Engaging with Local Employers to Offer Masterclasses on the ‘Business’ of Life Sciences

1. Engaging with Local Employers to Offer Masterclasses on the ‘Business’ of Life Sciences Lynsay Pickering, University of Dundee & Stephen Smith, Abertay University

2. Group DiscussionGo to www.menti.com and use code XX XX XX • Q1. What is your service currently doing to increase engagement with local industry? Do you work collaboratively with your School / other local universities to do this? • Q2. How could you ‘reward’ students to incentivisethem to attend a series of masterclasses?

3. Show & Tell • Context • Collaboration • How the masterclasses worked • Outcomes • Feedback

4. Context • The Life Sciences sector has been highlighted as a growth sector by Scottish Government. Some forecast there will be a demand of 700 to 1,000 graduates required every year for the next ten years. • 43% of Biological Science graduates in the UK gain employment in non-graduate positions six months after graduating. * • The general perception from industry is that Life Science graduates lack basic work skills including work ethic, the ability to work in teams, initiative and a basic knowledge of the company and industry *WakenhamReview of STEM Degree Provision and Graduation Employability

5. Collaboration Our Collaboration • Four distinct regions • Glasgow • Edinburgh • Aberdeen • Dundee

6. Business of Life Sciences • Identifying new product areas • Developing new products to prove concept • Developing product for manufacture (incl. Regulatory Matters) • Testing of product   • Manufacturing and Quality • Getting product ready for market, launch and sales

7. How it worked • 6 masterclasses over a three week period (Wednesday afternoons) • Each organisation had an hour to run an interactive workshop on their subject and tell the students about their organisation • Student sign-up/certificate for completion –limited spaces • Networking at end (with Pizza)

8. Examples of Activities • Brainstorming new ideas • Financial evaluation of new product • Quality Assessment data • Marketing a product

9. Brain Writing 6 – 3 – 5 Worksheet

10. Selecting the idea • Score your proposals either 1, 3 or 5 based on your collective estimate of : • How well it addresses customer need. (1 for only a little and 5 for completely) • Technical Complexity (1 for very complex, 5 for very simple) • Cost (1 for very expensive, 5 for very cheap) • Time to develop (1 for very long, 5 for very quick) • Others that you feel relevant….

11. Outcomes • Improved Employer Engagement • With School of Life Sciences (lab tours etc) • Sign up for Dundee Careers Fair and smaller events (Life Science Careers Conference) • Plans in place to run insight days, employers of campus talks • Scotland wide Internship scheme – new providers • Positive Destination • Success in assessment centres through; • Increased awareness of company and roles • Networking and talking to organisations at event

12. Feedback: Students • ‘Getting an insight into various stages in the product pipeline from different companies of various sizes and sectors was eye-opening and I feel has prepared me well for the future in life sciences wherever I end up.’ • ‘I have really enjoyed these masterclasses and appreciated the opportunity to talk to industry scientists. It has given me a very good insight into companies around the UK (very interesting hearing from local industries that I haven't heard of before) and how I could apply to join them at various levels.’ • ‘I think they were really insightful, at interviews I have prior to the workshops I have been asked what I already know about industry. Truthfully, back then I didn't know very much at all, now when asked I'm sure there will be an example I can pull out from one of the workshops, as well as being able to say I committed to attending all six of the workshops in order to find out more about jobs in industry.’ • ‘I was really happy to see the careers service and school begin to organise links with industry, as the general feeling throughout the years of the course felt very academia heavy. So I know a lot of people wanting to know about other industry options, which this really helped with.’

13. Feedback : Organisations • ‘Thanks for the hospitality, we were made very welcome and enjoyed the chance to meet with the students.’ Dianne Innes Quotient BD •  ‘Thanks for being perfect hosts, please send on our thanks to your colleagues who gave us the lab tours also.’ Angela Jordan Astra Zeneca • ‘Good to see the motivation within the students’ Hugh Gill Touch Bionics • ‘Impressed with the level of engagement with the students.’ Steve Madden Charles River

14. Things to Consider/Lessons Learned • Spaces allocated and actual numbers attending • 50 places – 69% attended Day 1, 58% attended Day 2 and 54% for Day 3 – 44% attended all three days • Audience (UG & PGR) • Approx. 50 % attending were PhD students, 10% level 5 (MSci) students, the rest level 3 & 4 with 1 very proactive level 1 student who asked to be included. • Marketing the masterclasses • contacts within schools are very useful

15. Things to Consider/Lessons Learned • Potential to expand • Collaboration with other universities in the area • Student numbers • Reward/recognition • HEAR • Also consider criteria for your institution i.e. number of sessions attended • Budget • Who pays for what? • Are you telling the story? • covering all stages/fitting employers into a title

16. Summary (Discussion)Go to www.menti.com and use code XX XXXX • Q1. Do you think this approach could work in your institution(s)? • Q2. What would be the challenges/concerns of putting together such masterclasses?

17. Questions?