Biotechnological Engineering

Overview

Graduates are specialized to develop a professional activity within the agrarian and industrial sectors of production associated with biotechnology; act at the level of new plant/animal production technologies and screening and diagnosis of plant/animal health; intervene in areas of connection between the primary and secondary sectors, bringing new skills to the two productive sectors; undertake business activities to bring the added value of the products obtained.

The profile of the programme in Biotechnological Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança is organized into two major areas of specialization, microbial biotechnology (Microbial Physiology and Genetics; Microbial Associations and Biofertilizers, Biomass and Bioenergy; Industrial Microbiology) and agricultural biotechnology (Microbial Associations and Biofertilizers, Genetically Modified Organisms; Biomass and bioenergy Production; Molecular Diagnostic Methods; Biopesticides and Biocontrol; Biofactories, Bioproducts and Innovation). 

A set of courses is the interface between the two areas (Biomass and Bioenergy; Biocatalysts Technology, Engineering of Biotechnological Processes), giving the necessary engineering component to this curriculum. Finally, the disciplines that provide the foundations of statistics and experimental design (Multivariate Analysis and Experimental Design), and safety and regulation in the biotechnology industry (Safety and Regulation in Biotechnology) complete the plan of studies. 

Key learning outcomes

The degree of "mestre" (master) in Biotechnological Engineering, is awarded to those students that demonstrate, in this field, the ability to:

• develop and enhance the knowledge obtained in the first cycle, in order to develop and apply that knowledge to original situations often in the context of research;

• apply their knowledge and understanding and problem solving capacities to new and unfamiliar situations in wide multidisciplinary situations, although related to their area of studies;

• integrate knowledge, deal with complex matters, develop solutions or put forward opinions on situations of limited or incomplete information, including reflecting upon the implications and ethical and social responsibilities that result from both those solutions and opinions or indeed that condition them;

• communicate their conclusions and the knowledge and reasoning that underlay them, both to experts and non-experts, clearly and unambiguously;

• develop competences that will enable them to benefit from self-oriented or autonomous lifelong learning.