Biosciences – Beyond Syllabus

G. N. Ramachandran Science Club

In honour of the great Indian scientist Prof. G N. Ramachandran, the Department of Biosciences started ‘G. N. Ramachandran Science Club’. The club frequently conducts scientific deliberations and seminars by eminent scientists. During the COVID-19 pandemic season, the school has proudly and successfully conducted more than 81 webinar sessions. These programs provide a platform for students to interact with the experts in their field. Club aims to empower the scientific knowledge of students. 

Orientation programs

To bridge the gap among the students coming from different academic disciplines, orientation programs are conducted during the induction period. Soft skill training is also provided during the programme.

Conferences & Workshops

The school frequently organizes national and international conferences and workshops, where scientists of international repute such as Nobel Laureates and Fellows of the Royal Society are invited. These programs are funded by national and international agencies such as European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Germany; Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India; Department of Science & Technology (DST), India; Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru and The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology Environment (KSCSTE) and Kerala Academy of Science (KAS).

Round the clock functioning laboratories

The Department of Biosciences promotes the use of laboratory facilities beyond the guidelines for a postgraduate course. The 24-hour laboratory facility provided by the college encourages scientific vigour in students developing the lab culture of the student. Such activities and small internal projects completed by the students have ultimately led to an independent research outlook. As the outcome of the research aptitude of the students, they have continuously bagged reputed publications of their findings in Web of Science or Scopus indexed journals.

Competitive examination oriented teaching

Competitive examination like CSIR-UGC, DBT- JRF BET, GATE, ARS-NET, and ICMR-NET oriented teaching aims to help the students with real enthusiasm to achieve their goals by applying them in national and international level institutes and research centers.

Certification courses

External certification programmes: On the basis of the empowering the people with knowledge and skills, the students and faculty members are encouraged to take up online certification courses offered by SWAYAM-NPTEL, Govt. of India, Coursera, and Edx platforms.

In-house certification programmes: In addition to the M.G. University syllabus, all students are encouraged to enrol in various certificate programmes conducted by the Department of Biosciences–certificate programmes in Bioinformatics, Industrial Microbiology, Plant Tissue Culture, Mushroom Culture, Chromatographic Techniques and Molecular Biology Techniques.

Industrial/Institute Visits

In order to provide scientific exposure, the students are taken for study tours to various national research institutes across the country. Our students have visited institutions including:

  • National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), Delhi
  • Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali
  • Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru
  • Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun
  • Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla
  • Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
  • South Campus, University of Delhi
  • Indian Institute of Information Technology(IIIT), Allahabad
  • International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Hyderabad
  • Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore
  • Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras
  • Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun
  • Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie
  • Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun
  • National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru
  • Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB),Trivandrum;
  • Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology (SCTIMST), Trivandrum
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), Trivandrum
  • Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Trivandrum.
  • Yenepoya Research Centre (YRC), Karnataka.

Collaboration with Industries: By making a tie up with various reputed national and international research and development organizations, the institution helps to explore the theoretical knowledge of faculty members and students into a supreme wisdom in terms of the practical aspects. The Department of Bioscience had collaboration with SAMI Labs, Bengaluru. Under this, the students from M.Sc. Phytomedical Sciences and Technology programme have formulated a scientifically standardized herbal mouth wash and have been accepted by the company.

Collaboration with Research Laboratories: The collaboration MoU with various institutions gives an opportunity to the student community to carry out an internship and hence achieve their bright future endeavours. The institutions are:

  • National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi
  • National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore
  • Translational Health Science and Technological Institute (THSTI), New Delhi
  • CSIR- Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore
  • ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR)
  • ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), Trivandrum
  • Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla
  • Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun
  • CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), Delhi.

Communication Skill Development Council

Communication is essential for both human life and organizational success. It is the process of developing and sharing ideas, information, points of view, facts, sentiments, and so on with others in order to attain a common understanding. Effective communication is essential for professionals in organizations to accomplish core management activities such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

A professional may be extremely certified and skilled, but if he lacks appropriate communication skills, his entire competence becomes irrelevant. A professional must successfully communicate his directives to his subordinates in order for them to complete their duties appropriately. With this understanding, MACFAST established the Communication skill development council in the academic year 2018-19, with the goal of engaging in activities that will enable a student to meet his future communication demands. Furthermore, organizations like as MACFAST consider its students’ well-being in terms of placing them in better jobs that require strong communication skills.