Program Outcomes

Average time to degree
  • 5.7 years
Number of trainees who joined within the last 15 years
  • 155
Number of trainees who earned their Ph.D. or are still in training
  • 135 — or 87%
Number of trainees who left without earning a degree
  • 5 — or 3%

The goal of BTP is for its students to complete their program requirements and doctoral degrees in a timely manner and publish innovative research — setting them up for a rewarding career in biotechnology. The program supplies its students with the opportunities and resources to make this possible.

BTP provides foundational training for pre-doctoral students engaged in cutting-edge research across the interface of the biological, physical, and engineering sciences.

Graduate trainees play a key role in all research done at UW–Madison; and this is even more so with the trainees and mentors participating in BTP. BTP trainees carry out dissertation research at the cutting edge of their chosen discipline. All core departments of BTP have orientation and rotation programs to assist new graduate students in finding a research mentor. BTP mentors participate in an extensive net of collaborative studies that provide outstanding opportunities for research carried out by their students. These collaborations have produced scientific and technological progress, publications, and intellectual property that no group alone could have acquired.