The Department of Zoology is one of the first
departments to be established by the University of Pune in 1950. Situated on
an exceptionally beautiful and picturesque campus of the University of Pune,
the Department of Zoology offers up-to-date and pertinent post-graduation
programme (M.Sc., M. Phil and Ph.D.) in Zoology with emphasis on
fundamentals as well as emerging areas of modern biology.
During the last 60 years, the department has made its identity in the frontier areas of Life Sciences and now it has developed into a full- fledged centre of teaching and research in modern biology. The effort of the department in establishing unique and innovative teaching and training programmes led to its recognition as
Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in by the
University Grants Commission (UGC) since 2005. Department of Zoology has received funds from the UGC under Committee on Strengthening of Infrastructure for Science and Technology
(COSIST). The department has also received funds from DST-Government
of India under the FIST programme.
Way back in 1985 the Department of Zoology was given the University Leadership programme. In the same year, the first national programme of M.Sc. in Biotechnology supported by the
Department of Biotechnology (then NTBT), Government of India was initiated in Department of Zoology. In the following years, several research establishments like
Bioinformatics Centre, National Centre for Cell Sciences
(NCCS), Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology
(IBB), which are now independent institutions, were housed in the department and their research activities were initiated.
Since 2000, department has offered the Credit System for M.Sc. in Zoology course; with emphasis on hands-on practical training of the students and continuous internal assessment. Being an autonomous department of the University, the Department of Zoology also has flexibility in framing courses and conducting tests and examinations. The faculty members of the department have been actively engaged in research and have received research grants from various funding agencies such as
UGC, CSIR, DRDO, ISRO, DBT, DST, DAE and
ICMR, in addition to industry sponsored projects.