In order to enhance growth, Jamia Millia Islamia approaches biotech industries for collaboration for product-oriented research and also for student placements

The Department of Biotechnology at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), a central university, was established in 2008. The department offers MSc and PhD courses in biotechnology and molecular biology. Prior to this, between 2001 and 2007, BSc and MSc courses in biotechnology were offered from the Department of Biosciences of the university.

For MSc biotechnology course, the student intake capacity is 30. In 2009, seat to applicant ratio for MSc course was 1:50, making it the most popular course in the university. So far, six batches of MSc students graduated from the biotech department are well-placed in prestigious institutions such as IIT Bombay; IIT Delhi; MAMC (University of Delhi); AIIMS, New Delhi; NICD (Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health); and in reputed biotech companies.

The department has five full-time faculties with four of them having PhDs, and 19 part-time faculties with 13 having PhDs. Between 2007 and 2010, the faculties of the department have published 19 research papers in Indian journals and 41 papers in international journals.

The fully-equipped research labs of the department is funded by various government agencies such as UGC, CSIR, DBT, ICMR and DST; with around 25 PhD research fellows working on various advanced research topics. The department has tie-up with several research institutes in the US, the UK, Germany and Italy. The department has filed two patents with the Indian regulatory agencies in the last three years. The department has spent 6 lakh on purchasing books, 1 lakh on buying journals and 2.2 crore on setting up labs and 58 lakh on buying consumables and reagents in academic year 2009-10.

Some of the important achievements of department include commencement of under-graduate research facility funded by the UGC with stipend and contingency to the students, Signing of MoU between ICGEB and JMI to carry out research on AIDS, and to organize lecture series with informative and thought-provoking lectures delivered by Indian and American scientists. Eventhough the department was created only in 2008, it has been making rapid progress in terms of generation of extramural research funding of more than 1 crore, establishment of teaching labs, installation of teaching infrastructure with multi-media aids and other co-curricular activities. The department has seven dedicated biotech labs for research and practical purposes.