11.07.2019
Why bother with a master's degree? Across India, the
post-graduate course has earned a slightly odd reputation.
It's the scholar's stepping stone to a doctorate. It's
lucrative in a handful of streams like business and
development studies. But for much else it's seen as dated and
out of touch with the job market.
Now, niche, post-graduate courses are fighting back. They
offer interdisciplinary studies and specialisations in new
domains that might help you get hired or get ahead. Industry
professionals are included as faculty, and the curriculum is
geared to provide hands-on experience. These are making a
master's in law, arts, data analytics, data science and
information technology (IT) especially productive.
The Sciences get a Boost
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) recently
launched its first masters programme with a specialisation in
disease biology. The institute's director M Radhakrishna
Pillai says most pharma, bio-pharma and biotech industries are
typically unwilling to hire masters' level students. "The
companies have to invest at least two years to get them
job-ready," he says.
At the institute, most master's students "come from colleges
and institutes that teach in an old fashioned way, with no
access to modern technology," he says. They're not prepared
for the research-oriented programme and the chance to work
with India's top scientists.
So at RGCB, students actually work in the labs for their MSc
programme. There's a large diagnostics facility for infectious
diseases and a DNA fingerprinting facility. The institute's
business-development incubator, BioNest, in Kochi, has 26
start-up companies and students intern with them. "There is
high demand especially in the health industry, for trained
people to work in advanced clinical diagnostics labs in the
hospitals. And that is exactly what we are providing," he
says.
J Irene Infancy, a first year student specialising in
molecular diagnostics and DNA profiling says the facilities
are a boon. "Not many institutes in India offer specialisation
courses in biotechnology. It's one of the main reasons I chose
to study here," she says. "The MSc biotechnology course has
increased my scientific temperament and critical thinking."
Hindustan Times
