Connecting with Industry

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Connecting with Industry

• Heather M Wallace
• Industrial Liaison Group
• Medical Sciences and Medicine

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Our credentials

• Heather Wallace
• Chair of Industry Liaison Group
• Co-organiser of bio-business teaching
• Learned societies
• Royal College of Pathologists British Toxicology
  Society Biochemical Society
• External Examiner currently
• University of Surrey (MSc) University of Glasgow
  (BSc Med Sci)
• Links with top 10 pharma via research teaching
• GSK AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sanofi Aventis

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Our credentials

• Andy Porter
• Founding academic Haptogen, Remedios
• Board director, investor in Scottish biotech
• BIA Executive steering committee
• LSA Executive steering committee
• SSAC advisor to Scottish Government
• Consultant to SDI, EI and Wyeth Inc

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Overview

• Industrial Liaison Group (ILG)
• Remit
• Aspirations
• Changes to degrees
• Why?
• Additional products
• Industrial placement
• With Bio-Business

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Industrial Liaison Group

• Remit
• Support industrial placement for Medical Science
  students
• Expand placement opportunities
• Liaise with Industry
• Inform our degree content
• Industrial Liaison Advisory Board
• Increase employability
• Raise the profile of Aberdeen degrees
• First or second choice of all Scottish school
  leavers

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Raising the profile of Aberdeen degrees

• What can we offer that is different?
• Optional extras
• Bio-business, industrial placements, education
• Improve the basic skills set of our graduates
• What do employers want?
• Graduates with high quality skills transferable
  
• Relevant experience
• Solid scientific knowledge base
• What do students want?
• A career with long term potential

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What options can we offer that are different?

• All our medical science degrees with industrial
  placement
• Increases student choice
• High quality knowledge based degree
• Relevant experience compete in job market
• All our medical science degrees with Bio-business
• Unique to Aberdeen
• Increases employability
• Broadens career opportunities PhD to MBA

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New degree - MSci degree

• Currently no credit given for 5 year degree
• BSc (hons) with industrial placement
• Rebadge our industrial placement
• MSci
• Offer as 4 or 5 year degree
• Credits given for year out
• More attractive to students

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Medical science degrees with Bio-Business

• All degrees in medical sciences offered with
  Bio-business option
• Level 1 or 2
• Introduction to Bio-Business (10 credits)
• Level 3
• Bio-Business (15 credits)
• Level 4
• Advanced Bio-Business (20 credits)
• MBA in Biotechnology
• In development with the Business School (and Law
  School)

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How is this different?

• Enhancing our degree programmes
• Empowering our graduates
• Focussing scientific talent
• Geared for employment
• Achieving new potential
• Facilitating new innovation
• Sustainable Science
• Scientists in the business world
• Evidence based thinking

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Attributes for high quality science graduates

• Scientific knowledge
• High quality knowledge and understanding of
  scientific principles grounded with
  understanding of real world issues
• Practical skills
• Experience of laboratory research
• Honours year lab project (10 weeks)
• 1 year full placement
• MSci, 5 years
• Summer placement projects (6-12 weeks)
• Scientific data handling , analysis and report
  writing.
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Good communication and presentation skills
• written and oral scientists and non-scientists
• IT literacy

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Attributes valued by Industry

• A good honours degree - subject specific
• pharmacology, physiology, biotechnology,
  genetics, biochemistry
• Good, basic laboratory competence
• Experience of working in a lab
• lab project, summer vacation projects, industrial
  placements
• Good communication skills
• written and oral.
• Motivation to work in industry
• Desire to lead research understanding of
  industry model
• Flexibility
• IT literacy
• Excellent team working skills

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What do students want?

• Employment
• Using their science knowledge background
• To be valued for their contribution
• Have the skills to compete in the job market
• Transferable skills, teamworking
• Understand the market
• Avoid the glass ceiling

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How are we addressing these needs?

• Maintaining the strong scientific base
• High quality science graduates
• Grounded, well-rounded and scientifically worldly
• Questioning, analytical, empowered
• Increasing graduate opportunities
• Offering new or additional products
• Specialised training opportunities
• Business focus

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Win, win for students and University
Students engaging with Industry
Innovation IP Grant income
Employability Business Skills Compete in
marketplace
Industry engaging with University
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Our goal

• Make Aberdeen graduate a recognised brand
• All our graduates will be
• Scientifically excellent
• Scientifically current
• Critical and analytical
• Evidence based
• Great communicators
• Confident and enthusiastic
• Commercially aware