Master of Biotechnology is a professional graduate program that focuses on the science, communication, business strategies, entrepreneurship, and regulatory considerations associated with biotechnology. The program focuses on biotechnology in the broadest sense, using living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify useful products.
The program is course based but with a practical, experiential learning component. It will provide the necessary tools for entrepreneurial activity in biotechnology and encourage the translation of life-science knowledge into practical applications and career opportunities.
The program is student centered: students will develop practical skills in biotechnology that they can apply to agriculture, forestry, environment, food, health, industry, etc., depending on their individual interests. The program integrates regional biotechnology companies and government agencies and thus builds on and develops new technology opportunities and business networks in eastern Ontario. Emphasis will be placed on providing students with the tools to establish their own startup companies.
Good technology is sustainable, and we promote an appreciation for long-range planning, off-target effects, ethical issues, and life-cycle analyses of technologies. Within the program there are opportunities for engaging Indigenous history, knowledge, and culture; promote an understanding of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology; and we offer a cosmocentric view of life to address modern problems such as global warming, overexploitation of resources, and widespread conversion and loss of wild areas.
Capital Advantage
Our location in the nation’s capital region provides unique opportunities to interact with Federal agencies such as National Research Council Canada (NRC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada in providing expertise and input into our program. In addition, there is a growing list of private biotechnology companies in the Ottawa region that play a role in our program.