SBB course opinion
I am a Master student in Biopharmaceutical Sciences. After the first year of the Master course that consisted of training in fundamental research, in September 2011 I joined the SBB fundamentals course. I am an international student and at the time of making the decision which master program and university to choose, I was already attracted to the idea of exploring the “business side of science” and the possibility of adding SBB specialization to my science background. So, the idea of joining SBB was one of the reasons I choose Leiden University. I guess, I knew back then already that I will not be pursuing PhD after graduation.
I am a Master student in Biopharmaceutical Sciences. After the first year of the Master course that consisted of training in fundamental research, in September 2011 I joined the SBB fundamentals course. I am an international student and at the time of making the decision which master program and university to choose, I was already attracted to the idea of exploring the “business side of science” and the possibility of adding SBB specialization to my science background. So, the idea of joining SBB was one of the reasons I choose Leiden University. I guess, I knew back then already that I will not be pursuing PhD after graduation.
The course consists of separate parts, where you learn the basic knowledge in strategic marketing, finance, project management and some aspects on managing innovation. Significant emphasis is made on team work and case study method, what is very useful in developing interpersonal skills and learning to work in a group. It seems to me that this is equally important as the basic knowledge you learn during the course. Moreover, what is different from what normally we learn during science oriented studies is that there is often no right or wrong answer and we should develop a different approach to business subjects than scientific ones. Personally, the most interesting for me to learn was what strategic marketing is about and to see how important innovations are for business. To sum up, the course gives a good overview of the business basics and is a useful foundation for doing SBB internship. I had a good time attending SBB fundamentals and thanks to that, it became even more clear for me that I should seek for a career outside research.Anna Chauduri
