Biotechnology
Peter Andrews, former Qld Chief Scientist"The role of biotechnology in the 21st century will be all-encompassing. Its impact will extend from food to medicine, from energy to the environment. It will literally change our world."
Career opportunities: Laboratory Supervisor or Manager, Quality Control Analyst, Scientific Executive, Environmental Officer, Scientific Project Manager, Production Chemist or Quality Assurance Manager within the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food technology and allied industries.
Biotechnology is defined as the science of using living things, and components of living things, to produce goods and services. It involves manipulating and modifying organisms, often at the molecular level.
Biotechnology is set to play a vitally important role in all our lives, providing exciting opportunities to harness ever-increasing knowledge for the benefit of humanity – including improving quality and availability of food and nutrition, reducing our environmental footprint and radically changing healthcare. Biotechnology is a crucial component of the health and medical research sector, with enormous potential for addressing future health challenges, not only here in Queensland but throughout the world.
Biotechnology’s enormous potential has prompted governments around the world to actively invest in life science capabilities. Biotechnology is at the heart of Queensland’s Smart State. By 2025, the Queensland Biotech industry will employ over 16,000 people and be worth more than $20 Billion.
Almost one third of all new Australian biotech companies are based in Queensland and Queensland is poised to be a key centre in health and medical technology and global hub of tropical health and medical biotechnology.
This means that a highly skilled, highly trained workforce is critical now and for the future. As Queensland’s Premier training provider, Southbank Institute of Technology educates and trains this workforce.
Southbank Institute offers an innovative new biotechnology course providing the latest work-ready skills and experience to existing science workers and graduates. It has been developed (in consultation with industry) to provide the latest industry knowledge and practical techniques for graduates to hit the ground running from day one. Learn more about Biotechnology at Southbank Institute of Technology.
Last updated 13 July, 2011