The department of IT and BT of the Government of Karnataka, to promote biotechnology sector in the state, has decided to establish finishing schools across the state. Probiosys, the first biotech company to start a finishing school in India will receive assistance from the Karnataka State Government up to 25 per cent of the cost of equipment and instruments. The Institute was chosen for the grant by a committee chaired by former IISc Director, Prof G Padmanabhan. As per the guidelines issued by the Government, the courses need to be conducted over a duration of one year, which includes six months of course work and six months of internship. The Institutes will initially be allowed to procure equipment and other gadgets relevant to the course. Thereafter the selection committee will scrutinise the procurement details and inspect the Institutes for release of funds.
The finishing schools will be monitored by the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) and will need to be accredited by a university. Some of the subjects that the finishing schools will train students in, include bio-processing, bio-informatics, bio-sensors and cellular and molecular diagnostics. Sourabh Mathur, Business Head, Probiosys said, “Probiosys helps professionals to learn, acquire and implement. Rapid Microbiology is an emerging technology and will take some time for Indian companies to adopt it. Within the next 10 years it is going to change people’s perception to microbiology.”
This was announced at the first rapid microbiology summit, Bangalore. Probiosys which is a division of Automed Systems conducted the summit in association with AES Chemunex on 9th February 2011. The summit was a huge success and had nearly 75 attendees.