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IIT Madras launches UDYOG finishing school for biotech graduates: how it works and who can apply
IIT Madras has launched UDYOG, a finishing school that trains biotechnology graduates for industry through online study, a month of lab work and internships. Students anywhere in India can apply; the first batch starts on 18 January 2027.
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4 min
IIT Madras has launched a finishing school to help biotechnology graduates move from classrooms to industry jobs. Called UDYOG, which stands for Upskilling and Development for Young Graduates, it was inaugurated on Wednesday, 21 October, by the institute's director, V. Kamakoti. It is open to students from colleges across the country, and the first batch begins on 18 January 2027.
The programme is aimed at the gap that employers often point to: graduates know the theory but have little hands-on work with the processes used to make products in biotechnology and biomanufacturing. UDYOG tries to close that gap with a structured path that mixes online learning, laboratory training and contact with companies. It is run through SynBioME, the IIT Madras-TICEL Biofoundry, a facility that focuses on biotechnology research, innovation, biomanufacturing and skill development. The biofoundry is implemented jointly by IIT Madras and TICEL BioPark Chennai, a public sector enterprise of the Tamil Nadu government, and is meant to be a hub for advanced biomanufacturing based on genetically engineered strains and for taking processes for commercial bioproducts to scale. Its areas of work include strain engineering of microbial and mammalian cell lines, bioseparations, analytics and scale-up, for healthcare and industrial products. One report says it is funded by the Department of Biotechnology and its agency BIRAC, and another that it was inaugurated in July this year. Guhan Jayaraman, a professor in the department of biotechnology, is the principal coordinator.
How the programme works
There are three stages.
- Online learning for three months. The first stage is delivered through the institute's Centre for Outreach and Digital Education, known as CODE. It has lectures from industry experts and demonstration videos of industrial practices.
- Hands-on training for four weeks. Students who complete the online stage are considered for selection to an intensive programme at the IIT Madras Biofoundry. They work on laboratory processes and biomanufacturing workflows, with pilot-scale exposure, which means seeing how a process behaves at a size between a bench experiment and a factory.
- Industry engagement. Shortlisted candidates can meet industry partners and go for interviews for longer internships.
The programme's components, as described in the institute's announcement, are online courses, laboratory training, pilot-scale exposure and internship opportunities.
Who can apply
UDYOG is open to students in the pre-final and final year of a BTech, MTech or MSc degree in biotechnology and allied disciplines. They do not have to come from IIT Madras: students from any college or institute in India are eligible. Entry to the second stage depends on completing the first, and shortlisted candidates can pursue longer internships with the companies they meet. Biomanufacturing means making medicines, enzymes, food ingredients and other products with living cells, and a biofoundry is a facility where such systems can be designed, built and tested quickly with automated equipment. A finishing school is a short programme taken towards the end of a degree to teach the job skills that the degree itself may not cover.
The early-bird registration closes on 15 December 2026. Applicants submit an expression of interest through the CODE portal of IIT Madras, at code.iitm.ac.in/iitm-ticel-biofoundry-finishing-school. The announcement does not yet list fees, the number of seats or the partner companies, and applicants should check the portal for them.
Biomanufacturing is the production of medicines, enzymes, food ingredients and other products using living cells or biological systems, and a biofoundry is a facility where such systems can be designed, built and tested quickly with automated equipment. A finishing school is a short programme taken after or toward the end of a degree to teach job skills that the degree itself does not cover.
Speaking at the launch, Kamakoti described UDYOG as "yet another effort taken by IIT Madras" to make science and engineering students relevant to the world they will work in. He said every discipline of science and engineering must engage with new technologies with care, and he stressed the link between academia and industry.
For a student in the final year now, the sums are simple. The online stage runs for three months from 18 January, so it would end around mid-April, with the four-week lab stage to follow for those selected. That fits the period between graduation exams and the start of jobs or further study, which is the window a finishing school is designed for.
The faculty, students, researchers and industry representatives who attended the launch on campus will now watch for how many applicants come forward, and which companies sign up to take interns.
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