This comes after several students expressed their interest in pursuing higher studies in the area.
The university’s department of Botany runs a Centre of Advanced Study for Cell and Chromosome Research, which offers a masters’ programme in genetics. The programme was started in the academic session 2002-2003 but only accepts 14 students.

According to university officials, the course is too small in comparison to the demand. As a result, CU officials decided to come up with a separate department to run this course. Initially the department will have 14 students but efforts would be made to increase enrolment. A CU official said the university is yet to decide the total number of students that the department will eventually have but assured the student intake would be much higher than the present number. The department will have its own professors. The departmental teachers along with experts in the field will teach the subject. The department of genetics will offer scopes for research and advanced studies in the subject. Students who pursue the course are absorbed in various research activities and development works in Central government laboratories as well as in clinical research management programmes, said Prof. Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, pro Vice-Chancellor, CU.

The CU Syndicate, which gave its approval for the setting up of the department last month, felt that the university should not neglect this emerging field of study at a time when immense progress is being made.

It might be recounted that Ashutosh College had approached CU to run undergraduate programmes in genetics. According to college authorities, students were keen on pursuing this subject in the higher studies and a syllabus was also framed by the authorities.