On World Youth Skills Day, a lab campus tied to Jammu's premier research institute made a pointed argument to young people: your degree is a starting line, not a finish line. On 15 July, the BioNEST Bioincubation Centre at the Industrial Biotech Park in Kathua — which operates under CSIR-IIIM Jammu — hosted a skilling programme built around the theme of skills for a future-ready youth.
The event drew 130 students and seven faculty members from colleges in the region, including delegations from Sri Sai Group of Colleges, Pathankot, and RD College of Pharmacy, Kathua. The idea was to give students a direct look at how science turns into enterprise.
From lab bench to business
Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director of CSIR-IIIM and Chairman of BioNEST-IBTP, delivered the keynote, telling students that the future belongs to young people who continuously upgrade their knowledge and adapt to emerging technologies. Dr Saurabh Saran, Senior Principal Scientist at CSIR-IIIM Jammu, followed with a talk on bridging skills and startups through an entrepreneurship-development approach — the practical business of aligning what you learn in class with real market opportunities. Industry representatives from Associated Biopharma & Healthcare added the employer's view on biotechnology careers and startup openings.
Importantly, the day was hands-on: students went through facility tours, industry-academia interactions, poster presentations, a science quiz and an ideathon competition, capped by a prize distribution. That mix — see the real facility, pitch an idea, get judged — is exactly how you make skilling stick.
Why young Jammu should take note
Biotechnology, pharma and life sciences are among the fastest-growing sectors, and J&K now has serious infrastructure — an incubation centre, a biotech park and a national research institute — sitting on its doorstep. For a science or pharmacy student in the Jammu region, that means startup mentorship and industry exposure are no longer a metro-city privilege. Programmes like this one are an invitation: bring an idea, use the facilities, and build.
There is a wider signal here too. World Youth Skills Day is observed globally to stress that formal degrees alone no longer guarantee a livelihood — employability increasingly depends on practical, up-to-date skills. By anchoring the day in a working incubation centre rather than an auditorium, CSIR-IIIM turned an observance into something usable: students saw real labs, met people building companies, and pitched ideas of their own. That is the difference between being told to be entrepreneurial and being shown how.
Students keen to explore biotech entrepreneurship should follow CSIR-IIIM Jammu and BioNEST-IBTP announcements for internships, incubation support and future skilling events.
Source: Daily Excelsior.
