DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
Academic Focus:
The Department of Zoology is one of the coveted departments of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya founded in the year 2012. The department is established to pursue research and higher education in the field of zoological sciences in the northeast zone of India. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. programmes and has the highest intake of students in the entire University.
The curriculum of Zoology covers the form, function, and behavior of animals and elucidates general biological principles through the study of specialized or experimentally tractable systems. It is well-structured with theory-based papers along with practical sessions to provide a hands-on experience to the students and help them comprehend scientific concepts easily. The Syllabus has been designed to prepare the students to indulge in the emerging fields of Biology like Animal Biotechnology, Biodiversity Studies, Environmental Management, Ecosystem Monitoring, and Animal Bioinformatics, to name a few. Adequate knowledge of Environmental Biology is indispensable in today’s world and thus, has been incorporated into the curriculum. It also focuses on developing students’ practical scientific skills. It has been well-designed keeping in view the current requirements of B.Sc. (Major) Zoology and M.Sc. Zoology students. The contents have been prepared to familiarise them with the widening horizons of Biological Science. It reflects the changing needs of the students and therefore, other important disciplines have been specifically included. Biodiversity study is the major component in the field of Ecology and the curriculum has been designed in relation to the Biodiversity of the North East Region. Skill enhancement paper is also included in the curriculum so that one can go for the entrepreneurship. Especially the fields like Sericulture and Fish and Fishery biology have enough scope to develop entrepreneurship.
The undergraduate programme (B.Sc. Zoology) not only offers classical subjects like non-chordate and chordate zoology but also offers an array of core papers, viz., physiology, biochemistry, parasitology, ecology, molecular biology, evolutionary and developmental biology. Whereas, the master’s program (M.Sc. Zoology) offers specializations in Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology and Wildlife Biology, Fish and Fishery Biology, Entomology and Animal Physiology and Biochemistry. The Department takes pride in its state-of-the-art laboratories, museums and animal house facilities.
