Life Sciences Online (Graduate Certificate)

Learning Outcomes for Life Sciences Management Online Graduate Certificate

• Expand technical knowledge in specific areas of strategic focus for the biopharma industry such as immunology, gene therapy, virology, pharmacology, and more.
• Build deeper understanding of one or more areas of the product development process, such as drug and device regulations and regulatory compliance, risk management and/or value creation and innovation.
• Develop skill sets necessary to lead and/or collaborate with successful teams in the diverse, highly regulated and fast-paced life science industry – may include project management, leadership and/or interpersonal skills.

Program Requirements

The program of study requires 12 credits of coursework chosen from amongst our life science and management course offerings: 

• 6-9 credits must be chosen from courses thematically-related to the life sciences and may include those with a prefix of BB, BCB, CH, or other approved department by the CBC faculty administrator (for ex. BME, CHE)
• 3-6 credits of management coursework, typically chosen from amongst the following list of courses:
  • MIS 576. Project Management
  • OBC 505. Teaming and Organizing for Innovation
  • OIE 542.  Risk Management and Decision Making
  • OIE 598. Engineering Economics
  • FIN 503.  Financial Decision-Making for Value Creation

Department must approve plan of study after your first course to ensure all courses will count towards the graduate certificate. If you wish to pursue an MS after completion of the certificate program, you must ensure your plan of study will fit with the MS. 

See full online course schedules: MS Bioscience Administration or MS Biotechnology.

Please note that asterisks (*) indicate that although the course is offered online, it is a “skills-based” course and includes 12-24 hrs of hands-on labwork, delivered on the weekends in 4-8 hr modules, on the WPI campus.  View academic term start dates for online courses.

Admissions Qualifications

• 3.0 or higher undergraduate GPA
• BS degree in life sciences or an engineering field with a foundation in life sciences, or another field that demonstrates a knowledge of basic biochemistry principles
• A BA degree will also be considered if the applicant has the appropriate math & science coursework
• If you do not have a bachelor's degree, please view our list of undergraduate programs
• For specific application requirements, visit our admissions for online programs page

Learning Outcomes for Biomanufacturing Online Graduate Certificate

• Deepen technical knowledge in specific areas of the bioproduction process such as upstream processing, protein purification and downstream processing, animal cell culture, and fermentation.
• Broaden understanding of one or more areas of bioprocessing such as cell cycle regulations, biovisualization, biochemical engineering, or gene expression.

Program Requirements

The Graduate Certificate in Biomanufacturing is composed of 12 credits of graduate coursework chosen from the following categories and  approved by a faculty advisor.

Three skills-based courses (9 credits)

Examples of coursework include:

• BB 505. Fermentation Biology
• BB 508. Animal Cell Culture
• BB 509. Scaleup of Bioprocessing
• BB 560. Methods of Protein Purification and Downstream Processing
• BB 581. Bioinformatics

One, thematically related course (3 credits) –Examples of coursework include:

• BB 551. Research Integrity in the Sciences
• BB 590. Integrative in Biology and Biotechnology
• BB 561. Model Systems: Experimental Approaches and Applications
• BB 562. Cell Cycle Regulation
• BCB 502. Biovisualization
• CH 540. Regulation of Gene Expression
• CHE 521. Biochemical Engineering

The Biology and Biotechnology Department must approve plan of study after your first course to ensure all courses will count towards the graduate certificate. If you wish to pursue an MS after completion of the certificate program, you must ensure your plan of study will fit with the MS. 

See full online course schedules: MS Bioscience Management  or MS Biotechnology.

Please note that asterisks (*) indicate that although the course is offered online, it is a “skills-based” course and includes 12-24 hrs of hands-on labwork, delivered on the weekends in 4-8 hr modules, on the WPI campus.  View academic term start dates for online courses.

Admissions Qualifications

• 3.0 or higher undergraduate GPA
• BS degree in life sciences or an engineering field with a foundation in life sciences, or another field that demonstrates a knowledge of basic biochemistry principles
• A BA degree will also be considered if the applicant has the appropriate math & science coursework
• If you do not have a bachelor's degree, please view our list of undergraduate programs
• For specific application requirements, visit our admissions for online programs page