A PROFILE

Establishment of the Dept:
This department came into being as a composite department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics in the year 2006.
The Dravidian University (An Interstate University) was established in the year 1997 with the financial assistance of four states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu. The government of Andhra Pradesh allotted 1,100 acres of land for the establishment of this University. 

The Dravidian University started two years course on M.Sc. Biotechnology during the academic year 2008-09 with the intake of 30 students with thrust areas such as Molecular Biology, Medicinal Plants Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology, Microbial Biotechnology and Cancer Biology. It is also running B.Sc. course (Botany, Biotechnology & Chemistry) on self supporting basis.

  Research programmes such as M.Phil. and Ph.D. was also recently started with 24 Research Scholars and 10 M.Phil. Scholars.  The University also started M.Sc. Bioinformatics The University was also recruited six permanent teaching faculty for the department of Biotechnology sanctioned by the government of Andhra Pradesh.  The names and designations of the faculty are given below.

Faculty:

Sl. No.	Name & Designation	Areas of specialization
1	Prof. C. Varadarajulu Naidu Head & Dean	Plant Biotechnology, Plant Biochemistry, Phytoremediation and Phytomedicine
2.	Dr. M. Mastan Associate Professor	Biochemistry and medicinal chemistry
2	Dr. Lokanatha Valluru Asst. Professor	Animal Biotechnology, Neuro Virology, Molecular Neuro Pharmacology and Preclinical Biology
3	Dr. B. Srinivas, Asst. Professor	Plant Biotechnology, Molecular Biology and Environmental Biotechnology
5	Smt. D. Sripriya, Asst. Professor	Microbial Biotechnology and Phytomedicine

Courses offered at P.G. level:

Sl. No.	Name of the Course	Intake	Remarks
1	M.Sc. Biotechnology	30	Department was started during the year 2008-09
2	M.Sc. Herbal Science	30	Department was started during the year 2010-11
3.	M.Sc. Molecular Biology	30	Department was started during the year 2010-11
4	M.Sc. Environmental Sciences	30	Department was started during the year 2010-11

 Courses offered at U.G. level:

Sl. No.	Name of the Course	Subjects	Intake
1	B.Sc. 1st year	Biotechnology, Botany & Chemistry	60
2	B.Sc. 2nd year	Biotechnology, Botany & Chemistry	55
3	B.Sc. 3rd year	Biotechnology, Botany & Chemistry	55

 Research Programmes offered:

Sl. No.	Name of the Research Programme	Subjects	Intake
1	Ph.D.	Biotechnology (Plant Biotechnology, Microbial Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology, Plant Biochemistry & Plant Pathology)	12
2	M.Phil.	Biotechnology (Plant Biotechnology, Microbial Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology, Plant Biochemistry & Plant Pathology)	12

Details of the Research Projects of the Faculty :

Sl. No.	Name of the faculty	Funding agency	Title of the Major Research Project	Budget (Rs. in lakhs)	Status of the Project
1	Prof. C. Varadarajulu Naidu, Head & Dean	UGC	Evaluation of the antimicrobial Activities from phytoextracts of naturally growing, tissue cultured plants and callus tissues of some important medicinal plants	11.19	On-going
2	Dr.. Lokanatha Valluru Asst. Professor	UGC	Oxidants and Antioxidants-Role and Significance During Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) Infection	9.12	On-going
3	Dr. B. Srinivas, Asst. Professor	UGC	Optimizing Genetic Transformation Methods in Some Medicinal Plants	4.8	On-going

Details of the Departmental Projects:

Sl. No.	Name of the faculty	Funding agency	Title of the Program	Budget (Rs. in lakhs)	Status of the Project
1	Prof. C. Varadarajulu Naidu, Co-ordinator (UGC-NON-SAP)	UGC	Non-Special Assistance Program (NON-SAP)	90	On-going (for period of 5 years)