Biotech PhD Training Program with UCSF/Berkeley/SantaCruz
For Malaysians interested in pursuing BioTech research:
Dear All,
I am very excited to let you all know about a new PhD and Postdoctoral training program for Malaysian students and/or Postdocs at UCSF, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz through the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3).
This going to be a unique program that combines research training with entrepreneurship and the goal is to recruit a core group of people who will go back together to Malaysia and become faculty at the Malaysia Institute for Pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.
The ads have just been posted in Nature and Science and I would encourage you all to let all your friends and colleagues know, especially if you think that they will be good candidates.
For more specific information, please start with the website: http://www.qb3.org/malaysia.htm
If you need even more specific info you can email me.
Best Regards,
P’ng
Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Training Program
Drugs and Diagnostics for Neglected Diseases
Description:
The University of California, San Francisco, the lead campus of the California Institute of Quantitative Biomedical research (qb3), together with the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation seek outstanding Malaysian scientists who wish advanced training in the strategies needed to develop novel drugs and diagnostics for neglected and emerging diseases. After training in California the successful candidates are expected to return to Malaysia to become faculty at the new National Institute for Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals.
The program is designed for three categories of Malaysian candidates:
- Students who have completed graduate training (PhD or MD) and wish further post-doctoral experience
- Students who have started their thesis work in Malaysia, or elsewhere and have institutional approval to complete their thesis work in QB3 as part of this program
- Students who are currently completing their undergraduate or Master’s degree and wish to do their research at QB3 as part of this program. Such students will enroll and obtain their PhD degrees from Universiti Sains Malaysia
Program:
Program participants will conduct research, fully funded for up to five years with qb3 faculty at UCSF, UC Berkeley or UC Santa Cruz (for list of participating faculty please go to http://www.qb3.org). Research at qb3 will be supplemented with elective courses, which may include areas of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Computational Biology, Bioengineering, Biotechnology and Bio-entrepreneurship. All participants will be expected to participate in the structured components of the program in addition to conducting their own research. The program is co-administered by the University of California, for qb3, and the Universiti Sains Malaysia for the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation. Undergraduate or Master’s students who wish to do all or part of their PhD thesis work at qb3 will be entitled to earn a PhD degree at the Universiti Sains Malaysia
Application:
Applicants can download the application forms from http://www.qb3.org The application should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, contact details for three letters of reference and a 1-2 page statement of research interests and future career goals.
Completed application materials should be submitted electronically as a single document in PDF format by February 15, 2007. Decisions on acceptance will be made by March 31, 2007. All applicants should indicate which of the QB3 faculty listed on the website would be acceptable to them as mentors and why. Submit applications electronically to:
QB3-Malaysia Program Assistant – malaysia@ucsf.edu
Again quoted from thread:
It is impossible to answer this question because MIPN is a new
entity. However, Professor Isa Majid, the Director of the MIPN is
extremely committed to creating a new and strong research “culture”
for his institute as well as building the infrastructure necessary to
support it. His view is that combining some local research expertise
with young blood trained abroad will result in the best mix of
researchers for his institute.
We are also excited about this program because there is a strong
component of “Bio-entrepreneurship” to the program. UCSF is the
cradle of biotechnology. Genentech and Chiron (and many other
companies..) were both started by UCSF faculty and there is a strong
tradition of “bio-entrepreneurship” at UCSF, further encouraged by
QB3. I myself took a course called “Ideas to IPO”, which basically
teaches how to take a Biotech idea and starting a company. This is
quite unique to UCSF. All the Malaysian trainees will be required to
participate in “ideas to IPO” and other Bio-entrepreneurship events.
Apart from training future faculty, we want to equip them with the
entrepreneurship skills necessary to spin out companies from their
research, at the best place in the world (I believe) to do so.
P’ng