All 30 students scored above 2.75 CGPA on a scale of 4. Biocon Academy claimed that the whole batch has recorded 100 percent placement.

Leading companies from the Indian pharma industry, including Intas Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi India, Richcore Lifesciences, Zydus Biologics, GlaxoSmithkline India, and Theramyt Novobiologics have participated in the campus recruitment process.

The job offers covered a wide variety of profiles including production, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, R&D and marketing.

Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD of Biocon & Biocon Academy's chief mentor, said, "We are happy to develop high-end talent for the life sciences sector at Biocon Academy who are being picked up by leading firms in the sector. Our aim is to address the huge skill deficit of the biopharma sector through Biocon Academy students who have been educated on the 'business of science' through experiential learning by experts from KGI and Biocon."

The 'Biocon KGI Certificate Program in Biosciences' is a 16-week, full-time certificate program being offered by Biocon Academy in collaboration with the Keck Graduate Institute of Claremont, California, USA.

Dr Shelly Schuster, president, Keck Graduate Institute, said: "These students have had profound learning experiences on various aspects of the pharmaceuticals industry. They have had a multitude of opportunities to engage in the processes that would find applications in producing biomolecules, pharmaceuticals & diagnostics. I am sure that each one of them will be a major contributor in their area of interest in the lifesciences industry and continue to learn and be passionate about their profession."

Gold medals

Ms Avantika Diwakar, Ms Noopur Gupta and Sowmyan Sreenevasan topped the charts and were the proud recipients of the prestigious 'Biocon Academy Gold Medal for Academic Excellence'.

The academy also presented 'Kudos Award' to eight other students for their notable performance during the course of the program.

Sowmyan Sreenevasan, one of the gold medalists, said, "I have gained invaluable experience through the Biocon-KGI certificate program as it has equipped me with the indispensable skills demanded of professionals in the lifesciences industry. Additionally, the program has also helped me develop soft skills, an aspect that is often overlooked by academic institutes."

Third batch

The Third batch of the Biocon Academy commenced on 3rd Nov' at Bangalore. A group of 30 bright, young students were chosen from over 300 applications received from different parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in addition to Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The online application process for the fourth batch will commence from 10th Nov'2014.