The Biocompass program mission is to provide timely biotechnology industry-responsive programs to help companies build and maintain their professional workforce.
Biocompass projects bring together CSU faculty and industry experts to provide resources, workshops, internships, courses and programs that are designed to close the gap between CSU-based learning and life sciences industry practice. Biocompass is administered and managed by the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB).
Biocompass was piloted in the Los Angeles (L.A.) region as a private-public partnership involving the eight CSU campuses in the greater L.A. region, the Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio), the Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative (PBC), and the L.A./Orange County Biotech Center at Pasadena City College. In 2008 the L.A. consortium garnered funding from the eight CSU campus presidents, the Small Business Administration, the CSU Commission on the Extended University, and the CSU Office of the Chancellor. The funding received supports the development of this website and two new certificate programs in Biotechnology Project Management.
A LIFE SCIENCES WORKFORCE SUMMIT was held on Tuesday, October 12th, 2010, at CSU Los Angeles by the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) in partnership with the LA City Workforce Investment Board, the Biotechnology Initiative of the California Community Colleges, the Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative, and the Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio). Read the November 2010 Biocompass Newsletter (.pdf) for more details and browse the photo gallery of the event.
CSUPERB’s mission is to develop a professional biotechnology workforce by mobilizing and supporting collaborative California State University (CSU) student and faculty research, innovating educational practices, and responding to and anticipating the needs of the life science industry. CSUPERB is committed to closing the gap between CSU-based learning and biotechnology industry practice to help build and maintain a professional workforce.
The CSU is a leader in high-quality, accessible, student-focused higher education. With 23 campuses, almost 450,000 students, and 47,000 faculty and staff, we are the largest, the most diverse, and one of the most affordable university systems in the country.
Congressman Adam B. Schiff was named the CSUPERB 2009 Legislator of the Year for his support and sponsorship for a Small Business Administration grant to the CSU to develop a Biotechnology Training Center in the Los Angeles Region and his ongoing leadership and support for biotechnology industry specific training. Congressman Schiff represents California's 29th Congressional District, including the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, Glendale, Griffith Park, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, and Temple City.
Contact Susan Baxter, Executive Director, CSUPERB, (619) 594-2510
See also the CSUPERB website or the CSUPERB Facebook page 
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Press Release (10/22/09): QA Certificate Launch
Newsletter: The Biocompass Newsletter is published twice a year. Read about goals, participants, and activities of regional biotechnology workforce development projects.
Issue No. 1 (June 2009)
Issue No. 2 (February 2010)
Issue No. 3 (November 2010)
