This intensive, practice-driven course offers rare, direct access to a 300L stainless steel stirred-tank bioreactor, enabling participants to move beyond theory into full execution of upstream workflows. From sterilisation-in-place (SIP) and inoculation to real-time monitoring, harvesting, and cleaning-in-place (CIP), you’ll build the operational confidence needed to scale microbial fermentation processes with precision. You’ll also gain insight into advanced analytical tools used to evaluate and optimise bioprocesses during scale-up.
About this course
This 4-day intensive course is tailored for professionals and researchers ready to advance their skills from the laboratory bench to industrial pilot-scale operations. We focus on translating theory into practice, making this ideal for anyone seeking to master the crucial steps of scaling up microbial fermentation to production-relevant volumes.
The course is built around direct, hands-on experience in using a 300L stainless steel stirred-tank bioreactor. You will move beyond observation to execution of complete upstream workflow, including process design, bioreactor preparation, sterilisation-in-place (SIP), inoculation, online monitoring, harvest strategies and cleaning-in-place (CIP) under the guidance of our experts.
Hosted at the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), this course combines targeted lectures with immersive, practical exercises to build true operational confidence. On completion of the course, the attendees will be presented with a certificate of course completion by IBioIC.
Learning outcomes
- Understand the fundamental principles and challenges of scaling upstream bioprocesses from bench to 300 L pilot-scale operations.
- Produce a comprehensive process plan and batch record for executing a pilot-scale fermentation run.
- Translate key process parameters to maintain culture performance and product quality during scale-up.
- Gain hands-on experience preparing, sterilising (SIP), inoculating, monitoring, harvesting, and cleaning (CIP) a 300 L stainless steel bioreactor.
- Apply advanced aseptic techniques for large-scale sampling and feed additions to ensure process integrity.
- Analyse real-time process data from online sensors and offline samples to make informed decisions for process control.
- Develop systematic strategies to troubleshoot common deviations and challenges encountered in large-scale upstream processes.
- Using CFD, TEA, Metabolic Flux and LCA tools as part of your scale-up strategy.
- Hands-on VR/AR training in bioreactor handling and bioprocessing environments.
Who will benefit?
Process Development Scientists, Bioprocess Engineers, Pilot Plant Operators, and Technical Managers (with some bioreactor experience) seeking to gain hands-on operational confidence in scaling processes from the laboratory to pilot-scale.
