Department Of Biotechnology

Photo	Name	Qualification	Experiance	CV
	Dr. Priyanjali Dixit, Head	Ph. D, M.Sc (Zoology)	15 year	View
	Dr. Maya Khater	Ph.D., M.Phil, M.Sc ,D.Pharm, CSIR-UGC NET (LS)	18 year,	View
	Mr. Pravin G. Pohekar	M.Sc. (Biotechnology), NET	18 year	View
	Mrs. Mrunal Sarang Damle	M.Sc (Botany), CSIR-NET	8 years	View
	Dr. Rohini Yevale	M.Sc. Ph.D Biochemistry	4 years	View
	Dr. Mruthyunjaya Sathyappanavar	M.Sc. Ph.D Biotechnology NET	12 Years	View
	Dr. Revati Wanikar	M.Sc. M.Phil., Ph.D Biochemistry	14 Years	View
	Mr. Rushikesh Sankpal	M.Sc. (Microbiology), DIPRL, DMLT, PGDMM, PGDHRM, PGDEM, SET, NET	10 years	View
	Dr. Medha Dange	M Sc. (Microbiology), Ph.D. (Biotechnology) NET	08 years	View
	Mrs. Shraddha Kaplay	M Sc. (Microbiology)	07 years	View

Staff Details

1. Manali Kaladagi and Ms. Vaishnavi Umbrajkar (MSc II) did oral presentation at the 4^th International Conference on “Global Trends in Sustainable Technology and Its Applications in Advanced Sciences (ICGTSTAS-2024)”, guided by Dr. Maya Khater.
2. Payal Deshmukh, Ms. Suhani Alai, Ms. Diksha Shinde and Mr. Sanket Wadne presented poster at the 31^st Raman Memorial Conference - 2025 at Department of Physics, "Quantum Science & Technology” guided by Dr. Maya Khater
3. Sakshi Nalegaonkar (2022-23) MSc student cleared GATE examination (2023-24)
4. Sakshi Nalegaokar (2022-23) MSc student, cleared NET-LS examination in December 2023 (rank 84).
5. Gunali Chowdhari (2023-24) MSc Student, cleared SET examination in April 2024.
6. Ishwari Walunj (T.Y.B.Sc) received scholarship of Rs. 10000/- per month by Pune Knowledge Cluster to persue a bachelor program research project in Chemistry under the WEnyan scholarship and mentorship programme for women in STEM education and careers supported by BASF Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd

1. Mr. Rushieksh Sankpal received Insect Environmentalist Award - Best Insect Photography (Senior Category), awarded by Dr. J P Singh and Dr. S N Sushil at Regional Plant Quarantine Station, Bengaluru.
2. Mr. Rushieksh Sankpal received “Bharata Shiksha Gaurav Puraskar” and “Certificate of Excellence” for outstanding achievements and remarkable contribution in the field of education, awarded online dated 10th March 2024 by KTK outstanding Achievers and Education Foundation and Helium Production

1. Manali Kaladagi and Vaishnavi Umbrajkar Presented poster at "Aavishkar Research Project Competition 2024" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater and advanced to the State Level.
2. Janhavi Jirage Presented poster at "Aavishkar Research Project Competition 2024" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater and selected to Zonal Level

Department of Biotechnology is actively engaged in holistic developments of students. We conduct various extracurricular and co-curricular activities to keep our students motivated and enthusiastic in their routines. Following are some of the glimpses of these activities.

Common Address: Common address held at beginning of each academic year provides an opportunity to orient the newly joined students with the ongoing activities as well as discipline and decorum maintained in the department. All students are given guidelines about DOs and DON’Ts of working in the biotechnology laboratory. They are introduced to the faculty members and support staff of the department.

Parent Teacher Meeting: Every year parent teacher meeting is held for FY,TY and MSc I classes. This provides a platform for discussion about students’ progress and understanding concerns of the parents. This year parent teacher meeting was conducted on15^th February 2025 for parents of TY and MSc I students.

Alumni meeting: This helps to bring about interaction of current students with alumni. Recently the alumni meet was conducted in academic year 2023-24. Alumni group of Biotechnology is created on social media platform which is active in supporting present students of the department for future path and placements.

Outreach activities: S.Y. Biotechnology students in the academic year 2024-25 actively participated in 33^rd edition of India’s largest agricultural convention, KISAAN 2024. Students put forth the stall and demonstrated Rhizobium and leguminous plant interactions as well as Soil analysis tests. Students actively interacted with farmers, scientists and people visiting the exhibition.

Educational Visits: As a part of curriculum, visits to various industries, research institutes are organized for the students. In past few years we have organized visits to CCMB (Hyderabad), Indian Immunologicals (Hyderabad), Mapro Industries PVt. Ltd (Mahabaleshwar), Four seasons winery (Roti), Vasantdada Sugar Institute (Manjari), IISER (Pune) etc.

Biotechnology Association was constituted for the purpose of coordinating academic, social, sports and cultural activities of the Department. These are organized for the students and by the students of the department.

