Department of Biotechnology

The Department of Biotechnology was established in 1991, under the Faculty of Sciences for postgraduate teaching and research in the emerging area of Biotechnology. The mandate of the Department is to train human resources in Biotechnology, to cater to the needs of the Nation in harnessing the vast biodiversity and to promote bio-industries not only in the state of Kerala but also in the country.

The Department has many achievements to its credit. More than 50 Ph.Ds have been awarded till date and there are more than 200 publications to its credit. On an average about 60% of the M.Sc. students clear the UGC-CSIR-NET and 80% clear GATE, besides clearing the DBT (GOI)- fellowship examinations. The Department is also amongst the few at the National level to have been selected for the special assistance from DST (Govt. of India) under the FIST ( Fund for improvement of S & T infrastructure )both in 2003(2003-08) and in 2009 (2009-2014). In addition there are also several externally funded research projects and schemes sponsored by UGC, CSIR, DBT, DOD, MoES, DST, ICMR etc. In addition there is a societal development project- DBT sponsored- which imparts training on paper making from green waste, to women in order to aid and improve their socio-economic status.

The departmental library has more than 1500 books on the subject and subscribes to several journals. There is a computer laboratory supported by DST-FIST which caters to the needs of all the students of the department. The major analytical facilities in the Department include ultracentrifuge , Liquid scintillation counter, FPLC, UV-visible spectrophotometer, iso-electric focusing, 2D-gel electrophoresis, Confocal microscope, Realtime PCR. These and other facilities provide opportunities for the students to carry out research activities in areas such as microbial technology, medical biotechnology, genetic engineering, molecular neurobiology, cell biology, plant biotechnology and immunology.

A Center for Neurosciences was established in the department in 2000, with the intention of bringing medical college, industries, research institutions closer to its research accomplishments. The center organizes annual workshops, meetings, lectures and awareness programs.