Here are some common questions about Biotech.
Started
What is Biotechnology?
What is the Biotechnology program?
How competitive is the admission?
What are the entry requirements and cost?
Courses | Credits | UBC Equivalency |
Biology (2) | 6 | Two of BIOL 111, 112, 121, or other 100-level BIOL |
Chemistry (2) | 8 | CHEM 121+123 OR CHEM 111+113 |
English (2) | 6 | Any two 100-level English or SCIE 113 |
Math (1) | 3 | One of MATH 100/102/104 (or 110, 120, 180, 184) |
Physics (1) | 3 | One 100-level PHYS course (not including PHYS 100) |
Electives (2) | 4 | Non-Science Courses; One must be computational (Stats, CPSC or another Math Course) |
Total Credits | 30 |
(Info from UBC Calendar, BCIT Program Entry )
Requirements must have been completed within the past 3 years
There is no interview, and you will mostly be admitted according to GPA. Extracurriculars and personal achievements may be taken into account, so don’t let bad grades prevent you from applying!
22 students are accepted each year.
More program entry information can be found here.
First Year Science Students:
If you are from UBC, have completed the requirements in the table above, and have a GPA of 70% or better, you will be directed by UBC sometime in late May to go online and select your top 3 choices for your major. Simply select Biotech as your first choice and you’re done!
Students from other institutions (eg. SFU, BCIT degree transfer, Douglas College, etc), please apply though BCIT directly, as below.
Second Year Students or Students With GPA <70%:
You will need to apply through the BCIT Biotechnology Program Head, Carol Fong (Carol_Fong@bcit.ca). You can also apply through the BCIT Biotech website. You will need to submit your resume and a completed questionnaire form (PDF) before June 1.
Students Missing Prerequisites:
You should still apply! If you are missing one or two of the prerequisite courses, these can be taken at UBC over the summer. You can be granted conditional acceptance (a spot in the program) if you successfully complete the missing prerequisite courses.
You will need to apply through the BCIT Biotechnology Program Head, Carol Fong (Carol_Fong@bcit.ca). You can also apply through the BCIT Biotech website. You will need to submit your resume and a filled out questionnaire form (PDF) before June 1.
Non-UBC Students:
If you have a GPA over 70%, you should submit required forms to UBC Admissions before January 31. More details are at BCIT’s program entry site.
Cost:
Tuition fees are similar to the cost of tuition at UBC. Domestic fees (tuition, student fees, insurance) for the 2017/2018 year were $3608.92 per term and $715.53 for the 2017 Co-op term. You will spend much less on books and supplies than suggested on BCIT’s program costs site, as you’ll be able to get a good deal from students in years above you and some textbooks will be optional. BCIT also offers the U-Pass, so you’ll get the extra benefit paying significantly less than $93-172 for a monthly transit pass!
What are the entry requirements and cost?
Courses | Number of Courses | Credits | UBC Equivalency |
Biology | 2 | 6 | Two of BIOL 111, 112, 121, or other 100-level BIOL |
Chemistry | 2 | 8 | CHEM 121+123 OR CHEM 111+113 |
English | 2 | 6 | Any two 100-level English or SCIE 113 |
Math | 1 | 3 | One of MATH 100/102/104 (or 110, 120, 180, 184) |
Physics | 1 | 3 | One 100-level PHYS course (not including PHYS 100) |
Electives | 2 | 4 | Non-Science Courses; One must be computational (Stats, CPSC or another Math Course) |
Total Credits | 30 |
(Info from UBC Calendar, BCIT Program Entry )
Requirements must have been completed within the past 3 years
There is no interview, and you will be admitted according to your GPA.
A maximum of 22 students are accepted each year.
More program entry information can be found here.
First Year Science Students:
If you are from UBC, have completed the requirements in the table above, and have a GPA of 70% or better, you will be directed by UBC sometime in late May to go online and select your top 3 choices for your major. Simply select Biotech as your first choice and you’re done!
Students from other institutions (eg. SFU, BCIT degree transfer, Douglas College, etc), please apply though BCIT directly, as below.
