Biotechnology is a rapidly advancing discipline which aims at exploitting the progress in life and physical sciences as well as other related fields, in developing new and advanced products, processes and services. Its contribution is important to the quality of life in our modern society, evident by the worldwide massive investments in education, research and applications in health and food sciences, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, primary production processes, as well as energy and environmental issues.
The aim of the Department is to meet the educational and research training requirements for its students by introducing them into advanced and contemporary branches of knowledge and skills related to Biotechnology. In particular, the Department offers an integrated biological and technological background, through teaching and laboratory practice at undergraduate level and high-quality research at a postgraduate level. The education and research provisions taken by the Department, endow its graduates with the necessary modern expertise and skills for their future careers, enabling them to master the complexities of biological and related systems at fundamental and applied level.
Training focuses on genetics and its applications in the modification and evolution of organisms, molecular biology, functional genomics and gene circuits in systems biology, creation and analysis of transgenic organisms (GMOs) as well as the management of the genetic material for primary production through recombinant DNA technology, Omic technologies, synthetic biology and cellular engineering, bioprocessing, biocatalysis and enzyme engineering, production of high value enzymes and proteins and their applications in life sciences, bioenergy using 'green organisms', pharmaceutical biotechnology for production of biologics from 'cell factories', biophysics and bioinformatics in understanding the structure and function of biomolecules and biosystems, nanotechnology, biosensors, microelectronic systems and molecular techniques as analytical and diagnostic tools.
Biotechnology graduates should be qualified for employment in both private and public sectors, for example, educational and research institutions, research and diagnostic laboratories, analytical and quality control laboratories, hospital and microbiology laboratories, companies engaged in the production of primary (bio)materials and biologics or marketing bioscience and related products, regulatory authorities responsible for the legislation of bioprocesses and bioproducts or various other agricultural, pharmaceutical and biotech companies.