Academic Realities of Biotechnology
Education in India
T. K. Ghose
281 SFS Apartments, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016
Paper received : 25.7.06 Paper accepted : 5.9.06
The article reviews the academic basis of biology-engineering
interface, how it is implemented in the West, the anomalies and
problems in the prevailing Indian approach aimed to opening
many centres to provide education in biotechnology. Many of
these Centres do not have useful infrastructure, have little
teaching of new biological sciences and are generally managed
by inappropriate faculty, mostly with introductory training in
biochemical engineering. Training in biotechnology in these
centres leaves much to be desired. Producing many graduates
in biotechnology to cater for appropriate jobs that do not exist
adds to the number of unemployables. All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) remain complacent. The failure
to integrate biology with engineering is the basic issue. For
process biotechnology, IIT Delhi (IITD) model for an integrated
programme using several biology-engineering interfaced
courses is discussed. In R&D, IITD’s pioneering studies on
bioconversion of biomass to ethanol are cited as research base
of the initiatives. The Biology-Engineering Divide, which has
been present in the IIT system of education, appeared as an
impediment to the creation of new knowledge at the interface
of engineering and biological sciences.
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