Guest Lectures- The aim is to provide a platform for students to interact with research scientists and entrepreneurs. Under this activity eminent personalities from industries and academia are invited to deliver lectures and interact with students. To name a few in past academic years we invited following people to talk on:

• Cancer Biology : By Dr. Ram Datar
• Rare genetic disorders : By Dr. Varsha Pardeshi
• Plant genomic research : By Dr. Vitthal Baravkar
• Intellectual property rights : Mr. Nilesh Pandit
• Methanotrophic bacteria: Dr. Monali Rahalkar,
• Career opportunities in Biotechnology: Dr. Vaishali Javdekar, Dr. Pragati Abhyankar.
• Importance of Statistics: Dr. Akanksha Kashikar
• Scientific writing and communication : Dr. Rajendra Patil
• Interview techniques and Resume writing : Mrs. Aditi Vishal

As a part of departmental Social activity students took initiative and cleaned the departmental premises. A guest lecture was organized on Community responsibilities by Mrs. Savita Waghmare from Sevakarya Blind Girl’s School, Kothrud, Pune.

BioQuest - Every year, the department publishes a newsletter based on a scientific theme. This gives an opportunity to students to showcase their writing, editing and communication skills. So far BioQuest magazines have been published on themes like Biotechnology in waste management, ‘Teamwork at Cellular and molecular level’, ‘Accidental Discoveries’, ‘Indian Bio entrepreneurs’ and ‘Bio-ethics’.

Biofest: Biofest activity is organized each year during which various activities like sports, quiz, games and cultural Programmes are planned. Students participate in all these activities with great enthusiasm. This program is organized solely by the students of SY Biotechnology.

• Bachelor of Science in Bio Technology with minimum 55% marks & 50% marks for Reserved Category Students.
• B.Sc. (Blended) OR
• B.Sc. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Activities

Event

Guest Lectures

NewsLetter

Tours

Zest

1. Kalyankar, V. K, Meroliya , H. K. ., Shete , S. S. ., Gandhi , N. ., Kamble , R. R. ., Khater, M. S. ., Arora , B. ., & Waghmode , S. A. . (2021). Greener methods of control for microbial diseases of pomegranate using copper oxide nanoparticles and betel leaf extractBacterial Empire, 4(4), e306. https://doi.org/10.36547/be.306

2. P Yeole, S Khater, H Gholap and M Khater, Photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics by titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles ES Energy & Environment 26, 1277, 2024

3. SS Gajbhiye, MV Salve, MD Gaikwad, AR Rasage, MS Khater, Influence of synthesis conditions on the physical characteristics and antibacterial activities of cerium oxide nanoparticles in biomedical applications, Engineered Science 32, 1254,2024

4. M Khater, G Kulkarni, S Khater, In vitro evaluation of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles for enhanced antibacterial and cytotoxicity activities, ES Materials & Manufacturing 26, 1266, 2024

1. Revati Wanikar, Sayanti Mandal, Priyanjali Dixit, Maya Khater, Mrunal Damle, Medha Dange, Rohini Yevale, Abdel Rahman Al-Tawaha, Mimosa Ghorai & Abhijit Dey Melatonin in Nutrient Use Efficiency of Regulation in Crop Plants. Chapter in Melatonin in Plants: A Pleiotropic Molecule for Abiotic Stresses and Pathogen Infection. editors Ravinder Kumar et al, January 2024, 113-132, Springer Nature Publications. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6741-4

1. Presented orally at the 4th International Conference on “Global Trends in Sustainable Technology and Its Applications in Advanced Sciences (ICGTSTAS-2024)” on the topic "Plant extract mediated green synthesis of CeO2 nanoparticles for Photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical effluents.’ under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Vashnavi Umbrajkar(MSc II student)
2. Presented orally at the 4th International Conference on “Global Trends in Sustainable Technology and Its Applications in Advanced Sciences (ICGTSTAS-2024)” on the topic "Photocatalytic degradation of Pharmaceutical Effluents by TiO2 nanoparticles" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Manali kaladagi (MSc II student)
3. Presented poster at the 31st Raman Memorial Conference - 2025 at Department of Physics, "Quantum Science & Technology” on the topic " Upcycling Automobile Industry Waste: Synthesis of Carbon Black Nanoparticles for Eco-Friendly Fabric Dyeing" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Diksha Shinde (TY student)
4. Presented poster at the 31st Raman Memorial Conference - 2025 at Department of Physics, "Quantum Science & Technology” on the topic " "Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles Using Pomegranate Seed and Skin Extract: Applications in Seed Germination and Antibacterial Evaluation" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Payal Deshmukh(TY student)
5. Presented poster at the 31st Raman Memorial Conference - 2025 at Department of Physics, "Quantum Science & Technology” on the topic " ZnO and TiO₂ Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Azo Dyes: A Sustainable Wastewater Treatment" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Sanket Wdane (TY student)
6. Presented poster at the 31st Raman Memorial Conference - 2025 at Department of Physics, "Quantum Science & Technology” on the topic " Green Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles Using Tulasi and Neem: Applications in Wastewater Treatment and Genotoxicity Assessment" under the guidance of Dr. Maya Khater by Suhani Alai (TY student)

COMPOSITION OF BOARD OF STUDIES

Department Of Biotechnology

Term: 3 years (2021-24)

Meetings: Twice a year

Dr. Priyanjali Dixit

Head, Department of Biotechnology