In an effort to promote its new Postdoctoral Professional Masters ^SM program for fellows in science and engineering, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) will preview the program on Tuesday, August 4, from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. on the KGI campus.

The Preview and Program Design Event will include a welcome from KGI President Sheldon Schuster, a curriculum overview, and breakout sessions with CEOs and other leaders in the biotech industry. Lunch will be served following the program.

The professional masters program for postdoctoral fellows, which Schuster says will be the first of its kind in the country, will help PhD scientists and engineers acquire the business and management skills needed to pursue senior management positions within the life sciences industry or embark on entrepreneurial ventures that are intended to commercialize technologies developed in laboratories. This program is designed to teach business and management skills that are not usually included in traditional PhD training, but are important to those pursuing careers in industry.

"There are 89,000 postdoctoral fellows in the U.S.," says Schuster. "Many of them don't want to become researchers or academics, but they don't know what skills they need to find jobs in the corporate environment or to become entrepreneurs in the life sciences industry."

KGI plans to initiate the professional masters program this fall with four to six students who will not only take courses in such areas as accounting, finance, organizational behavior, and entrepreneurship, but also offer input that will help KGI design "a world-class program," says Schuster. Students in this first cohort will receive a significant tuition discount, Schuster adds.

Program fellows will also be able to take advantage of KGI's extensive networking opportunities that allow students to meet executives as well as alumni working in the applied life sciences today. "Industry leaders are very excited about the new program," says Schuster. "They are looking forward to meeting and hiring the graduates of this program who will understand how to work within these companies."

"We need to work out a way to help this country's postdoctoral fellows become more productive and more innovative," Schuster continues. "This new masters program is a good way to educate the next generation of leaders in the life sciences industry."

For more information on the postdoctoral professional masters program, click here. To attend the free Preview and Program Design Event on August 4, contact Deborah Flynn at dflynn@kgi.edu or at 909-607-0399.

KGI Background

Educating the future leaders of the bioscience industry, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) offers an interdisciplinary graduate education through its Master of Bioscience (MBS) degree program and its PhD program in Applied Life Sciences. Using team-based learning and real-world projects, KGI's innovative curriculum seamlessly combines applied life sciences, bioengineering, bioethics and business management. KGI also has a robust research program concentrating on the translation of basic discoveries in the life sciences into applications that can benefit society. KGI is a member of The Claremont Colleges, located in Claremont, California.

Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences is dedicated to education and research aimed at translating into practice, for the benefit of society, the power and potential of the life sciences.