Jagannath Barooah College in Jorhat. Telegraph picture

Jorhat, Nov. 8: JB College, Jorhat, will start a three-year BSc degree course in biotechnology from the next academic session, taking into account the growing importance of the subject and the career options it offers.

A premier institution of the state, JB College will be the first college in upper Assam to introduce a full-fledged graduation course in biotechnology.

Principal Bijoy Sarmah told The Telegraph that the course was being introduced keeping in view the career options available in the field. He said the impact of biotechnology was increasingly being felt in numerous sectors, including agricultural, scientific, healthcare and industrial applications.

He said biotechnology, which incorporates a host of other disciplines like genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, microbiology, biophysics and bioinformatics, has direct links with practical sciences like agriculture, medicine, chemical engineering, information technology and robotics.

“In recent times it has been noticed that the subject has spawned many new industries and at the same time increased profits for the existing ones. So we feel the degree course could be an attractive career option,” Sarmah added.

The college has already set in motion the process of incorporating the bachelor degree course in the 2011-2012 academic session.

Sarmah said the required infrastructure was being constructed in the college. A biotechnology laboratory is being set up and the college building will be renovated at a cost of Rs 20 lakh, which will be provided by external agencies like the science & technology and biotechnology departments of the Centre.

The college will soon start the process of formally applying for affiliation to Dibrugarh University. The university will frame the syllabus and curriculum of the course and will decide on the number of students to be fixed for a batch, he added. Once the college applies for affiliation, the university will send a team to inspect the infrastructure developed in the college for introduction of the course. For faculty members for the course and the laboratory, the college has decided to tie up with leading scientific research organisations in Jorhat that have experts in various fields.

Since Dibrugarh University is one of the three universities in the state running MSc courses in biotechnology, it will be of vast help to JB College to run the degree course under the university as students passing out from the college could pursue their masters on the subject in the university, Sarmah said.

To support the students of the proposed course, the college has also decided to set up a biotechnology hub to highlight career opportunities in biological sciences, including biotechnology, bioinformatics, genetics and environmental biology. The hub will also conduct awareness programmes and workshops for college and school students on the subject.

JB College, which was established in 1930, has 19 departments. A few years back, it had started a three-year BSc course in information technology.