North Carolina State University And The University Of Strasbourg Agree To Collaborate On A Training Program

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 20 May 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Strasbourg University and North Carolina State University, both leading academic institutions in the field of bioproduction, have entered into an agreement to collaborate on a unique set of training capabilities for industry. The Alsace Biovalley cluster has played and will continue to play a key role in the program by bringing together industry players in support of the project, ensuring that training programs meet industry needs, structuring the financial engineering required and securing funding for the infrastructures.

The Universitiy of Strasbourg and the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) of North Carolina State University began implementing the agreement in May. It includes several types of cooperation, including short courses to industry, shared certificates, and exchange of students, interns and faculty members. To ensure training consistency, Strasbourg University will construct a bioproduction training facility for initial and continuous training similar to the BTEC facility in North Carolina. This will offer a true industrial environment in terms of equipment, ability to handle batches of up to several hundred liters, and industry-like processes. Requalification training will also be offered to workers with a previous industrial and manufacturing background from other industries (automotive, electronics, etc.)

"BTEC has established a strong position in the US, and we wanted to offer international level activities to better support companies within the North Carolina biotechnology cluster," said Ruben Carbonell, Director of BTEC. "The University of Strasbourg located within the Alsace Biovalley cluster has an excellent academic and industrial base, and was the obvious choice as a partner in this endeavor. We are thrilled to enter into this collaboration and work on establishing this unique training program."

"Thanks to its unique tri-national biotech engineering school, the University of Strasbourg is one of the leading European institutions in this field," said Alain Beretz, President of University of Strasbourg. "This cooperation with North Carolina State University, a leader in the US, means our students, interns and faculty members will benefit from a true international curriculum in a dynamic environment."

"Alsace is the leading French region for bioproduction facilities, and its ability to provide custom-designed initial and continuous training to the industry is key to attract and retain such facilities," said Pascal Neuville, President of Alsace Biovalley cluster. "Alsace Biovalley cluster has supported and will continue to support the development of this collaboration and the construction of an "industry-like" bio-production platform for training programs".

About the Alsace Biovalley(TM) cluster

The Alsace Biovalley cluster brings together and encourages the development and growth of public and private entities based in Alsace, France, and involved in life sciences and healthcare. The Alsace Biovalley cluster includes the main aid agencies which offer simplified and effective access to all the regional services and aid. Among Alsace BioValley's missions are:

- Help industry in Alsace obtain finance and the services of a body designated by the French government as world-class competitive pole of development

- Make the Alsace region even more attractive by accelerating the connections between industry, research and regional and national aid bodies

- Offer different products and services to the companies and laboratories in the area, including help with projects, search for partners, company incubators, enterprise creation, international expansion, economic intelligence, communication tools and scientific and market information

- Ensure that the region has a world-class infrastructure in place including specialized buildings, scientific service platforms, logistics, and shared services

- Offer an entry point to Biovalley, the single tri-national network of excellence made up of Alsace (France), the Basel region (Switzerland) and Fribourg (Germany).

About the University of Strasbourg

The newly created University of Strasbourg is the result of the merger, as of January 1st 2009, of the three universities that existed in the city, namely University Louis Pasteur (STEM disciplines), University Marc Bloch (humanities) and University Robert Schuman (law and business).

Its research activities and curricula now cover almost all academic fields from law, economics and management, letters, arts, humanities and social sciences to science, technology and health. The University of Strasbourg hosts nearly 42,000 students in its 37 faculties and schools. It houses 86 research laboratories, and delivers more than 380 PhDs per year. The university employs roughly 5,000 skilled people.

The merger, the first of its kind in France, has placed the University of Strasbourg at the forefront of the national academic scene and is praised for its innovative policies, quest for autonomy and very often shown as an example. Research is systematically presented as the centrepiece of its policy.

Source
BETC at North Carolina State University