Second Year Students:
You will need to contact the BCIT Biotechnology Program Head, Sarah McLeod (Sarah_McLeod@bcit.ca) or David Oliver (dcoliver@mail.ubc.ca). You can also apply through the BCIT Biotech website. You will need to supply transcripts from your previous semesters.
Students Missing Prerequisites:
You should still apply! If you are missing one or two of the prerequisite courses, these can be taken at UBC over the summer. You can be granted conditional acceptance (a spot in the program) if you successfully complete the missing prerequisite courses.
You will need to apply through the BCIT Biotechnology Program Head, Sarah McLeod (Sarah_McLeod@bcit.ca) or David Oliver (dcoliver@mail.ubc.ca). You can also apply through the BCIT Biotech website. You will need to submit your resume (PDF) before June 1.
Non-UBC Students:
If you have a GPA over 70%, you should submit required forms to UBC Admissions before January 31. More details are at BCIT’s program entry site.
Cost:
Tuition fees are similar to the cost of tuition at UBC. Domestic fees (tuition, student fees, insurance) for the 2017/2018 year were $3608.92 per term and $715.53 for the 2017 Co-op term. You will spend much less on books and supplies than suggested on BCIT’s program costs site, as you’ll be able to get a good deal from students in years above you and some textbooks will be optional. BCIT also offers the U-Pass, so you’ll get the extra benefit paying significantly less than $93-172 for a monthly transit pass!
What is the workload like?
Which courses will I take?
BCIT First Year → Lab Safety, Microbiology, Intro to Biotech, Health Product Regulation, Animal Physiology, Organic Chemistry, Communications, Animal Cell Biotechnology, Plant Anatomy and Physiology, Communications Workshop, Probability and Statistics
BCIT Second Year → Molecular Genetics, Plant Cell Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Intro to Pharmaceutical Development, Process Systems, Analytical Chemistry, Bioethics, Management and Regulatory Affairs, Management Skills and Applications, Critical Reading and Writing, Immunology and Virology.
UBC Fourth and Fifth Years → A HUGE selection of courses in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Commerce, Biology, and Medical Genetics. A full list is available here.
What sort of lab experience will I get?
What is Co-op?
Student Information
- Amgen
- BC Cancer Agency
- National Research Council
- Abcellera
- Xenon Pharmaceuticals
- NanoVation Therapeutics
- Chinook Therapeutics
- Natural Health and Food Products Research Group (NRG)
- BC Children’s Hospital
- UBC (various departments, including Michael Smith Labs)
- RISE Germany (Abroad Internship)
- STEMCELL Technologies
- Zymeworks
- Institut de Recherches Clinques de Montreal
in a wide range of fields including
- Medicine
- Immunology and Physiology
- Microbiology
- Zoology
- Botany
- Forestry
- Agriculture
- Food Science
- Analytical Chemistry
Some ways to find a job are through personal contacts, applying to postings on your institution’s Co-op website, and by contacting potential employers (usually academic) by email. Of course, it’s important that you have a strong resume and a professional, eye-catching cover letter. You could ask your Co-op coordinator to look over your resume and cover letter, and there are various workshops at BCIT and UBC for this purpose as well. Most students get jobs in March and April, although some have been know to be placed as early as December and as late as June (for summer terms).
Although the dates of your first work terms are quite set, you do have some flexibility over when you want your other work terms to take place (more info here).
1st work term – May to Aug after 1st year of program
2nd work term – May to Aug after 2nd year of program
3rd and 4th work terms – any 8 months, in one 8-month chunk, or two 4-month chunks, between Sept after 2nd year of program to Dec of your last year
Your job will be full time (35-40 hours/week), usually Monday to Friday (some have worked part of the weekend depending on the employer) for 3-4 (or 8) months, and you’ll be supervised by someone at your workplace. You will be paid anywhere from minimum wage to over $16/hour, and there is a Co-op work term fee of about $700 (2017), which applies to all Co-op programs. In return, you’ll get training relevant to your field, some new contacts, and hopefully some insight on your future career!
