Its really very good topic to discuss. The major thing is that if u want to start your career in this field, you will have to keep patience. If u dont have patience, never come to this field. People thinks that there are lots of job oppurtinities in dis field, but its totally WRONG. Oppurtinity you l get, only if u have higher degree with experience. If you want to good earn in this field that l be after ur age is 30 years. A software engineer can earn 20-30000 minimum just aftrev getting BTech degree. So dont compare urself wid those people.
Quality of education in biotechnology is decreasing now a days, due to mushroming of such courses in South India basically, Bangalore. They dont have any good facility, and they charge too much. Even I got opportunity to teach there, but denied due to their poor infrastructure.
As far as my limited knowledge is concerned, most of the pharma industries are trying and developing their own biotech labs. I know about its existance in orchid pharma, ranbaxy etc. Its just a start, may be in few years time it could be a huge career options for many biotechies.
Rashmi its really great to see you comin up with this article.
This june I will be graduating with degree of 'Engineering in Biotechnology' form a college in Maharashtra. Not even a single Biotech company has come to our college for placements. The biotech companies are not at all interested in recruiting Biotech graduates as they have a lot of M.Sc and PhD people approachong them for jobs, they are more skilled then us and are ready to work for Rs.8000 per month. Term 'Biotech boom' is used with respect to increasse in the Biotech companies in recent years in our country. But this Biotech companies do not hire B.Sc or B.E. Biotech students they are looking for B.Sc Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemistry. and if you manage to get into a biotech company the maximum pay you could expect is Rs.12000 per month. So now the only choice left with biotech graduates is to pick up a job off your stream like in a BPO or call cantre (who pays you much higher than any biotech firm would) or go for higher studies, prepare for GATE, GRE or do an MBA. My advice to all the young folks who wanna join biotech please take up this branch only if your really really interested in this subject and want a research oriented job.
RE:Engineering in Biotechnology
by Sudheer on May 19, 2007 11:22 AM Permalink
I am quite agree with u. also i would like to tell u that me also would be getting "RNGINNERING IN BIOTECHNOLOGY" this june. I am planning to go for MBA then. What to do.
In our college recently one biotech company came for placements. Took interviews of 15 students selected from 250. Then till now already 2 weeks have passed and no result has been announced and this looks like that they are not wanting us.
Hats off to Rashmi for coming up with relevant topics time and again.
Lets talk about whats happening to the BTech/BE Biotech students. Many of the Biotech BE/BTechs are joining the IT firms, as that is the easiest thing on the campuses. In the best case, they get to work in the Life Science Practice - still the large chunk of work will be Software development and Maintenance. So after years in Biotech, they end up learning Java/Mainframes etc. Worse still - in quite many cases, the grads end up in the Banking divisions!!
RE:What about BTech Biotechnology folks??
by prashansa kumar on May 18, 2007 01:14 PM Permalink
that is so true..i am a final year student in biotech n i see no other choice but to leave the country to study/work abroad..after spending lacs on a b tech degree there s no way we can work for 8000-10000 a month here esp wen we have to repay edu loans..the biotech boom was a good marketing strategy employed by colleges to lure students into the academic program-niether are the companies interested in takin in graduates nor is the boom happenin nw- it will take 5-8 yrs more for the biotech sector to pick up in india the way IT has done and by then most folks wud have left the country..
What is required for a other engineering student is a through knowledge and good skill with small amount of money as well support from family who can sustain them them for a period still they find a alternative source of income, where as biotechnology requires a lot of money and the return is not immediate. above all Intellectual Property becomes an issue when you try to market the formula or the process. Government need to support them in their initiative then only Biotechnology shall flourish else MSc Chemistry is for better option.
As we all come to know from the above mention article, that there is less scope for biotech students But what abt the students those who opt for Msc in clinical trial, is there any scope for those student , if so then wat r those? plz help me out
RE:what abt Msc in clinical trial
by Jai Richard on May 18, 2007 12:04 AM Permalink
I m sorry to say this. I dont think there is any gud scope for M.Sc clinical trial in India if you do not have a medical back ground like MBBS or MD degree. Pharma companies generally recruit doctors for clinical trials of their new chemicals if they have filed for IND and have cleared the pre-clinical phase. But in India, as far as I know no pharma major has/is involved in clinical trial. If this is the scenario in India forget abt opportunities abroad as u need a competent certificate/state license to practice in any medical profession.
There is no such subject as biotech, it is a process, You need to learn microbiology, biochemistry and have a good understanding of science to go into the filed of molecular biology which is the correct name for this science. Science requires brains and intellectual aility, it is not like programming where we work as contractors. Ask the people who formed the backbone of a well known MNC Research which was sold to an Indian company what their salaries are and you will know the true scope for this in India.
i am happy to see the article as it gives real picture of biotech in India.It is very disheartening to see that the academic institutes cheat students in the name of biotech at B.Sc and M.Sc levels.They just fill their pockets with high course fees with no basic infrastructure and faculty.Most institutes just show the student on paper how the experiment is done,instead of actually carrying it out.It isn't easy to teach such a subject which is more of hands on training, facing real life challenges and designing experiments.It is not a subject to be taught on paper and board but carried out on bench, just as surgeons get trained.I hope students find out the details of wet lab facilities and faculty before enrolling for such courses.Also Ph.D in biotech is not financially remunerative in India with just 8-10,000 Rs per month that too if you have fellowship from CSIR or UGC.So think before you decide...
RE:itis tough in biotech
by prashansa kumar on May 18, 2007 01:18 PM Permalink
a very good article and it comes right on time too..i hope ppl read this b4 they decide to join the biotech crowd in a haste or as an alternative to mbbs..be ready to shell a lot of money for edu here and abroad, work hard else where for abt 5-8 yrs, earn good money n then come back n set up a biotech firm/company/consultancy/lab n hopefully generate jobs for ppl then
hello rashmi it is the exact position in case of biotechnology. as i am ph.d student i faced all those and it is true. good to see such an informative article. and also it is true that people(friend of mine) from MSc(physics) stream has jumped into it, thinking the same. this must be spread to all. so that only prepared people can opt it.
In India, except for a few premier institutions like IISC, MKU, CCMB, NCBS, TIFR, JNU etc there are no other great institutions offering excellent facilities to train a student in Biology. Now, every college have these specialized courses like microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, bio-informatics etc even though they do not have any proper infrastructure or facility to conduct even basic research. These courses attract gud capitation fee and that is why the college managements are interested to start these courses. If you study in these ill-managed institutions then you could never think about trying for a job abroad as you would not have got exposed to the real advancements in these specialized fields. If you have a plan to work after your post graduation in a related field of your study then do not opt for these subjects. If you could wait patiently till you finish your PHD to reap the benefits then you stand a gud chance as pharma R&Ds are recruiting more PHDs rather than M.Scs. Otherwise getting a job in India or abroad is tuff. I had gone through this. I did a Master's in Medical Microbiology in one of the 5 top best medical colleges in India and did not get a job for a year. Luckily I got the job as Genetic toxicologist in a Pharma R&D in India which is no way related to my studies. They recruited me just based on my expertise. Now I decided to change my field from these subjects and doing a PHD in Cell Biology in France. I advice all students to think well before taking this big step in their career.
