UMass Develops Advanced Life Sciences Degrees

UMass has been awarded a Sloan Foundation grant to create up to 10 life sciences Professional Science Masters (PSM) degree programs.

The programs would span all five of the University's campuses and combine academic concentrations, industry experience and practical skills in business and communications. Enrollment will begin for the Spring 2010 semester.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a national leader in promoting higher education in science, awarded the UMass system a $124,200 grant to advance the effort. The private funds will matched by $150,000 from the University and significant in-kind work. 

The initiative is being developed by a system-wide steering committee led by UMass Lowell Provost Ahmed Abdelal.

“Professional Science Masters programs provide scientists with the training needed not only to enter the workforce in specific sectors of industry such as biotechnology or bio-manufacturing, but also the potential to advance subsequently to leadership positions in corporations,” says Abdelal.

Don Pierson, vice provost of Graduate Education for UMass Lowell, says, “To date, five options within our existing degree programs have been approved by the UMass Lowell Faculty Senate. Four of the options are within the Department of Biological Sciences: applied biotechnology, biosafety, environmental biotechnology and project management for life sciences. The fifth option approved is the intercampus program in marine sciences.”

More options may be considered this fall to add to the list of programs available next spring. The PSM degree programs will include traditional face-to-face courses taught by life sciences faculty, and online business and communications courses.

In making the announcement, UMass President Jack Wilson thanked the Sloan Foundation for its support, saying, “Developing these degree programs underscores the University's commitment to educating students for the 21st-century economy and to economic and workforce development in Massachusetts.”

The development of PSM degrees was one of the recommendations included in “Growing Talent,” a study of workforce needs in the life sciences supported by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and conducted by the UMass Donahue Institute.  Recognizing the strength of the life sciences industry as one of the strongest sectors in the Massachusetts economy, the study urges the creation of PSM degrees as a way to meet the critical work force need for experienced scientists.

-Sandra_Seitz