The department is engaged in cutting-edge research and training in basic biology, biomedical and bioengineering fields. Its aim is to produce quality professionals in modern biology and allied fields who will engage in addressing country’s challenges by advancing the discovery in biology and applying the knowledge that can help to improve the quality of life of the citizens. The department currently offers three academic programs: B. Tech, M. Tech and PhD in biological sciences & bioengineering while a M. Tech program in Biomedical Engineering has started from 2023.

The department is housed in two buildings (BSBE main building and MFCEM building) with a total of 29 research labs, 6 labs for core facilities, and 3 teaching labs, besides offices in each of the 2 buildings. Today the BSBE department has 29 faculty members, 219 B. Tech, 28 M. Tech, 10 dual degree (BT-MT) and 190 Ph.D. students.

The faculties are involved in research projects which encompasses most of the domains in Biological and Bioengineering space. This comes with the aspiration of becoming one of the leading centres for biomedical research, training and teaching on the global map. The department plans to offer more cross-disciplinary and innovative UG & PG teaching and research programs in the near future, and some of them would be in partnership with leading universities in the world.

We encourage young scientists and bright students to come join us in this exciting journey of unravelling scientific discoveries and knowledge creation!

Departmental Mailing Address:

The Head
Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur-208016
(U.P)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 0512-259-4010 / 4011

Excellence in engineering education and research in IITs has been recognized internationally. However, entry of biology in technical institutes such as IITs in India happened almost after 40 years. IIT Kanpur has produced several eminent biologists throughout its existence. However, the need for a formal biology department was stressed in a "Report of Committee of Mega Projects" submitted in the year 2000. It was a happy coincidence that Mr. Arun Shourie, then Rajya Sabha M.P. from Uttar Pradesh, pledged Rs. 11.9 crores from his MPLADS funds to establish a full-fledged Biological Sciences & Bioengineering (BSBE) Department at IIT Kanpur. BSBE department was formally established on 13th September 2001.

The department has been established with the vision to provide quality teaching and research training in basic biology, biomedical and bioengineering fields. Its aim is to produce quality professionals in modern biology and allied fields who will engage in addressing country's challenges by advancing the discovery in biology and applying the knowledge that can help to increase the quality of life of the citizens. The department currently offers three academic programs; B. Tech, M. Tech and PhD in biological sciences & bioengineering. The department is currently housed in a three storied building, with 16 research labs, and 3 teaching labs, besides the office space. From the initial strength of 4 faculty members in 2002, today the BSBE department has grown with 13 faculty members and about 100 post-graduate (75 PhD and 25 M. Tech) and 145 under-graduate students. The faculty members are engaged in doing multi-disciplinary research in cutting-edge problems. Ongoing research projects are spread in broadly three major domains that include (a) molecular, cellular and developmental biology, (b) structural and computational biology and (c) bioengineering. Projects investigating the mechanism of diseases such as several types of cancer, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders and osteoarthritis are currently under progress. The researchers have attracted funding from major national and international agencies including the Wellcome-DBT India Alliance, Indo-UK Science bridge program, DBT, DST, CSIR, DAE, ICMR and DRDO.

The department has graduated close to 40 PhD students and most of them are currently working as post-doctoral fellows in Europe and USA. Some of them have already taken up independent faculty positions in reputed institutes and universities in the country or working in pharmaceutical companies. Within the next five years, many of our PhD students are likely to return to the country to take up positions in academia and industry. Nearly 100 M. Tech students have graduated from the BSBE Department. Beginning 2008, the department has graduated over 175 B. Tech students. Many of them continued their academic interest in biology by joining in PhD programs within India and aboard, while many others are working in biopharma companies, besides the IT, banking and finance sectors.