. “When students come in, they can choose to work with more than 20 active UNH research faculty, and we have great connections with more than 20 regional biotech and biopharma firms where students can intern and grow their networks.”
In a broad range of scientific fields, including biotech and pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, computational skills are increasingly important to bring products to market. That is why, says Kelley Thomas, professor and director of UNH’s Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, the bioinformatics program is critical.
“Students who can analyze large data sets and have knowledge of the underlying biology are very competitive applicants. They have a big leg up when seeking positions and are poised to rapidly advance within the company once hired.”
“Students who can analyze large data sets and have knowledge of the underlying biology are very competitive applicants,” he says. “They have a big leg up when seeking positions and are poised to rapidly advance within the company once hired.”
