Department of Biotechnology was established in 2003 with the mission of defining and establishing a new discipline fusing life sciences with engineering. The goal of this discipline is to advance fundamental understanding of how biological systems operate and to develop effective biology-based technologies for applications across a wide spectrum of societal needs through research and education. The innovative educational programmes reflect this emphasis on integrating life sciences with a quantitative, systems-oriented engineering analysis and synthesis approach, offering opportunities at the undergraduate level and at the graduate level for the PhD.