The Department is an approved Research Centre of the University of Kerala. So far, 12 students have been awarded Ph. D. and currently there are 2 research scholars under the research guides of the Department. The focal areas of research include Microbial Biotechnology, Biochemistry and Environmental Sciences. The Department has produced 30 M. Phil degree holders of the University of Kerala. Faculty members have handled about 15 externally funded projects from UGC, DST, KBC, KSCSTE etc.
1) Cellulase production by selected bacteria using Salvinia molesta as solid substrate under SSF. Funded by UGC, Govt. of India under the Minor Research Project Scheme, Govt. of India, June 2009-11. Grant amount: Rs. 95,000/-.
2) “Development of a solid state fermentation technology for cellulase production using Salvinia molesta as substrate”. Funded by KSCSTE, Govt. of Kerala under the Young Investigators Programme in Biotechnology. May 2009 – May 2012. Grant amount: Rs. 12,02,300/-.
3) “Valorization of aquatic weeds through appropriate technologies”. Funded by Kerala State Committee on Science, Technology & Environment, Govt. of Kerala under the Rural Technology Programme. June 2013-May 2015. Grant amount: Rs. 4,00,000/-. Co-investigator – Dr. P. R. Unnikrishna Pillai, Dept. of Botany.
4) “Anticancer activity of Cyclea peltata”. Dr Meena Janardhanan Rs. 2,30,000/- UGC – MRP 2015-17
5) “Lipid peroxidation and anitoxidants status in frozen meat (Bubalis bubalis) samples”. Dr. Maya B Nair Rs. 2,40,000/- UGC – MRP 2015-17
6) “Awareness Programmes and Workshops Value Addition of Aquatic Weeds”. Funded by Kerala State Committee on Science, Technology & Environment, Govt. of Kerala under the Science Popularization Programme. March 2016- March 2017. Grant amount: Rs.2,00,000/-.
7) “Training Programmes on Value Addition of Aquatic Weeds”. Funded by Kerala Biotechnology Commission, February 2017-February 2018. Grant amount Rs.5,00,000/-
8) “Value added products from Water Hyacinth”. Funded by Kerala State Committee on Science, Technology & Environment. June 2020 – May 2022. Grant amount Rs.3,00,000/-.
9) “Multimodal data analysis for monitoring invasive aquatic weeds in India”, international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional project funded by Royal Academy of Engineers, UK. 2020 –2023. Grant amount Rs. 3,00,000,00/-.
The department has successfully handled projects worth more than 3.35 Crores in the last 10 years!
Significant addition to the infrastructure of the Department was obtained through the DST-FIST grant of Rs. 1 crore sanctioned to the College during 2016. The faculty and students have several publications in International and National Peer Reviewed Journals, Conference Proceedings, Books, Book chapters and popular articles in the last 10 years.
The department hosts an interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Aquatic Resources with Dr. G. Nagendra Prabhu as its Principal Investigator. It was established with the aid of conducting research on the unique aquatic ecosystem of Alleppey and Kuttanad regions. The Centre has been working on developing strategies for the utilization of aquatic weeds of Kerala which creates major problems for the aquatic ecosystems and human livelihood. It has successfully developed many rural technologies for the value addition of common aquatic weeds such as Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Water Moss (Salvinia molesta) and Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). Some of the technologies have won awards and has been successfully transferred to entrepreneurs and women’s self- help groups, students and general public on the value addition of aquatic weeds. It has been adopted as an alternate livelihood programme of “Kudumbasree” members of Alleppey Municipal area and also as an employment opportunity for inmates of Alleppey District Jail. A Community Training Centre is also functioning in the Department to provide training to women entrepreneurs, students of ED club and interested public on value addition of aquatic weeds of Kerala. The CRAR acts as innovation hub for the College which has made enormous impact in Society. It has successfully mentored a student Start-up named EichhoTech in 2019 to produce and market value added products from aquatic weeds. EichhoTech has been successful in getting selected for the prestigious Young Innovators Programme of KDISC, Govt. of Kerala, and KUBIIC, University of Kerala. They were the winners of the Regional Rural Innovator Award of KSCSTE during 2021 and one of the four student winners of the national level Plastic India Challenge 2021 of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt. of India.