For more information, check out the FAQs by BCIT Co-op or UBC Science Co-op‘s site.
Employer Information
According to UBC’s Co-op Office, in 2016 Life Sciences student made an average of $2192/month during their Co-op term. If you are a prospective student or a potential employer and want to learn more about the skills students gain through this program, visit the BCIT and UBC Co-op websites for more information.
Student Profile & Capabilities
Second year students will have competencies that include:
- aseptic technique and culture of microorganisms
- media preparation for microorganisms
- reagent preparation
- good practices in lab notebook keeping
- smear preparation and staining techniques
- use of light microscopes
- bacterial identification and enumeration
- molecular biology techniques including small scale DNA preparations and restriction digests
- agarose gel electrophoresis
- rRNA sequencing and PCR
- experience performing protein assays
- SDS PAGE and western blotting
- maintenance of animal (adherent and suspension) cell cultures
- transfection of animal cell lines
- plant in vitro and in vivo propagation
- plant tissue hand-sectioning and basic histology
- use of BIOPAC system for human and animal physiology measurements
- experience using absorption spectroscopy, chromatography and mass spectrometry to perform chemical analysis
- organic chemical synthesis / characterization of organic compounds by IR spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy
- purification of solids by recrystallization and sublimation
- simple, fractional, and steam distillation of liquids
- separation of organic compounds by thin-layer chromatography, column chromatography, and gas chromatography
- Univariate and multivariate techniques in hypothesis testing and data exploration – including, for example, testing of means and proportions, ANOVA, regression, principal components analysis.
- introduction to Bioinformatics, including sequence downloads and alignments, including writing original programs for automation and analysis in Excel, R and Python
- knowledge of the history and regulations for medical products
Third year and above students will have additional competencies that include:
- ELISA techniques
- enzyme assays
- analysis of signal transduction pathways by Western Blot
- isolation of white blood cells from mouse spleen
- analysis of cell surface marker expression by Flow Cytometry
- 1D and 2D-SDS PAGE
- operating and characterizing fermenters
- measuring and calculating oxygen transfer
- extensive experience with protein purification, isolation and characterization
- molecular cloning, RNA isolation and gels, PCR, probe selection, sequencing
- qRT-PCR
- use of CRISPR technology in animal cells and plants
- bioinformatics (exposure to various search tools and programs including RStudio, Prism Software)
- plant transformation, crossing and mutant analyses
- reporter marker gene characterization in plants
- paraffin embedding techniques, sectioning and histology
- plant callus culture and somatic embryogenesis
- molecule analysis using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy
- instrumental analysis using gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography including instrument optimization and troubleshooting
- instrumental analysis using mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry including the routine operation of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-triple quad mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
- knowledge of regulatory affairs
Are there any difficulties in transferring from UBC to BCIT?
What is BCIT like?
The library has lots of study areas, including the workspace downstairs, called the Pod. The hidden gems of BCIT are probably the numerous computer labs; they are open late (some say as late as 1am) and have updated hardware. There are enough of the computer labs so you don’t have to wait around for someone to leave, like in Irving, and you don’t have to wait for the computer’s lag, like in Woodward (two of the libraries at UBC). SW-1 has a brand new Gateway building, which houses student services, labs, classrooms, exam and project rooms, and study areas.
There are many student clubs (the UBC-BCIT Biotechnology Club being one of them!) and something is usually going on in the Great Hall, the main lounge space at the Burnaby campus, or Habitat Pub, the campus bar. Additionally, Metrotown, the largest mall in British Columbia, is just a 10 minute transit away, and the campus is well-connected by frequent buses and Skytrain stations to the North and South. On-campus housing is available (see BCIT’s housing site for more details), and off-campus housing is another good alternative.
If you can’t bear the thought of being away from UBC, remember, it’s temporary and after two years, you’ll be right back! Additionally, you can choose to do your Co-op terms or some summer courses at UBC. Some of our students have maintained close bonds with their UBC friends and clubs, so it’s definitely possible to stay connected.