ALS 400: Team Masters Project
Course Number: ALS 400
Course Name: Team Masters Project
Year: Second year
Semester: Fall/Spring
No. Units: 2
Faculty/Instructor(s): Craig Adams, Larry Grill, Tina Etcheverry, Vince Anicetti
Description
The Team Masters Project (TMP) is the capstone activity for second-year Master of Bioscience (MBS) students and for Postdoctoral Professional Masters (PPM) students. It is assigned 2-course credits each semester for a total of 4 course credits and a passing grade in both semesters is required for graduation with an MBS or PPM degree.
The students work in teams of three to six students on professional life science projects which typically focus on business, regulatory, technical or marketing challenges of a commercial life science company
Prerequisites
Status as a 2nd-year MBS student or enrollment in the PPM program is required. Undergraduate students may apply to participate in lieu of performing a senior thesis but approval by their undergraduate institution is required.
Learning Objectives
The primary academic goal is for students to gain practical, hands-on experience working on a project of importance to the sponsoring life science company. TMP projects are 2-semester efforts with direct involvement of the corporate liaison and a substantial TMP fee paid by the sponsoring company. The TMP provides a unique educational opportunity in the life sciences. Students are expected to gain experience with:
- negotiation, resolution and delineation of goals
- making decisions and tradeoffs under uncertainty
- professional communications and reporting
- dealing with 3rd parties including vendors and sponsor customers
- working effectively under resource limitations
- managing confidential information
Team-based learning objectives include:
- division of labor
- delegation and assignment
- authority, individual responsibility, accountability
- resolution of conflict
- performance evaluation and review
- adjustments and error corrections
Students should develop project management skills including:
- development of a project work plan
- definition of work through a work breakdown structure
- assignment of individual tasks through a responsibility matrix
- application of project control of deliverables, timelines and budgets.
Grading
faculty advisor. In addition to direct observations by the faculty advisor and other KGI faculty involved in the project, the advisor will seek input from the sponsoring company liaison, from students on the team, and from the student. Faculty will assign grades using the following weighting:
Overall Team Performance in attaining project goals20%
Presentations and Written Reports 20%
Faculty & Liaison Evaluations20%
Peer Evaluations 20%
Course assignments and attendance 20%
Required Texts