Biotechnology Young Entrepreneur (BYE) Award

What is the Biotechnology Young Entrepreneur (BYE) Award?

Biotechnology Young Entrepreneur (BYE) Award is a competitive student award run by the Kerala Biotechnology Commission, a body under the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), which functions under the Government of Kerala. According to the KSCSTE portal, the award exists to raise awareness of biotechnology commercialisation among postgraduate students and to push young science graduates towards enterprise rather than only towards jobs and further degrees.

BYE is structured as a two-stage contest. Student teams first submit a concept proposal for a biotechnology-based product, process or service. An expert panel shortlists 15 teams, which then attend an entrepreneurship development workshop of three to four days. After the workshop, each shortlisted team develops a full business plan within about three weeks and presents it to a panel of experts, which awards the three prizes.

Readers who search for the award in Malayalam usually type it as the "biotechnology young entrepreneur award" or simply BYE Award; KSCSTE uses the English title in all its notifications.

How much does the BYE Award pay?

KSCSTE announces three cash prizes for each cycle:

Beyond the cash, the real benefit for most participants is the entrepreneurship development workshop that the 15 shortlisted teams attend at KSCSTE's cost. The workshop covers business plan preparation, intellectual property and patenting, financing routes, market and growth strategy, and human resource practices for a small science-based company. For a student who has never written a costed business plan, that training is worth more than the prize money.

BYE does not carry a stipend, a fellowship, or a commitment by KSCSTE to fund the winning venture. It is a prize, not a grant.

Who is eligible for the BYE Award?

You can enter if:

• You are enrolled in a postgraduate programme, a doctoral programme, or a BE/B.Tech course in biotechnology or a life science subject.
• Your institution is located in Kerala.
• Your subject falls within biotechnology or an allied life science, including bioinformatics, molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry and genetics.
• You are part of a team of at least five members, of whom at least three come from a life science background.
• Your team has named one team leader who will correspond with KSCSTE.

You are not eligible, or your entry cannot be considered, if:

• You want to apply as an individual, BYE has no single-entrant category.
• Your team has fewer than five members, or fewer than three life science members.
• You are already part of another BYE team in the same cycle. One person may belong to only one team.
• Your team submits more than one entry in the same cycle.
• You have already completed your degree and are no longer a student, since BYE is aimed at students on the rolls of an institution.
• You are looking for a research project grant rather than a business-plan prize. Those applications belong to YIPB or IBRS, not to BYE.

Team members may be enrolled in different institutions, which makes it possible to build a mixed team of, say, three biotechnology postgraduates, one engineering student and one management student across two colleges.

Which subject areas does BYE accept?

KSCSTE lists the eligible thematic areas explicitly. A concept proposal should fall into one of them:

• Agriculture
• Aquaculture
• Bio-energy
• Biologicals and their applications
• Bioprocess engineering
• Biosensors
• Drug discovery and development
• Environment
• Food
• Medical diagnostics and medical devices
• Nanobiology and nanobiotechnology
• Nutraceuticals
• Vaccines and other related areas

The list is deliberately broad. What matters to the evaluators is that the idea is biotechnology-based and has a plausible route to a product, process or service that someone would pay for.

What documents are required for the BYE Award?

How to apply for the BYE Award

1. Open the official BYE page at kscste.kerala.gov.in under Biotechnology Development and check whether the current call, January or July, is open.
2. Download the application format and guidelines published on that page. KSCSTE does not accept free-form proposals.
3. Form a team of at least five students, ensuring at least three have a life science background, and choose one member as team leader.
4. Write the concept proposal describing the biotechnology idea, the problem it solves, the science behind it and the intended user or market.
5. Get the proposal endorsed by the head of the institution and attach student status proof for every member.
6. Submit the complete application to the Scientist-in-Charge, Kerala Biotechnology Commission, KSCSTE, Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram 695 004, by the date given in the notification.
7. If shortlisted among the 15 teams, attend the entrepreneurship development workshop of three to four days.
8. Submit and present the full business plan within about three weeks of the workshop to the expert panel.

How do you check the status of a BYE application?

BYE does not have a public online tracking dashboard. Shortlisting for the workshop is communicated by KSCSTE to the team leader using the contact details in the application, and the list of selected teams and winners is published on kscste.kerala.gov.in. For a status query, the team leader should write to kbc.kscste@kerala.gov.in or call the Kerala Biotechnology Commission on 0471-2548406 or 0471-2548254, quoting the team name and the cycle in which the application was submitted.

Why do BYE entries get rejected?

• Team size below five, or fewer than three members from a life science background. This is the most mechanical reason for rejection and the easiest to avoid.
• Duplicate participation — the same student named in two teams.
• More than one entry from a team in the same cycle.
• No institutional endorsement, or members who cannot show current student status.
• Idea with no biotechnology content, for example a pure software or trading business.
• Proposal not in the prescribed format, or submitted after the closing date in the notification.

Key dates for the BYE Award

KSCSTE invites BYE applications twice a year, in January and July. Exact opening and closing dates change from cycle to cycle and are published on the BYE page. Teams that miss the January window can prepare for July, and the council permits a refined version of a previously unselected idea to be resubmitted in a later cycle.

Where to get help or raise a grievance

• Scientist-in-Charge, Kerala Biotechnology Commission, KSCSTE, Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram 695 004
• Phone: 0471-2548406, 0471-2548254
• Email: kbc.kscste@kerala.gov.in, biotechkerala@gmail.com

There is no application fee for the BYE Award, and no agent or consultant can get a team shortlisted. Selection is entirely by the expert panel on the strength of the concept proposal and the business plan.