From the Desk of Prof. Dr. Vidya Niranjan, HoD (Biotechnology)

The programs offered by the department are the most sought after ones by Common Entrance Test (conducted by Karnataka Examination Authority) top rank holders and other aspirants from across the country. All the three programs are outcome based, structured to meet the needs of Industry and Research. The program contents are upgraded with the involvement of industry and reputed research institutions.

• The Department of Biotechnology (B.E Program) was started in 2002, with 30 intake and Increased to 60 intake in 2007, affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belgaum.

• Infrastructure facilities of the department are spread over 3067.69 Sq Meters with well-equipped laboratories, lecture halls and departmental library. It also has an air conditioned seminar hall accommodating 120 persons with multimedia facilities.

• The Department is accredited for 6 years (UG) by National Board of Accreditation (2021-2027). 

• The B E Biotechnology program became autonomous in 2007 and an independent BoS was constituted to design and develop the curriculum which is represented by Academic, Industry, Alumni etc. 

• The VTU research centre for PhD and M.Sc., in Engineering started in 2008.

• The department started two PG Programs M.Tech. in Biotechnology and M. Tech. in Bioinformatics with a sanctioned intake of 18 students each in the year 2011 & 2012 respectively. M.Tech. programs became autonomous in 2016.

Vision

A Premier Department in Biotechnology Education, Research and Innovation with a Focus on Sustainable Technologies for the Benefit of Society and Environment.

Mission:

1. Create state-of-the-art infrastructure for research and training in Biotechnology.

2. Develop graduates who are ethical and socially concerned.

3. Promoting collaboration with academia, industries and research organizations at national and international level.

4. Contribute to socioeconomic development through sustainable and inclusive technologies.

To meet out the demands of global biotechnology industries, curriculum has been designed to offer various courses in specialized modules such as Industrial Biotechnology, Food & Agricultural Biotechnology, Health and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Informatics.

Academic Programs offered

UG Program: Bachelor of Engineering (B. E.) in Biotechnology with approved intake of 60.

B. E. Biotechnology: (click here for more details about the program)

Curriculum: 2016 Scheme [Click here]

Curriculum: 2018 Scheme:[Click here]

Curriculum: 2021 Scheme:[Click here]

Curriculum: 2022 Scheme:[Click here]

PG Program: Master of Technology (M.Tech.) in Biotechnology with approved intake of 18.

M.Tech Biotechnology: ( click here for more details about the program )

Curriculum: 2018 Scheme [Click here]

Curriculum: 2022 Scheme [Click here]

Research Programs:

• M. Sc (Engg.) by Research

• Ph. D (Full time, part time and Integrated)

Program Educational Objectives:

• Have a strong foundation in scientific and engineering fundamentals that prepare them for a successful career in Biotechnology and allied fields
• Function at a technically competent level in formulating and solving problems in Biotechnology
• Organize and utilize the knowledge to develop Biological processes and gene manipulation techniques
• Exhibit professionalism, ethical attitude, oral and written communication skills, team work and develop an outlook for lifelong learning

Program Outcomes:

• Apply science and engineering knowledge for biotechnological processes
• Analyze, design and develop methodology by employing modern engineering tools and techniques for production of biological compounds
• Develop practical and professional skills to execute & manage research and industrial projects independently or as a part of team
• Apply engineering solutions to problem analysis considering economic, environmental, societal and ethical constraints with a focus on sustainability
• Appreciate and inculcate inter and intra personal skills for continuous professional improvement

Research Avenues:

Apart from teaching, faculty are involved in active research in the core or interdisciplinary domain. Currently the department has 13 ongoing and 9 research projects have been completedfrom DBT, DST, AICTE, UGC, KCTU, VTU, VGST, NMFP-MOFPI and KSCST.The Faculty of the Department has also received seed money to pursue interdisciplinary research from TEQIP (COE-1.2.1). In addition Department have consultancy projects from various industries.Students of both UG and PG are motivated to take up interdisciplinary research. Specialized Research facilities have been created for both faculty and students.

Specialized Research facilities of the Department:

Animal Cell culture: Clean room, CO₂ incubator, Inverted microscope, Vertical Laminar Air flow, Fluorescent Microscope, Deep freezer (-86⁰ C).

Plant Biotechnology: Plant growth room, Horizontal Air flow, Climate controlled Green House, Deep Freezer (-20⁰C), Double distillation unit, Temperature controlled orbital shaker, Soxhlet apparatus.

Instrumentation/Analytical Equipments - High performance liquid chromatography, Atomic absorption Spectrophotometer, Gas Chromatography, Microwave digester, Rotary evaporator, Lyophilizer, UV vis Spectrophotometer.

Genetic engineering and Molecular biology:Bioanalyzer, Thermal cycler (PCR), Gel Documentation, UV transilluminator, High speed refrigerated centrifuge, Autoclaves, Ultra pure water system.

Downstream and recovery of products:100 lts fermenter, Pressure process analyzer, Temperature process analyzer, Flow process analyzer, vacuum tray dryer, Tangential flow filtration unit, Dead end filtration unit.

Computational Biology: The department has well organised Computational biology laboratory with adequate number of computer systems. Department has also having access to the GPU based High Performance Computing infrastructure for the Big data anytics used for High Throughput Virtual Screening, Next Genration Sequencing(NGS) data analysis, Computational Genomics and Proteomics. The computer lab in the department is also used for programming courses and reserach projects. Since many of the software used for Computational Biology are available as web interfaces, but still many of the software are available as standalone tools, hence department is having Schrondinger software, which is mainly used in Compuatational  Genmics and Proteomics rsearch.

Specialized Research areas in the Department

• Process Engineering and automation

• OMICS-Redesigning genes and proteins

• Functional & Smart materials and Composites

• Computational biology

Domain areas in which Training & consultancy offered:-

• Next Generation Sequencing Analysis

• Green Systems for Sustainable Environment in Focus with Zero discharge of Water Industrial Process Automation Technologies under

• Upstream and downstream processing

• Nanotechnology

Employment Prospectus

The students of biotechnology department have employment opportunities in wider sectors viz., biotechnology industries, pharmaceutical industries, chemical process industries, agriculture related industries, breweries, informatics, business analysts, software testing, environmental testing laboratories, etc.

Active Innovative Student club:-

BIOSKEN -The Department’s Student chapter started in 2003 regularly organizes technical and co- curricular events in the name of Helix.

The CELL WALL is the technical magazine displaying recent scientific/technical research and innovation Weekly.

Outline of the Course Structure:

Distribution of UG courses for 2016 autonomous scheme

Distribution of UG courses for 2018 autonomous scheme

Distribution of UG courses for 2021 autonomous scheme