Alltech is gearing up for its 8th annual North American University Seminar Series (NAUSS). The tour consists of graduate students who have carried out research with Alltech’s natural feed ingredients and who will present their findings during the NAUSS stops this fall and during the Spring in 2004. Through this tour, university students across the United States and Canada will have an opportunity to experience the latest work by their fellow graduate students on concepts that are moving from theory to industry practice.
NAUSS not only allows students to participate in seminars; this series also provides students a chance to discover internship and job opportunities and ways in which they can pursue their research goals in ‘real world’ situations. “Through NAUSS, Alltech reaffirmed my decision to choose an exciting career in animal nutrition,” said Alltech’s Tyler Bramble, territory sales manager in the Northeast.
Topics slated for presentations on this year’s NAUSS include the biorefinery concept and industry antibiotics use.
The idea for NAUSS grew out of the Bioscience Center concept developed by Alltech. This concept bridges academia and industry by providing graduate-level students opportunities to experience the ‘real world’ applications of modern biotechnology. In the past year alone, seven Ph.D. theses were completed as a result of Alltech’s Bioscience Centers collaborating with local universities. Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech’s worldwide research director, has stated that the company has set a goal of taking 180 masters and doctoral candidates through this program over the next five years.
Working on what Alltech has termed an “Industrial PhD” puts the student on the cutting edge of research. Because Alltech is industry and market focused, student projects are relevant in a real-world way that is difficult to achieve in many university programs.
“The people we seek have enquiring minds,” said Inge Russell, Alltech’s PhD. programme director. “They are willing to do that one more experiment that will lead to the discovery, to follow the unexpected path because nothing is discovered easily. The subjects they choose are something they are passionate about.”
Alltech PhD candidates are from academic backgrounds that range from biotechnology to chemistry and chemical engineering.
