Dr. S. Hemalatha is the Professor and Dean at School of Life Sciences, B.S.Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology (BARCIST), Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has completed her M.Sc and Ph.D. and has done her postdoctoral work at Rutgers University, USA and University of Wisconsin, USA with an experience of over two decades in academics and research. Her areas of research interest include Molecular biology and Genomics of disease. As an expert educationist, she has won several accolades for her numerous contributions in this sector. She has also published more than 100 publications and secured research grants from USA and India.

BSAU Chennai

What is the latest program that you are offering in your institute for students' benefit?

“Dynamic Bachelors and Masters Courses in different fields of science and engineering”

We are offering all the engineering courses in our institute like Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and telecommunication, Civil engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical engineering etc. Apart from that in the School of Life-Sciences, we are offering B.Tech in Biotechnology, B.Sc in Biotechnology. This year we have introduced M. Tech in food biotechnology, which is an industrial oriented program. Also we are offering M. Tech in Biotechnology and M.Sc in Biotechnology, microbiology, Biochemistry and molecular biology. In addition to this we are having other schools including law, Pharmacy and architecture.

What are the factors that make programs in Life sciences the best for the students to opt for?

“Global internship and training opportunities for students with sufficient industrial exposure”

In our school of Life Sciences, we offer internship programs to the students, in collaboration with universities from the USA, UK, Malaysia, South Korea etc. During summer and winter breaks, our students complete internships at global universities. Based on the merit, every year top 2 students are given scholarships for 3 months in the summer for internship at the University of Missouri, USA. We have an undergraduate research internship program with Johns Hopkins University, USA, through this program every year 3-5 students are sent for summer internship. We also have collaborations with various industries in India and Abroad. Every year nearly 20% of the students go abroad for higher studies through GRE exams. 

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How does the program ensure that students are being prepared for the future?

“A skill-based learning approach is our focus”

Every year we revise the curriculum with the help of industrial experts and faculty from UK and USA universities. It is important for us not only to place students but also to develop them as entrepreneurs. We have Crescent Innovation and Incubation Centre which helps students in developing their creativity and implementing ideas. We invite Biotech industries to visit our campus every six months, so students can interact with them.

In what ways did you train yourself and faculty to deliver the program to students?

"FDPs and training sessions to familiarize faculty and students with modern technologies”

We at our school invite professors from global universities to introduce the latest technologies and to train the faculty and students. Every year at least 1 or 2 faculty members are sent abroad through a faculty exchange program to learn advanced techniques and gain recent updates. Also, we opt for industrial training in the summer regularly. Our faculty are attending AICTE –FDP program under which each faculty can enroll for 4 FDPs every year in order to stay updated. 

How do you tend to build an industry connected with this program?

“Our goal is to collaborate with as many companies as possible and expand research activities”

In the School of Life Sciences, we have established a Biotech Industry Institute consortium. We invite biotech companies that are collaborating with us every six months. Likewise, we are seeking to collaborate with more and more companies from Chennai and all over India. Every year, we organize an Undergraduate research symposium and students present their project outcomes as posters and are judged by the industrial experts. Students get a chance to interact with them and present their ideas and research. If they like a student's work they offer scholarships and internships to those students and eventually in most cases, they are placed in the same companies.

What were the challenges that you faced while inculcating this program in your curriculum?

"We initially encountered difficulties to convince parents due to lack of awareness of the field”

When we introduced Biotechnology 7 years ago we faced a lot of challenges as awareness about Biotechnology was far less in India. Hence, we initially faced challenges to convince the parents. Since they had the mindset that there are no job opportunities for Biotechnology in India. We started to create awareness about biotechnology in schools, among the parents and public by conducting awareness programs on various fields of biotechnology.

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The students work on what kinds of projects through this program?

“Projects in the field of nanotechnology, Cancer biotechnology, natural products, antimicrobial resistance, Bioinformatics, drug screening etc”

  • Students are focusing more on Nano-technology projects like applications of nanomaterials, nanosensors for biomedical applications, especially for cancer, antimicrobial resistance, etc. 
  • Also, they are working on Herbal products for various types of diseases. They are also working on alternative medicines in addition to different compounds. 
  • They are also doing projects on screening the compounds, small molecules to control various types of diseases like cancer, diabetes and coronaviruses. 

What are the benefits and career options after pursuing this course?

“Opportunity to work as a Scientist or become part of biotech and pharma industry”

Students can go abroad for higher education and work in international laboratories as junior scientists after their B. Tech degrees. After M.Tech and M.Sc, they can go for opportunities for Scientist B and Scientist C in National Institutes. Also, they can start off their career in the biotech industries and pharmaceutical companies. We are encouraging them to start their own companies. We have an Innovation Centre which helps students to work on their ideas, implement them and become Entrepreneurs.