Department of Botany

     XVI^th   Dr. D.V.Amonkar Memorial  Intercollegiate Elocution  Competition

Click Here

About Us:

 The Botany department was established in 1963 and the postgraduate courses were introduced in 1967. The department was granted permanent recognition for admitting students for M.Sc (by Research) and Ph. D. in 1968 and 1972 respectively. The University of Mumbai also had M. Phil program for four years and students were registered for the same. This is one of the first research centres of the college.  Today in the absence of University Department in the discipline of Botany the Department of Botany at the Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College enjoys a position second to none in Mumbai but all over Maharashtra.

Faculty Profile:

 There are eight members on the faculty, of whom six are doctorate and one is pursuing doctoral degree. One Member is incharge of NCC being trained as commanding officer. One faculty member is the head of the Institution, member Board of studies in Botany and member faculty of Science University of Mumbai, NAAC peer team member, member of the research recognition committee of the University of Mumbai. The faculty has received awards and recognitions form various bodies. One is recipient best teacher award and INSA exchange scientist fellowship. Most faculty members are invited as members of syllabus committee, guest lecturer, resource persons and the department contributes significantly to curriculum development and implementation. Two members are research guides. The faculty are  members of professional bodies. The Department is recognized by DST under the DST- FIST program. The department has been able to raise funds to the tune of nearly a crore by way of research projects funded by DBT, ICMR, DST, CSIR, UGC and industries. The department has successfully guided 10 students after the NAAC accreditation and 13 are working towards their doctoral degrees. 

Student Profile:

Most of the students are from vernacular medium (Hindi or Marathi medium). These features make teaching a challenge. A profile of individual student is maintained so as to know the background and the strengths and weakness of the students. 

Changes made in the courses or programmes during the past two years and the contribution of the faculty to those changes: The faculty contribute immensely to the courses or programmes since they are in the apex bodies of the University involved in the restructuring of the syllabus. Due to the close interaction with the industry and in keeping with the societal needs the research undertaken by the faculty, research scholars are in frontier areas and need based. The standardized protocols have become part of the undergraduate and postgraduate programs in University of Mumbai. The department also contributed to the framing of a “UGC Career Oriented Add On” course in Environment Audit. The faculty members of the department have also designed short term courses in Mushroom cultivation, flower arrangement, Ikebana, Bonsai, Horticulture, Plant tissue culture, herbal cosmetics, Waste Management and students have the option of doing one or more of them at a very nominal cost.

Trends in the success and drop out rates of students during the past two years:

 The success rates of the students have been very high more than 95 % in UG and almost 100% in PG. The drop out rates are negligible (Figure depicts performance of last 5 batches). There have been rank holders at UG and PG levels.

Learning resources of the departments - library, computers, laboratories and other    resources:

 The generous funds received from various funding agencies for research, the grants received from DST under their FIST program and from UGC as post graduate development grant have helped in providing the students with world class facilities. Besides the department has a herbarium collection of medicinal plants of Western Ghats, a carpology museum, a well equipped instrumentation centre for P G students. For the doctoral students department has a well equipped air conditioned plant tissue culture laboratory. Some of the instruments procured from the grants of the Department are housed as a common instrumentation centre as we strongly believe that resources must be shared and maximum utilization of the same. The department maintains the greenery in the premises and also has a terrace garden which is utilized for hardening the tissue cultured plants as well as used for show casing plant biodiversity. It is used as a teaching aid for lessons on gardening, garden plans.

The department of Botany has a good collection of text, reference books and journals. In addition to the main library there are two departmental libraries catering to the students of UG, PG and doctoral programs. The department also has collection of CD’s and other reference material. There are 5 computers in the main lab with connectivity, 10 in Bioinformatics lab and two in Plant biotechnology research laboratory.

Modern teaching methods practiced and use of ICT in teaching – learning:

Teaching is student centric. ICT enabled lecture methods are widely used. Students are also encouraged to use ICT in their seminars and discussions. The teachers have developed course material which is given to the students. The department holds a workshop for students of second year B Sc immediately after their final exams which  helps them define their career goals. Innovative teaching methods include tree appreciation, waste management in the campus using the knowledge acquired by them, value based learning modules. Teaching also involves developing skills in correlation of information and applying them for practical purpose.

