The Department of Biology and Biotechnology was established in the academic year 1995/1996. It has (19) faculty members, (4) assistant tutors and (6) technicians. The department offers two bachelor's degrees: a bachelor's degree in biology and a bachelor's degree in biotechnology. Moreover, it started to offer a master’s degree in Biology in 1999. The department has grown to be one of the largest scientific departments in the Faculty of Science. It has a group of distinguished faculty members with research interests that include microbiology, modeling of biological systems, cytogenetics, molecular biology, neurophysiology, developmental biology, environmental sciences, biochemistry, plant physiology, evolutionary biology and gene expression. In addition, the department has adopted the policy of granting scholarships to distinguished students to continue their postgraduate studies in international institutes in order to meet the department’s future prospects and expansion.
The Biology program aims to provide the students with skills and information related to various aspects of biology including botany, zoology, microbiology and environmental sciences. The study plan focuses on the practical sides and links them to theoretical sciences and their applications. This enables the students to perceive, understand and interpret the biological information.
The program also aims to provide the labor market with graduates capable of benefiting from applications of biology and able to harness them to serve humans and their surrounding environment. The students study various courses related to molecular biology, microbiology and biochemistry as well as their associated techniques such as DNA technology, fermentation and plant and animal tissue culturing. Understanding these topics and mastering their techniques provide the students with high skills in various fields of biotechnology.