Biosciences staff and businesses to receive major commercial skills training boost
16 April 2009
The biosciences sector is to receive a much needed boost to help it through the recession - thanks to a new business skills training project provided by the London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC).
Today’s (Thursday, April 16) announcement of the ORBIS project (Overcome Recession: Bioscience Investment in Skills) marks the first stage in a programme that will see up to 250 graduate-level individuals in London and the South-East helped. Sixty six-month paid internships will allow recent graduates and unemployed sector specialists to work for bioscience companies. While with them, the interns will bring new technical skills and will take part in a comprehensive bio-business skills training programme. Participating companies will also be able to enter their scientific employees into a six-month programme of commercial skills training.
Project funding of £493,000 comes from the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The programme aims to promptly respond to the recession by recruiting participating companies and individuals immediately.
The successful project bid was led by Dr Ken Larkin of LBIC and Dr Jim Gazzard of the RVC.
Dr Gazzard said: ”The recession has hit the bioscience sector hard. ORBIS will help the vibrant mix of bioscience companies in London and the surrounding areas to respond to the downturn by training recent graduates and technical sector specialists in business skills and technology enterprise.”
Dr Larkin added: ”LBIC sits at the heart of the London bioscience community and we have first-hand experience of the challenges faced by bioscience companies at the current time. We are delighted that LBIC will be an integral part of the ORBIS bio-business training project and will help life science companies to survive and grow.”
Dr Tony Jones, Director of the London Biotechnology Network, commented: “ORBIS will address the key area of imparting commercial skills on highly qualified scientists, the combination of which is essential to nurture innovation into wealth creation. With over 130 biotech and pharmaceutical companies in Greater London development of the talent pool in this way is a clear commitment to invest in the future of our nascent life science industry.”
Prof Colin Howard, LBIC’s chief executive and Vice-Principal (Strategic Development) for the Royal Veterinary College, said: ”There is a clear need for an integrated training programme specifically for the biosciences sector to respond to the learning needs of employers, employees and graduates seeking to enter the sector. We believe that ORBIS, including its internship programme, will provide a fresh approach to workplace learning and employer engagement in the sector.”
Bioscience companies (including SMEs and larger companies), unemployed sector specialists and recent graduates can register their interest on the ORBIS Project website.
Notes for editors
- The ORBIS project aims to:
- address the business skills gap in the bioscience sector in order to improve the business resilience of vulnerable bioscience companies;
- harness the London BioSciene Innovation Centre and Royal Veterinary College (RVC) knowledge of the biosciences sector to deliver business skills training;
- use outreach networks to deliver business skills training to displaced graduates and to vulnerable bioscience companies.
- The London BioScience Innovation Centre is the first and only incubator for biotechnology companies in central London. It provides a focus for life sciences activity in the city, offering laboratory and office space to a range of companies from university spin-outs to established internationally-facing enterprises. www.lbic.com
- The Royal Veterinary College is the UK's first and largest veterinary school and a constituent College of the University of London. In the recent Research Assessment Exercise the RVC ranked as England’s best school in the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science unit of assessment, for institutions whose research is exclusively veterinary related, with 55% of its submitted academics viewed as producing ’world class’ and ’internationally excellent’ research. The College provides support for veterinary and related professions through its three referral hospitals, diagnostic services and continuing professional development courses. www.rvc.ac.uk
- HEFCE ECIF. The ORBIS bio-business training project is one of more than 70 in England that will be funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF). Across England, universities and their partners are committing more than £50million over 18 months to help more than 50,000 people and 11,700 businesses hit by the recession. www.hefce.ac.uk/
- The London Biotechnology Network (LBN) began in 2000 and has since grown to be a stalwart addition to the London life sciences community. LBN is a business network of over 800 organisations and 2000 members from the biopharmaceutical sector, academia, venture capital community, legal and accounting services, and consultants with an interest in the sector. LBN strives to provide members with relevant information and networking opportunities to cultivate the right environment for innovation and collaboration in the life sciences community. www.londonbiotechnology.co.uk/
Further Information
To request further information or an interview please contact:
- Hannah Murray on 01727 737997
email: hannah@communicationsmanagement.co.uk - Phil Smith on 01727 850761
email: phil@communicationsmanagement.co.uk
The Royal Veterinary College
Established in 1791, the RVC is the UK’s longest-standing veterinary college—with a proud heritage of innovation in veterinary science, clinical practice and education.