The Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology was established in the year 2000 as a Centre of Ocean and Island Studies and upgraded to the present Department in the year 2004. This Department is located in a sprawling campus of its own at Brookshabad (Port Blair), the picturesque capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Department has well equipped infrastructural facilities with laboratories and instruments for both the academics and research activities with extramural funding from UGC, DST and MoES. The Department is well poised to train by imparting education and field based practical training to the students in the arena of Marine Biological Sciences.
The program is primarily focused at building trained manpower with skills required to cater to the need in the field of Marine Biology. Department has the mandate for exploring the potential of marine living and nonliving resources and their application, developing sustainable management strategy for the resources, creating database on all the oceanographic components involving biological, chemical, physical and geological aspects of the Andaman Sea preferentially.
The Department conducts M. Sc. and Ph. D. Program in Marine Biology and it’s strategic location at Port Blair in close proximity with the Andaman Sea provides unique opportunity for the students and researchers to get extensive exposure to a vivid form of marine environmental conditions comprising estuarine, mangrove, Island and marine ecosystems. Students to the program are admitted on the basis of the rank obtained by all India entrance examination conducted by the Pondicherry University at different centers in the country. The students enrolled for the Master degree are offered a studentship of Rs. 1000 per month.
INFRASTRUCTUR FACILITIES
The Department has modern laboratory facilities equipped with the following major Instruments in addition to other basic equipment for teaching and R & D activities in the arena of Marine Biology.
• Automatic weather station.
• BOD incubator
• CHN analyzer
• Current meter
• Deep sea fluorometer
• Ecosounder
• GEL Electrophoresis
• GELDOC
• HPLC
• Hydrolab
• Microscopes with image analyser
• Organic element analyser
• Plankton nets & Flow meter
• PCR
• Rotary evaporator
• TOC analyzer
• SCUBA
• UV spectrophotometer
M.Sc., Marine Biology: The question paper consists of objective type questions with multiple choices in the field of biological sciences at B. Sc. level.
Ph.D., Marine Biology: The question paper consists of objective type questions with multiple choices in the field of marine biological sciences at M. Sc. level. UGC/CSIR – NET qualified students are admitted directly to the Ph. D program
Eligibility Criteria for Admission
M. Sc., Marine Biology (Port Blair, Andaman)
Intake: 52
Criteria for admission:
Bachelor’s Degree in Botany / Biochemistry / Biotechnology / Fisheries and Aquaculture / Microbiology / Zoology with a minimum of 55% marks.
Admission process for M. Sc. course will be carried out at Pondicherry University main campus and students will then proceed to Port Blair for the course work during the study period.
Ph. D., Marine Biology (Port Blair, Andaman)
Intake: 09
Criteria for Admission:
Master’s Degree in Marine Biology / Zoology / Botany / Biochemistry / Biotechnology / Fisheries / Life Science with a minimum of 55% of marks.
Admission process for Ph. D. will be carried out at Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology at its Campus at Port Blair.
THRUST AREAS OF RESEARCH
- Barcoding of Marine Fishes and Eco-morphology of Coral Fishes.
- Coral reef environment monitoring and carbon sequestration.
- Coastal Biodiversity Assessment and their Conservation.
- Fisheries resource assessment.
- Marine Bioactive Compounds, their characterization.
- Marine Microbial processes and natural bi-products.
- Marine Benthic Ecology and Taxonomy
- Marine micro-phyto benthos and their ecological relationship.
- Diversity and distribution of Plankton.
INFRASTRUCTUR FACILITIES
The Department has modern laboratory facilities equipped with the following major Instruments in addition to other basic equipment for teaching and R & D activities in the arena of Marine Biology.
- Automatic weather station.
- BOD incubator
- CHN analyzer
- Current meter
- Deep sea fluorometer
- Ecosounder
- GEL Electrophoresis
- GELDOC
- HPLC
- Hydrolab
- Microscopes with image analyser
- Organic element analyser
- Plankton nets & Flow meter
- PCR
- Rotary evaporator
- TOC analyzer
- SCUBA
- UV spectrophotometer