Participation of teachers in academic and personal counselling of students:

The student profile provides enough information about the academic, socio economic status of the   students; each faculty member mentors five to six students (Tutor ward scheme). The faculty members are available for the major part of the day. There is excellent rapport between the students and the teachers. The department has been organizing an annual intercollegiate elocution competition which has students speaking on different relevant topics (which are current and thrust areas in Biological sciences). Students involve as organizers or participants in the competition. The competition has a lead talk by an eminent personality. The department encourages students to participate in interdepartmental programmes, sports and extra curricular activities. They are also trained to participate in intercollegiate events.  The department of Botany also organizes an annual exhibition showcasing plants and their uses. This is basically for the school children especially Municipal school children who do not have access to such exhibits. More importantly it provides a platform for the students of Botany to develop communication skills, in depth knowledge of the subject and event management. The students are from VIII to X^th standard. The department is open from 6.45 AM to 9.00PM for the benefit of the students. The research scholars have a flexible timings and department is open for them 24X7. 

Details of faculty development programmes and teachers who have been benefited during the past two years:

Teachers of the department are encouraged to undergo training in various National Institute and participate in orientation, refresher courses, national seminars, workshops the details are given in Appendix 1. To summarise: Members of the faculty in the last seven years have attended several  seminars which includes State, National and International level workshops. Two of them attended a orientation program organized by UGC Academic staff College and received A grade. One staff member received her doctoral degree and one has registered for the doctoral program. As a part of the sesquicentennial celebrations the University of Mumbai and UGC sponsored a National Seminar on current area of Plant Metabolomics. The faculty members participated in a workshop on mangrove Awareness held at Ratnagiri and Tree Census program in Mumbai.

Participation/contribution of  teachers to the academic activities  including teaching, consultancy  and research:

Besides teaching, teachers take active part in the certificate courses conducted by the department. They are also involved in the intercollegiate competition and the annual exhibition. The department has two research guides, one staff member pursuing research and more than 12 research scholars. All members are involved in guiding PG students in their research work. The faculty members take up major and minor research projects. The Department of Botany is recognized by DST under its FIST program. The Consultancy work carried out by the members of the department have been both remunerative and non remunerative. In addition the teachers also help school teachers in their projects for science exhibitions, they provide career guidance for our students as well as for other students form various college. Being a prominent centre for Biology Olympiad the teachers are involved in training students for International events.  One staff member is a trained N C C officer which is one of the important extension activities of the college and is involved in awareness camps like AIDS, environmental issues etc. Almost all the colleges from one end of the Western suburb to another extreme of Central suburb have utilized the facilities in the Department and as a result teachers from various   colleges affiliated to Mumbai University have been trained at R J College.

Collaboration with other departments/ institutions, at the State, National and International levels, and their outcome during the past two years:

 The department of Botany has collaborations with Universities in the state and outside like Pune, Gulbarga, Hyderabad, Chennai. It also has collaborations with research institutes like TBGRI, CPTRI, BARC, UICT. This has resulted in training students in our institution and sending our students to their Institutions for training/apprenticeship etc. It has also helped our students for their future career in research or industry. 

Priority areas for Research and details of the ongoing projects, important and noteworthy publications of the faculty, during past two years:

 The priority areas of research are medicinal plants and aromatic herbs, herbal cosmetics, micro propagation, nutraceuticals, bioreactor studies, conservation in situ and ex situ, Mangrove Physiology, propagation and conservation. The faculty and research scholars regularly publish their work journals.

Placement record of the past students and the contribution of the department to aid student placements:

 The Department of Botany has a strong linkage with industry and other academic institutions as a result placement has been good.  Few of the students who have graduated in Botany have taken the subject due to personal interest but have opted for other career options like marketing, IT, business, banking, animation, media, etc. Quite a few of the postgraduate students who have passed in the past   seven years after successfully completing their GRE and TOFEL have proceeded to USA for their doctoral work. One student who worked as R & D natural projects J & J head received the best global research award  ( cash prize of $25,000/ and citation at the US head quarter) she has recently joined Marico industries as a general manager.   The alumni of the department have donated a gas chromatography and Laminar air flow unit to the department. In addition whenever speciality chemicals are needed the alumni freely donate the same to the department. They also help in the placements of the students of the department.

TYBSc Result 2008-09

HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE STUDENTS AND TO THE BOTANY STAFF MEMBERS FOR 100 % RESULT

    First Rank                 Bhanvase Maya                        81%

    Second Rank           Jaitapkar Shraddha                 80.16%

    Third Rank                Patil Neelam                              79.33%