Scope after M.sc Biotechnology in India

Why biotechnology studies have still not caught up in India as other professional degrees even after we just witnessed a Pandemic? Read on, as in this article we will discuss the Scope of M.sc Biotechnology in India.

Biotechnology is a very Big term but has also become very vague especially in India. It feels sad but it is true and the ones who have completed the course will easily relate to it. People very often don’t understand whether it is technology or science. In most of the universities abroad, there are better terms e.g. biological science, biomedical science, biological engineering, and biomedical engineering.

What exactly is biotechnology? The “technical” aspect that is being taught is already covered more widely in the Chemical Engineering degree. The “science” part that is being taught in the semester system (B.Tech Biotechnology) is being taught in detail in M.Sc courses. So where does a “biotechnology” student stand? It is a perfect mixture of exploitation, and not inspiration.

Students join this course in the hope to learn and develop technologies, but all that mostly goes in vain. Most Biotech students end up getting jobs that are not related to their field. Being a biotechnology student in my college the companies which came for campus placement were not related to it and placement I was offered a position of Business development executive in a pharma company.

It was not only me who suffered this shock, instead, but all my batchmates were also in the same condition. Yes, students study it to get a quick fix career who opted for biology with interest but does that interest mean you have to be a post-doctorate in that field.

Can Research be the way after M.sc Biotechnology in India?

Taking into consideration about the research part, do we have a healthy research setup in life sciences field, we all need money to bare our expanses and considering for studies like PhD demand time and patience, but little do our government care to this, even if you are doing a PhD from government lab, it is insufficient to bare your family expanses. All this potholes are dragging people away from this course and the ones who entered this field are still high on hopes, You will make it hopefully, Good luck!

People who come to the B.Tech Biotechnology program emphasize more on “B.Tech” and “technology” and not “biology”. They desire for high paying jobs like their fellow batchmates from computer science. But, they get depressed and leave the field because they don’t get that “package” and job that they have dreamt about. Few of them enter the corporate world or do an MBA to have decent earning. So who is at fault? Not any single person. The system has become a “khichdi” by B.Tech Biotechnology or Biotechnology as a degree.

We should understand the difference between basic science and applied science. And what is meant by a “job”. People have started defining the job the settlement they get at the end of their undergraduate course. Is an academic position after Ph.D. is not a job?

Yes, it is not in India sadly. Why are we creating everything very suspicious and vague for this field? Even after the huge Pandemic, we just witnessed. I still feel there is no scope for biotechnology as a career to live the life you wished, for that you will have to have a degree of Ph.D. to manage your life a little better, as it has also become a degree which does not guarantee you a job.

Every research is not for producing specific products into the market (applied research), as is a common mentality. Research can be a very well extension of existing knowledge (basic research).

Should you enroll in this course, must be a big question?

So, dear readers, in India the scope of Biotechnology after M.sc will only be successful only if you enroll in this course in IIT’s which offer this program. More than the degree the emphasis is on college. So in India basically for all degrees, your caliber be judged on the basis of your college you completed your course.

In the End

Why is this field lacking behind in producing genuine and core biotech jobs? Why biotech students have to look up their career in the pharma field. Are we not producing good and capable life sciences students, are we not producing a good Ph.D.? Or we are more focused on cost-cutting in this field. How are we going to inspire the next and coming generations?

The system of teaching of life sciences field  needs a serious surgery.

Also read, 10 things to consider for becoming a software engineer?

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