I have gone back to school. For the next two years I will studying Business Creation and Entrepreneurship in Bioscience at the Göteborgs International Bioscience Business School. The school aims to provide a practical education on starting bioscience based venture by... making students start a bioscience based venture. Can't argue with that.
Today was an introductory day that one couldn't help but feel positive about. The BCEB student group is small (~15) and made up swedes and non-swedes with a mixture of medical, science and engineering backgrounds.
I can't really say what the next two years will bring. But looking through the Encubator portfolio of GIBBS ventures, talking to an alumni today and meeting my fellow students makes me more confident in my decision to move here to study.
An aside on Australian Masters courses: For people who, like me, have a very poor opinion of Australian Masters, Swedish courses appear to be quite different. The difficulty in getting a visa and then job in Sweden post study combined with the low cost (free) means Swedish universities can't use Masters courses as simply a form of reliable income. In fact one student was basically horrified when he heard how things worked in Aus. He studied in Eastern Europe and said that the universities there would do anything to fail you, because then you'd have to pay for that subject again. He also made the pertinent point:
"Doesn't that ruin their reputation"
Yes.
How /do/ Australian Masters courses work?
ReplyDeleteBen, the biggest difference is once you pay the $29,970AUD a year (e.g., for a Master in Business at Monash) you're in until the end. I've heard first-hand from former lecturers that they've been told not to fail people, regardless of the work they submit.
ReplyDeletePlus, studying is used as a means to build up points towards a permanent residency. At first glance that's a good idea because if someone has studied hard for a while and they want to stay on they should be allowed to. However, if all someone has to do is pay $35-45K and not really study ('cause they won't be failed) then they're a good bit of the way towards bringing their family over it might be good for the country but it certainly isn't good for the university's standards.