Student blogs

It feels like it was only yesterday when the Master’s Program in Bioentrepreneurship had started. I still remember all the excitement and apprehensions that I had on the first day of the program introduction. So fresh is this memory that I still get jitters when I think about that time.

One form the first few mingles (when conversations were formal 😀 )

However, we are one semester down, ALREADY! Time passes by quickly. Only recently I realized that I have been counting days on the basis of project submission deadlines and internal task deadlines from my to-do list (maybe that is why I have not blogged much 😉 )

Welcome to the MBE student’s life 😀

In the first semester, we have completed four courses (besides that we have an ongoing 12 credit course that stretches over the first and second semester: Product development in the biomedical industry ). To better understand the programme design click here.  We were enrolled in two courses at the same time, and in the sections below I will try to provide a crux (both positive and negative) of the first two courses (the next two will follow in the next blog).

Disclaimer: this is my opinion and it can vary person to person. 😀

Entrepreneurship and life sciences: The one with the personal touch!

Imagine a classroom where students hail from all across the globe. They have different mindsets, cultures, have different educational backgrounds, levels of sensitivity, different life and work experiences, expectations, and even the way they have been educated so far is different.

How important is it to give them the time to adapt to the new environment, to bring them to the standard level of understanding and help them interact? This is exactly what the course did.

On one hand, the course introduced us to Bioentrepreneurship and its associated concepts such as design thinking and business tools in a fun and creative manner. To know more about the course objective and content click here.

On the hand, the course helped us acclimatize to the standards at KI, such as the assignment submission format, the feedback process etc. It also helped us reflect inwards and understand our areas of improvements. Moreover, the activities, different topics of discussions and assigned day to day tasks helped us know our classmates better.

However, the 9 am to 5 pm classes in such an active-interactive classroom environment demanded a lot of energy. Additionally, even if the course curriculum was light I found myself juggling between the three assignments.

Poster presentation addressing what is bioentrepreneurship

In my opinion, the course was time demanding especially as an international student who is also trying to absorb the new ways of living (well I had never cooked before, I needed to learn stuff for basic survival 😀 ). At times I would also find myself wanting to complete the pending assignments instead of attending the classes.

In a nutshell, the course was not only able to satisfy the learning objectives but offered us even more. At times I could not track of the progress I made after individual classes. However, now when I look back I see how the course added to my learning graph. We were always told to TRUST THE PROCESS and I am glad that I did!

Industrial Management: The one with the typical college feel!

The classes of Industrial Management followed a different format compared to the ELS course. These classes were held at KTH Royal Institute of Technology with a typical classroom setup of more than 100 students from KI, KTH and Stockholm School of Economics. As the name suggests, this course helped us gain an understanding of the various organizational, managerial as well as financial issues that come as a part of the industrial activities. We were introduced to new concepts such as financial accounting and reporting, costing and industrial value creation. To know more about the course objective and content click here.

When nothing registers in my brain 😀

The content of this course was new and different from what we have studied before. Mostly the theory would be presented in the lectures. The syllabus was vast and our faculty suggested to read through the upcoming topics before the lectures. (Did I ever do that? NOOOO 😀 )

One thing that really helped me understand the course better was the tutorials. Here we would practice the topic related numerical. Four tutorials would run simultaneously to divide the class strength. This was a good platform to clarify our doubts. Moreover, one of the tutorial rooms was allocated for the “slow” learners and I would proudly declare that I always attended the “slow” tutorial! 😀

In totality, this course demanded self-study with proper time allocation. It was interesting and challenging at the same time. Be prepared to burn the midnight oil especially if you are a daydreamer like me 😀

P.S. Sleep when you possibly can!

I plan to cover the rest of the semester in my next blog.

If you have any further queries/confusions/doubts regarding the program or life as a student in Stockholm feel free to contact me at shadali.singh@stud.ki.se

Until next time!!