Botany

"A practical botanist will distinguish at the first glance the plant of the different quarters of the globe and yet will be at a loss to tell by what marks he detects them"

~ Carolus Linnaeus

The Department of Biosciences as a separate entity in origin was established in August, 2002. In a broad sense the Department of Biosciences accommodates three separate streams of life science-Zoology, Botany and Physiology under the same roof. Although due to some circumstances, Physiology is not available for the students for a temporary period. The Department of Botany is well organized with an equipped laboratory, Departmental library facility, a team of dynamic and energetic faculty members and a healthy and student friendly environment. The faculty members of the Department include Dr. Atish Sardar (Head of the Department) and as technical staff Smt. Saila Sonkar (Rudra) provide their service for the Department. The Department has been able to expand the arena of knowledge to the students through regular theory and practical classes, seminars, debates, projects and excursions. It's joyful for us that our students have been getting jobs in different sectors after their graduation.

Infrastructure:

Description	Details
Number of PCs	01
Number of P-IV or Higher PCs	01
Number of LAN Terminals	01
Type and Speed of Internet	Broadband
Laboratory	The Department has excellent laboratory facilities. It is well-equipped with an adequate number of modern instruments and chemicals and reagents required to undertake General practical classes
Departmental Library	Our Department also has an excellent Departmental library facility comprising over 50 books in both English and Bengali versions, the books written by well known authors of the subject. The books are easily accessible for the students and we maintain a Departmental library register book for issuing books. Moreover, our Department gets funds once in two years to purchase new books for the Departmental library.

Academic Activities

Plant pathology, Microbiology, Plant Molecular biology, Cytology and genetics, Apart from the conventional class lectures and field trips, the department organizes seminars, debates, poster sessions, group discussion etc. to ignite interest about the subject as well as to improve their communication skills and self-confidence. In the academic session 2015-16, the Department of Botany organised the following academic activities: An excursion to Rabindra Sarovar Lake, Kolkata, is organized for the students every year. The area surrounding the Rabindra Sarovar Lake has a vast resource of flora. The students collected plant samples for preparation of herbarium sheets. A seminar-cum-poster presentation was organized on 18.12.2015. at the department. Every student had chosen one topic from the syllabus, prepared a poster on that topic (previously), and presented that poster in front of the faculties and the Principal (chief guest). Visit to Indian Museum, Kolkata, is organized for the students of Semester I every year. The aim of this visit was to educate the students about fossils and ancient and extinct flora (Paleobotany). A parent-teachers' meeting was organized jointly by the Department of Botany and Department of Zoology on 19.02.2024. at the department. Written feedback was collected from the parent/ guardian of each student. Excursion to Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Charak Udyan and Botanical Survey of India, Howrah, is organized for all the students of Botany every year. The students gain insights into the different types of plant species through the observation of plant collections in the garden and in herbarium sheet repository present in the Botanical Survey of India. Charak Udyan has a great collection of medicinal plants, which enhances students' knowledge about the medicinal and curative properties of plants. In the academic session 2016-17, the Department of Botany organised the following academic activities: A visit was organized to Banabitan, Kolkata and East Kolkata Wetland, Kolkata for the students of all the years on 01.09.2016. The students collected plant samples for preparation of herbarium sheets.

Faculties:

Future Plans

To examine how to attain 100% success rate both in the Honours and General Course in all University Examinations. We want to establish the Department as one of the best in Calcutta University. To achieve this goal steps should be taken for are Intake of Quality students, Monitoring of attendance of the students on regular basis, Increase in the number of teaching members and laboratory attendants. Given the way the syllabus is changing the Department feels that purchase of a UV-VIS Spectrophotometer is inevitable, Acid-Proof covering on the top of all working table of the chemical, Proper drainage of the waste water should be done, preferably by porcelain bed. Installation of A.C is essential for proper up keeping of sophisticated instruments. Teaching: Chalk and Talk method and assisting the students to consult e-books from the library."

Student Achievements

Students are consistently performing well in University examinations. Some notable examples are the following.

Name	Percentage
Saraswati Koley	(Approx 63%)
Biswajit Saha	(Approx 62%)
Tumpa Halder	2021

Future Plans

Teaching:We work hard to discuss each and every topic in a very easy and simple manner to raise interest about the subject. We also take extra classes beyond the classes allotted to us. We are trying to introduce power-point projection lecture facilities to make the course interesting and easily understandable for the students.
Research:Our Principal has always encouraged us and given an environment to pursue research work in our Department. We are trying to submit research proposals to various funding agencies and to bring new research projects to our Department as early as possible.

Alumni

Gaurab Sharma (Lieutenant Indian Army)
Anjeeta Rai (School teacher)
Sumit Patra (Pathological technician)
Dr. Sajid Ali (Homoeopathy doctor)
Sandeep Dutta (Service)
Suvashis Basak ( Service)
Lubna Khan (Banker- Kotak)
Tirtha Bal (M.Sc.-Botany, Banaras Hindu University Ph. D.- Plant Breeding and Genetics, Banaras Hindu University)
Nandita Sarkar (Teacher-Kidzee, Raiganj)