About the Department
Microbiology as a science has expanded by leaps and bounds in the past few decades. The scope of the subject is huge because of the involvement of Microbiology in various fields like pharmacy, medicine, clinical research, dairy industry, beverage industry, sewage treatment, nanotechnology, environmental science, space technology, etc.. At present, the scientific, analytical, and problem-solving skills developed by Microbiology graduates are in great demand in the corporate sector.
The Department of Microbiology is focused to churn students competent to fulfill the demand of the local and global job market.
In a bid to enhance learning abilities the department maintains an additional departmental library comprising of books and e-books related to Microbiology, Biotechnology and other Biological Sciences that has been contributed by faculty members and alumni.
The department has computers with internet facility to conduct bioinformatics online practical sessions and enhance the ICT skills of students.
Academic and personal counseling is done to help students to improve their learning capabilities, examination performance and career advancement.
Students are motivated to participate and qualify in MicrobiOlympiad which is a State level competition comprising of events like Microbiology Quiz, Poster making, essay competition etc. The faculty encourage curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities of students to facilitate their overall development.
All the teaching faculty of the department are pursuing their research for PhD in different areas of Microbiology. They are also rendering their services to the University of Mumbai as examiners, paper setters and moderators since several years. The teachers are also members of syllabus framing committees for different courses in Microbiology at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.
Objectives
- To develop in depth knowledge of the subject which will enable students to meet the challenges of modern world
- To equip students with sound knowledge of general, medical, molecular, biochemical, industrial, dairy, food and environmental Microbiology for their future endeavours
- To provide theoretical and practical understanding of Microbiology with an insight of helping students to imbibe microbiological techniques essential for working in various industries and research institutes
- To make students capable of offering expert ideas, support and consultancy in various aspects concerning Microbiology
Pedagogical Skills
- Interactive Question and Answer Sessions
- Group discussions
- Visits to Industries, Diagnostic laboratories and Research Institutes
- ICT-based teaching via YouTube links
Educational Visits
Students are accompanied by the faculty on educational visits to various industries and research institutes to develop better understanding of microbial processes and their applications.
Places of visit include Govardhan Cheese factory, Pune, NCCS, Pune, Mahananda Dairy, Worli, Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), Worli, state-of-the-art Metropolis diagnostic laboratory, Mumbai, NMIMS School of Science, Vile Parle, etc
Intercollegiate Fest – Microbia
The Department organizes an annual Intercollegiate fest ‘MICROBIA’ which is a learning with fun event, where all the undergraduate students of Microbiology are inspired to organize various events and participate actively. Some of the events organized are Flash card making, Bio-poetry, Star event comprising of 4 rounds – Microbiology Quiz, Meme Circle, Raw Chef, Crossword and Symbiotic pairs, Word search and Microbiological Antakshari which are fun games. MICROBIA is a fest by the students, of the students and for the students.
Linkage with Microbiologist Society, India
The Department of Microbiology of S.I.W.S. College has established a linkage with Microbiologists Society, India since the academic year 2020-21. Microbiologists Society was established in March 1996 and registered in November 1996 in Satara, Maharashtra India. (MAH/4814/SAT).
The aims and objectives of MSI are:
- To organize courses in Microbiology at all levels of education.
- To cultivate liaison between governmental and non- governmental institutions academies, societies and other organization non-organizations in the field of Microbiology.
- To advise the government and its agencies on the microbiological problems of public interest.
- To co-operate and affiliate with international organizations in the field of Microbiology.
- To hold and sponsor or support conferences, seminars, symposia, exhibition and meeting and to arrange lectures and demonstrations on any aspect of Microbiology.
- To encourage and support research in Microbiology.
- To establish library of Microbiology literature.
- To arrange funds and donations etc. for the promotion of subject activities
- To do and perform all other activities that may assist in the fulfillment of the above-mentioned objects.
All faculty members of the department are Life members of this Society. The Department has also set up a students’ unit of MSI in the college which includes all students of S.Y.B.Sc. (Chemistry- Microbiology group) and T.Y.B.Sc. (Microbiology) The department organized a National Webinar on ‘Avenues in Microbiology’ in collaboration with MSI on 20th June, 2020.
SWOC Analysis
Strengths:
- Experienced, proactive and committed faculty
- Faculty encourage curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities of students to facilitate their overall development
- Updated infrastructure and learning resources
- Healthy teacher-student relationship
- Well-placed, interactive alumni
- Effective mentoring system
- The periodic parent-teacher interactions that help to establish good discipline
Weakness:
- Lack of research interests among students
- Poor language skills making it difficult to cope up with the subject terminologies
Opportunities:
- The Microbiology syllabus has many job-oriented off-shoots such as molecular biology, biotechnology, metagenomics
- Commence postgraduate programmes in Microbiology which will give students an in-house opportunity to continue higher studies
- Launch collaborative programs with neighbouring renowned institutes
- Enhance research culture among staff and students
- Avail research grants from DBT, DST, UGC, etc and upgrade our laboratory with modern equipment
- Bridge the gap between academics and industry with the support of well-placed alumni
Challenges:
- Reputed research laboratory visits not being feasible
- Hands-on experience of high-end instruments is not viable
- Encourage academically talented students, coming from economically disadvantaged families, to take up higher studies
- Pure sciences losing their appeal to vocational courses
- Acquiring research funds from various Government agencies and NGOs
- Increasing number of Applied Bioscience courses in collaboration with reputed institutes
Publications
Research Papers
Dr. Ajitha S. Nair
- ‘Use of Probiotic bacterial cultures to inhibit Marine Pathogens in Shrimps’Bionano Frontier ISSN 0974-0678, Volume 6 Issue 3, Sept 2013
- ‘Screening of industrially important Bacillus species and their cultivation on Agro waste substrates’ in IDEAS – a compilation’, Volume 8, ISSN 2320-0162 , 2015-16
- ‘In-vitro Transit Tolerance of Probiotic Bacillus species in Human Gastrointestinal Tract’ in International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) Volume 5 Issue 6, June 2016 Pg. 1899-1901, ISSN (Online):2319-7064, June 2016
- ‘Novel Fruit Juice Based Nutraceutical Formulation with Probiotic and Cholesterol Reduction Properties’ in
International Journal of Scientific Research in Biological Sciences Vol.6, Issue 4, August 2019 pp.22-28 E-ISSN: 2347-7520 - ‘Studies on Safety and Shelf Stability of Bacillus Probiotics’ in Journal of Advanced Scientific Research ISSN 0976-9595 Special issue: Recent advances in Biotechnology and Microbiology , Sept 2020
Faculty
MSc (Microbiology)
Activities
- Microbia 2022
- Online Certificate Course titled ‘Greener Approaches to Environmental Problems’
- Guest Lecture on 'Road Map for Microbiology Students'
- Short Term Course in “Opportunities after Graduation”
- Microbia 2021
- National Webinar on 'Avenues in Microbiology'
- Microbia 2020
- MSI Life Membership of faculty
- Microbia 2019
- Webinar on Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
- Educational visits
Flip the card event on 28 January, 2022
Bio Criss Cross event on 27 January, 2022
Star Event Brain Booster on 13 February, 2022
Valedictory Function –Microbia 2022 on 13 February, 2022
Dr. Parvish Pandya, Director – Science & Conservation at Sanctuary Nature Foundation speaks on the topic Biodiversity Conservation on 7th December, 2021
Dr. Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Department of Science, Krea University and Research Associate, Indian Institute of Tropic Meteorology delivers his lecture on Climate Change : Causes, effects and remedial measures on 8th December, 2021
Valedictory Function of the Certificate Course graced by the Chief Guest Mr. Jagadishwar Khanal, Principal, Balkumari College, Nepal, Dr. Usha Iyer, Principal SIWS College, Mr. Vaibhav Banjan, IQAC Coordinator, SIWS College, Dr. Swpnesh Rangnekar, Course Convener and Mrs. Anagha Bapat organizing committee member on 8th December, 2021
Student participants Ms. Rosni Pasi S.Y.B.Com, Mr. Micheal Raj, S.Y.B.Sc., Mr. Ashish Purohit, S.Y.B.A.F. and Ms. Alka Acharya FYBSc Microbiology, Balkumari College expression their views regarding the certificate course on 8th December, 2021
Mrs. Neeta Khanolkar, Head, Department of Microbiology rendering her welcome address to the gathering for the Guest lecture ‘Road Map for Microbiology Students’ on 7th July 2022
Introduction of the guest speaker Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, Microbiologists Society, India (MSI) on 8th July 2022 by faculty member Mrs. Rekha Bhatia.
Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, MSI, Maharashtra being felicitated by Mrs. Deepali Khedekar, faculty member on 8th July 2022
Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, Maharashtra, MSI guiding students on “Roadmap for Microbiology students” on 8th July 2022
Dr. Patankar discussing Biofertilizer production on 8th July, 2022
Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, Maharashtra, MSI along with students and teachers at the seminar on “Roadmap for Microbiology students”
Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, Maharashtra, MSI with faculty members and office bearers of S.I.W.S. Students’ Unit of MSI on 8th July 2022
Dr. Ajitha Nair, Faculty member proposing the vote of thanks marking the conclusion of the Guest lecture on Road Map for Microbiology Students’ on 8th July, 2022
Inauguration session of Short term course “Influential Career and Influential Personality for a successful life” by Dr. Naresh Tambe , Dept of Psychology IDOL , University of Mumbai on September 16th , 2021
Ms. Aruna Panangipally from ibruk Consulting Pvt Ltd delivering a session “Write Your Way to Successful Career “ on September 17th 2021
Mr. Sanjay Kshirsagar , Assistant Commissioner of Customs and GST, guiding students for different entrance examinations and government sector jobs on 18th September, 2021
Mr. Munish Nandwani , VP , Total Oil India Pvt Ltd explaining Technical Marketing / Sales as a career option “ on 19th September, 2021
Col. Umakant Sharma Motivating Students about life in defense services on 20th September, 2021
DCP Manchak 21st September, 2021
Mr. Sanjeev Doshi , DGM Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers on 26th September, 2021
Dr. Gursimran Kaur , Head Bioinformatics, Guru Nanak Khalsa College on 29th
September, 2021
Principal Dr. Usha Iyer and Dr. Radha Srinivas , during Valedictory program on 30th September 2021
Flash Card Making Event-Day 1 on 10 Feb, 2021
Flash card making event – Day 2 on 11 Feb, 2021
Star Event Round 1 on 21 Feb, 2021
Star Event Round 2 on 21 Feb, 2021
Star Event Round 3 on 21 Feb, 2021
Valedictory function of Microbia 2021
The resource person, Dr. A.M. Deshmukh, President Microbiologist Society India speaking on “Bioentrepreneurship-Challenges and Opportunities” on 20 June, 2020
Dr. Sanjeev Patankar, President, Microbiologist Society, India (Maharashtra Chapter) speaking on courses and career opportunities for microbiologists on 20 June, 2020
A network of opportunities for Students of Life Sciences presented by Dr. Sanjeev Patankar on 20 June, 2020
Organizing team- Faculty and volunteers of the webinar
Mr. Sham Patil from Microbiologist Society, India making an appeal to students to become COVID warriors
IPR and Technical writing -career options for Post graduates in Biological Sciences 20 June, 2020
Chief Guest, Microbia 2020, Dr P.D. Anthappan, being felicitated by Principal, Dr. Usha Iyer and Mrs. Neeta Khanolkar, Head, Department of Microbiology, on 11 Jan, 2020
Chief Guest, Dr P.D. Anthappan, inaugurating the events in the Gymkhana hall with Principal, Dr Usha Iyer
A graceful dance performance by students during the inaugural function
Participants of the skit presented during the inauguration ceremony
Dr Pramod, SIES College trying his luck at the game ‘Buzzer’ along with Dr.P.D. Anthappan on 11 Jan, 2020
Judges for Flash Card Making event, Dr. Minal Dukhande and Dr. Tanuja Parulekar, interacting with participants
Judges for the event ‘Raw Chef’, Mr, Ayyappan Iyer and Ms. Rani Santa Maria interacting with participants
Dr. Nagesh Malik, Chief Guest for the Valedictory function of MICROBIA 2020, giving away prizes to winners on 11 Jan, 2020
Chief Guest, Microbia 2020, Dr P.D. Anthappan, being felicitated by Principal, Dr. Usha Iyer and Mrs. Neeta Khanolkar, Head, Department of Microbiology, on 11 Jan, 2020
Chief Guest, Dr P.D. Anthappan, inaugurating the events in the Gymkhana hall with Principal, Dr Usha Iyer
A graceful dance performance by students during the inaugural function
Participants of the skit presented during the inauguration ceremony
Dr Pramod, SIES College trying his luck at the game ‘Buzzer’ along with Dr.P.D. Anthappan on 11 Jan, 2020
Judges for Flash Card Making event, Dr. Minal Dukhande and Dr. Tanuja Parulekar, interacting with participants
Judges for the event ‘Raw Chef’, Mr, Ayyappan Iyer and Ms. Rani Santa Maria interacting with participants
Dr. Nagesh Malik, Chief Guest for the Valedictory function of MICROBIA 2020, giving away prizes to winners on 11 Jan, 2020
MICROBIA 2019 on 12Jan, 2019
Principal, Dr. Usha Iyer felicitating Chief Guest, Dr. Ashok Wadia on 12 Jan, 2019
Chairman of S.I.W.S., Dr. V. Rangaraj addressing the audience at the Inauguration function of Microbia 2019
Chief Guest, Dr. Ashok Wadia, Chairman of South Indian Welfare society, Dr. V. Rangaraj, member of Managing Committee of S.I.W.S., Mr. Ramchandran, and Principal Dr. Usha Iyer inaugurating MICROBIA 2019 in the Gymkhana hall
Participants presenting their ad at the Microbial Ad mad show on 12 Jan, 2019
Gymkhana hall decorated for MICROBIA 2019
Winners of the Flash card making event
Inauguration by Principal Dr. Usha Iyer on 9th December 2021
Lecture on ‘Wonders of Nanotechnology’ by Dr. Madhavi Thakurdesai, Head, Department of Physics , B. K. Birla College, Kalyan on 9th December 2021
Lecture on ‘Exploring world of Nanotechnology’ by Dr. Madhavi Thakurdesai on 10th December 2021
Lecture on ‘Nanotechnology – Tools & Techniques’ by Dr. Madhavi Thakurdesai on 11th December 2021
Visit of T.Y.B.Sc. (Microbiology) students to NCMR, Pune on January 28, 2020
Visit of T.Y.B.Sc. (Microbiology) students to NMIMS, Vile Parle on December 2, 2019
S.Y.B.Sc. (CMB) Visit to Gowardhan Cheese Factory, Manchar, near Pune on December 20, 2019
T.Y.B.Sc. Visit to NCMR, Pune – January 31, 2019
S.Y.B.Sc.(CMB) Visit to Govardhan Cheese Factory, Manchar, near Pune on December 20, 2019
S.Y.B.Sc. Visit to Govardhan Cheese Factory, Manchar, near Pune on December 20, 2019
T.Y.B.Sc. Visit to NCMR, Pune – January 31, 2019
S.Y.B.Sc. Visit to CETP — December 11, 2018.
S.Y.B.Sc. Visit to CETP — August 24, 2017.
F.Y.B.Sc.(PCMB) Visit to Therapeutic drug monitoring laboratory (TDM), Sion on February 9, 2017 (Batch 1)
F.Y.B.Sc.(PCMB) Visit to Therapeutic drug monitoring laboratory (TDM), Sion on February 9, 2017 (Batch 2)