MBP offers a sequence of seminar series that focus on the non-technical aspects of biotechnology education. Seminars cover a variety of topics such as intellectual property, compliance and regulatory affairs, cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices), GLP (Good Laboratory Practices), process development, communication skills, inter-personal skills, and career development. These seminars are presented by experts from the biotechnology and related industries. Students get an opportunity to interact individually and in groups with the speakers during and after the seminars.

A representative list of seminars from previous years is given below:

2005-2006 Seminars

• Aya Jakobovits (CSO, Agensys) The Agensys Story: Vision to Reality - From Novel Genomic Targets to Antibody Cancer Therapeutics
• E. Terry Papoutsakis (Walter P. Murphy Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University) Resumes, Networking, & Job Searches
• Andrew Schapals (Sr. Licensing Manager, Abbott Laboratories) Intellectual Property
• Jim Bray (Assistant Director, ITCE) Biotechnology Stat-up Companies
• Mark McDade (CEO and Director, PDL BioPharma) Commercialization of Biotechnology Products
• David Amrani (Senior Director of Exploratory Research, Cellular Therapies Program, Baxter Healthcare) Back to the Future: Innovating New Concepts from Leveraged Technologies
• Igor Kourkine (Associate Director, Master of Biotechnology Program, Northwestern University)

Intellectual Property (2 meetings)

• Basics of Patent Procedures
• Effective Management of Intellectual Procedures
• Stefanos Grammatikos (Head of R&D Protein Chemistry, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma, Germany) Biotechnology at Boehringer Ingelheim
• C. Geoffrey Davis (Sr. Vice President, Tech Assessment, Abgenix, Inc.) The Checkered Past and Promising Future of Antibody Therapeutics
• Barbara Shwom (College Lecturer, WCAS Writing Program Director, Northwestern University)

Scientific Writing Workshop (5 meetings)

• Introduction to MBP Reports
• Guided Practice to Improve Progress Report
• Communicating Effectively with Graphics 
• Planning Effective PowerPoint Presentations
• Organizing the Final Report