The University of Winnipeg is pleased to announce that the Province of Manitoba has approved a new doctoral program, the PhD in Bioscience and Policy.
“We are excited to move forward with UWinnipeg’s first doctoral program,” said Dr. Pavlina Radia, Provost and Vice-President, Academic. “This program reflects our commitment to addressing critical global challenges through interdisciplinary education and research. We are confident that it will produce leaders who contribute innovative solutions to both the public and private sectors.”
Unique within western Canada, this program will equip students to apply their original research to public policy. Students will learn to mobilize bioscience discoveries to address societal issues such as climate change, environmental sustainability, and biomedicine and human health.
“More than ever, we need scientists with an understanding of policy issues who can communicate effectively to the general public,” said Dr. Manish Pandey, Acting Dean of Graduate Studies. “The University’s Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology, and Public Policy consistently produces strong graduates. Building on that success, we are very pleased to launch this cutting-edge doctoral program that will train students to conduct independent research and make science more accessible to policy makers and the public at large.”
Students in the program will conduct research under the supervision of UWinnipeg faculty doing world-class research in bioscience while also taking courses about science and policy, and science communication.
“In the past, a PhD was primarily a degree for students on a career path to university professor,” said Dr. Craig Willis, Professor and Graduate Program Chair in Biology. “That may still be the case for some of our graduates but, because students must lead and manage a major research project, a PhD is also outstanding training for careers in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, in the environmental/natural resource sector, in government or the non-profit sector, or as entrepreneurs. Our added focus on policy and communications makes this especially true for our new program.”
Manitoba has a vibrant and growing bioscience industry with more than 700 companies and organizations generating approximately $10 billion in total sales annually to Manitoba’s GDP. This new PhD program is positioned to become an important contributor to the province’s educational and bioscience landscape.
More information about the PhD in Bioscience and Policy, such as start dates and admission details, will be announced in the coming months.
