Last week I was at a pharmaceutical sector conference (the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences “Industrial Insights”) and one thing which came out loud and clear is that to make yourself employable within the life sciences, biotechnology or pharmaceutical sector, you’ll need to understand small businesses. Although large pharma companies still exist, much of the growth is in smaller start-ups, spin-outs and SMEs (up to 250 employees).
Many of my contacts in “big pharma” are now working for smaller organisations, consultancies or even “virtual pharma” companies where they pull together the funding and project manage/outsource all the discovery/trials/manufacturing etc.
That’s why enterprise competitions like BiotechYES and training events like the upcoming Business Training for Life Scientists workshop are really useful, even if you have no plans to set up your own company.
You can learn more about BiotechYES (and EnvironmentYES), both sponsored by the UK research councils, at the workshop on Wednesday 2nd May in the Core Technology Facility. You’ll also hear from entrepreneurs inside and outside the university and get the chance to take part in a business game.
Further information on the event is here (click on image for larger view)
The timetable for the day is here (again, click on image for larger view)
And you can book on the event here: http://businesstrainingworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk/
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