Department of Botany

Acharya Subodh Chandra Mahalanobis with the co-operation of the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal Sir John Woodburn established the Department of Botany at Presidency College, Kolkata in the year 1900. Since then the department has been offering an undergraduate course in Botany Honours. It is also a matter of great pride that the University of Calcutta started their Postgraduate course in this department in the year 1912, continued up to 1918, and reintroduced a joint course from 1952. At the onset of the new millennium (2001-2002) the department was permitted to start an Independent Postgraduate course in Botany and within a couple of years (2004-05) and granted Postgraduate Academic Autonomy. With the beginning of the new era the department has completely revised and upgraded the syllabus of M.Sc. Botany and introduced the new syllabus from the 05-06 academic session giving emphasis on current trends and recent advancements in Plant Sciences. Continuous assessment system in practical papers, students’ seminar and viva voce are some important features of the newly introduced PG syllabus in Botany.

A new era in the history of Presidency College Kolkata started with its up-gradation to the status of Presidency University on 7th July of 2010 to honour its rich heritage of academic excellence along with the changing demands of the community. As per decision of the University, Department of Botany has totally revised and modernized syllabi at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and introduced semester system. From the academic session 2011-2012 we have admitted our first batch of students under Presidency University.