Foundation Pharma & Biotech Education

In 1987, the Foundation “Biotechnology Studies Delft Leiden” (BSDL Foundation) was established as a collaborative initiative between Delft University of Technology and Leiden University. The foundation is located in Delft within the Biotechnology Department and is a part of the research school “Biotechnology Sciences Delft Leiden” (BSDL Research School), which also includes Wageningen University.

The BSDL Foundation was initially established with a startup grant from the Ministry of Education and a subsidy from the European Social Fund (ESF). In consultation with the business community, these funds were used to set up two-year postgraduate programs for training biotechnology R&D specialists and design specialists for the industry and environmental sector. Additionally, short international courses (“Advanced Courses”) were developed on various areas of biotechnology and quality management for participants from industry, institutes, universities, and hospitals.

In 1997/1998, the “Training Course on Quality Management in Pharma and Biotech” (Q-course) was established in response to industry demand (including Centocor) and through the involvement of Professor Rob Verpoorte, who was a board member representing Leiden University at the BSDL Foundation at that time. Initially, the BSDL Foundation requested the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) to establish the course as it would be a better fit there than in Delft, but this was not possible at the time. Therefore, the BSDL Foundation eventually took on the responsibility.

In 1997/1998, the Q-course consisted of 8 modules, but this was considered excessive. From 2000/2001, 6 modules were offered, 5 modules in 2002/2003, and 4 modules from 2004 onwards.

The Foundation Pharma & Biotech Education oversees the development of the Q-Course modules.