The Department of Zoology is one of the oldest and well-established departments in North India, which has completed 118 years of teaching and research in 2020. Established in 1902 at Lahore, the department got shifted to Government College, Hoshiarpur after partition, and was later housed at present Panjab University Campus at Chandigarh in July 1960. The department was headed by reputed national and international figures like Prof J. Stephenson (1906-1919), Prof G. Mathai (1919-1942), Prof Anand Kumar (1942-1948), Prof. Vishwanath (1948-1959) and Prof. G.P. Sharma (1959-1977).
Based on the performance of teaching and research potential of the staff members, the Department was adopted by U.G.C under its Special Assistance Programme in 1985 in 5 thrust areas namely Cell & Animal Physiology, Aquatic Biology, Cytogenetics, Entomology and Parasitology and COSIST Programme in 1995.The department was upgraded to the level of Centre of Advanced Studies (CAS) from April 2007 to April 2012 under the thrust area of Biodiversity: Cell and Molecular Biology with a grant of Rs. 78.25 lakhs. The Department was selected for the DST-FIST program for 5 years i.e., 2013-2018 with a sanctioned grant of Rs. 1.10 cr.
Vision / Mission of the department
The vision of the department is to provide:
- A sound education in basic and applied animal sciences and promote good standards of research and learning at the PG level and beyond.
- High values of life through a liberal education, respect for nature and concern for ethical values through good and scientific educational practices.
- Awareness pertaining to nature, biodiversity and related issues for betterment of life for community and society.
- The students of the department are placed both nationally and internationally in research and teaching. The doctorate students are mostly absorbed for teaching positions in the colleges and universities of the region. In addition, many students get post-doc fellowships from agencies like DST, New Delhi; ICMR and many other central agencies. Many of the students go for doctorate and post-doctorate studies abroad in institutes of repute. In addition, passing out M.Sc. (Hons.) students are also absorbed for teaching into various reputed coaching institutes and receive extremely high packages. Meritorious students are also selected as DST-Inspire Faculty.