The HND in Industrial Biology is delivered by three further education colleges in Scotland and intended for those wishing to find employment in industrial biotechnology or to progress to further study.

Ligita Kauneckaite was an IBioIC HND student in 2017/18 “I was always extremely fascinated and intrigued by the manipulation and exploitation of biological processes for technical applications in industry and I knew that I wanted to build my career around this field of science.”

Ligita highlights her motivation for applying, the wide range of skills that she has acquired through this programme and how she plans to use them:

“This course is one of very few in Scotland, and the modules and training are providing me with the excellent scientific background and the practical skills which will enable me to progress along my intended career path. I was always extremely fascinated and intrigued by the manipulation and exploitation of biological processes for technical applications in industry and I knew that I wanted to build my career around this field of science. 

Since starting this HND course, I have greatly improved and expanded my scientific knowledge and understanding of Chemistry and Biology, I have learned critical thinking skills through the module of Statistics for Science and with it, I have learned to apply and integrate science with statistics for real life industrial applications and scenarios. I have also gained a significant amount of practical laboratory skills and enhanced my existing knowledge of laboratory techniques.

So far, my favourite part of the course have been the practical Microbiology and Chemistry based laboratory work. This is providing me with the insight and training which will facilitate future industrial placements and progression to a degree course.

Following the completion of this HND course, my plans are to search for possible work placement or voluntary work experience schemes in the Biotechnology industry in order to further improve the skills I have developed already and familiarize myself with working in industry. I also hope to progress my academic career with an undergraduate degree involving Biotechnology or Chemical/Biomedical Engineering."