UW-Madison receives biotechnology training grant

A National Institutes of Health grant that promotes graduate training in biotechnology has been renewed for an additional five years, according to bacteriologist Timothy Donohue, who directs the program.

At more than $980,000 per year, the UW–Madison grant is the largest program of its kind in the country. Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the program supports 33 graduate students each year. Those students come from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Graduate School, the College of Letters and Science, and the Medical School. The UW–Madison Graduate School provides matching support to help administer the training program.

“The program’s objective is to develop a new cadre of scientists and engineers whose training and experience cross traditional academic boundaries,” Donohue says. “As we enter the 21st century, there is an increasing need for cross-disciplinary teams of scientists and engineers to work closely on biomedical and agricultural problems. This program prepares students to function at the interface between the biological and physical sciences.”

Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw said the program is “highly successful in many dimensions,” including its cross disciplinary emphasis, strong partnerships with industry, diversity, enthusiastic leadership and research. “I view this program as an outstanding example of new approaches in graduate education and a true success for all involved,” she said.

A unique aspect of the training program is a requirement that all students participate in industrial internships, Donohue says. “The internships give students important exposure to cross-disciplinary research outside the university. Our industrial partners also get to work with some of the top junior scientists in the country. These students can immediately contribute to a company’s research program and may eventually become employees.”

To date, students have been interns in 40 companies worldwide. Wisconsin biotechnology companies who have hosted UW–Madison interns include Agricetus, Biointerface Technologies, Criticare Systems, DNAStar, Ophidian Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacia and Promega, according to Donohue.

Students receive their degree in their chosen major — biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry or microbiology, for example — with a minor in biotechnology. Cross-disciplinary minor courses provide students from the biological sciences with training in the physical sciences, and vice versa.

During the past 10 years, more than 120 UW–Madison doctoral students from more than 20 different graduate programs have been trained by the program. After graduation, they have begun careers in universities, with established biotechnology firms, or by starting their own companies.