USM cuts to impact Maine's biotech field
The University of Southern Maine’s plan to eliminate its applied medical sciences program is expected to have a negative impact on Maine’s biotechnology industry along with NASA-related student research projects.
The Portland Press Herald reported that several Portland-area executives working in the biotechnology field have decried USM’s plan because they said students and graduates of the program have been valuable for research and potential employment opportunities.
“It’s going to be a hard loss for us,” Joe Chandler, president of Maine Biotechnology Services, previously said when the University of Maine Board of Trustees were considering the cuts.
The applied medical sciences program currently has five faculty members, 16 majors and 54 graduate and undergraduate students. Administrators have said that other faculty members will teach out the program after the program’s team leaves at the end of the year.
The elimination of the applied medical sciences program could cause four students to lose thousands of dollars in research funds from the NASA/Maine Space Grant Consortium Fellowship Program because the program’s labs will be closed by the end of the year, the newspaper said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments