UMass Boston

Take your life sciences career to the next level.

UMass Boston's Biotechnology Professional Science Master's (PSM) is designed for life sciences technicians who want to take their career to the next level. Unlike a thesis-based master's, this program develops applied skills to equip you to make management decisions. Specialize in an area of interest, such as physiology, cell and molecular, biochemistry, or genetics and genomics. Then take business courses and complete a professional internship to gain practical, hands-on experience. Whether you complete the Biotech PSM on a full-time or part-time schedule, you'll graduate with the knowledge and connections to become a leader in the fast-growing life sciences field.

Professional Internship

The professional internship allows students to apply their training to the workplace and increase their linkages to employers. Since a crucial element of the PSM track is the professional internship, we prefer applicants who have identified a host firm/agency to support the internship (or whose application materials indicate that the applicant has carefully considered potential firm/agency hosts). Most students arrange to conduct their internship at their current job. The UMass Boston Office of Career Services can help you secure an internship if needed. Your internship must include technical writing and oral presentations, culminating in a final oral public presentation and report. The final presentation follows the typical format of scientific seminars which have a goal of informing and educating attendees about the topic of the internship project. For example, the seminar would likely have an introduction to the topic being investigated, materials and methods used during the internship, and a discussion of what was accomplished and how this might apply to future work. We expect students to devote the equivalent of approximately 20 hours a week for one semester (240 hours) to their internship project.