News Release

Keck Graduate Institute and the Sloan Foundation to preserve a workshop on new graduate degree programs at AAAS Meeting

Meeting Announcement

Noonan/Russo Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 17, 2000 -- Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences (KGI), the first American graduate school devoted exclusively to educating leaders for the biosciences industry through its professional Master of Bioscience program, announced today that Stephen McCormack, Director of Science and Technology Development, will present a workshop on new opportunities for science and math majors with Sheila Tobias, Outreach Coordinator for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, on Monday, February 21st at 9 a.m. at the 2000 American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The workshop is entitled, "Post-Baccalaureate Alternatives for Science/Math Majors: New M.S. Professional Degrees."

Keck Graduate Institute is among a select group of grant recipients from the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the development of "Professional Masters' Degrees in Bioinformatics/Computational Molecular Biology." This workshop will acquaint attendees with new professional M.S. degree programs in the biosciences. Discussed will be the many promising career opportunities that have emerged for individuals with strong backgrounds in biological sciences, engineering and computational biology.

"The rapidly growing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical instrument and medical device industries have created an incredible demand for two-year, intensive degree programs in the biosciences," stated McCormack. "KGI is the first and only graduate school dedicated exclusively to the training for the bioscience indutries, a program that has been built entirely from the ground-up, with strong academic/industry partnerships at its foundation. KGI provides an attractive alternative to conventional graduate programs through its unique Master of Bioscience program which prepares students for a variety of careers in the biosciences industry."

Recently, KGI announced that it would offer its entire incoming class two-year, full-tuition fellowships and launched its new web site which includes a web-based admission application available at www.kgi.edu.

###

About KGI
The seventh and newest member of the prestigious Claremont Colleges, KGI was founded in 1997 with a $50 million startup grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation. KGI provides an alternative to conventional graduate and professional school degrees and sets a unique academic/industry partnership as the cornerstone of its curriculum. KGI's Master of Bioscience program is unique in reflecting and responding to the needs of today's life sciences industry, created exclusively for the development of applications from the emerging discoveries in the life sciences.

The program's intensity, cross-disciplinary focus, and emphasis on team-based problem-solving of real-life examples parallel decision-making processes used by industry. This ensures that students will be preeminently qualified for a variety of positions in the life sciences ranging from product and business development to regulatory affairs, and from sales and marketing to executive leadership.

KGI offers two-year, full-tuition scholarships and seeks students from a variety of backgrounds and at different stages in their careers. Although an undergraduate major in the natural/life sciences, engineering, or information technology is likely to provide ideal preparation for KGI, it is not a prerequisite for admission.

Additional information about KGI, its programs, and admission is available at www.kgi.edu.

Editor's Note: This press release can also be found on www.noonanrusso.com.

OTHER CONTACTS:
Stephen McCormack
909-607-8087
Keck Graduate Institute

Kesinee Angkustsiri Yip
415-677-4455 (ext. 244)
Noonan/Russo Communications


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.