RECENT ADVANCES IN PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY

About the Conference

We are delighted to host the National Symposium on Recent Advances in Plant Biotechnology under the auspices of Plant Tissue Culture Association (India) at Pondicherry University. The theme of the conference is diverse, contemporary and aims to bring together researchers from the eclectic research areas of plant biotechnology. At the time when global population is to exceed 8.05 billion by mid of the current year, the conference would address, deliberate and consolidate the issues and technologies aimed at increasing the production of crops to meet the global food demand.

Plant Tissue Culture Association (India)

PTCA(I), the brainchild of Dr. V Jagannathan, the then head of Biochemistry, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, was registered in 1976. It is an association of pioneering scientists and eminent personalities in the field of Plant Science. The current Secretary and Treasurer are Dr. Pramod Tandon and Dr. A. K. Banerjee respectively. Currently the association has 121 elected members. For more than four decades PTCA(I) has been organizing symposia which facilitated coming together of faculties, students, researchers and NGOs to deliberate on recent advances in plant science and come out with proposals for future line of research. The 45th annual meeting of Plant Tissue Culture Association (India) and National Symposium on Recent Advances in Plant Biotechnology (RAPB-2024) is being organized by the Department of Biotechnology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry-605014, India between 23-25 January, 2024 in association with PTCA(I) (www.ptcai.in).

Department of Biotechnology, Pondicherry University

Established in 1992, the department of Biotechnology has been proving its excellence in a multitude of research areas including plant breeding and genetics, cancer biology, molecular epigenetics, marine biotechnology and so on. Situated on the shoulder of the road to Gate II, the department is flanked by a beautifully maintained lawn upfront, a medicinal garden and an experimental garden. Supervising and teaching is handled by staff with a passion to do result oriented research in all areas of Biotechnology. The department is home to students from all over India as well as abroad to pursue their masters as well as doctoral degrees. The department receives support from the Central Instrumentation Facility of the university which houses state of the art Spectrophotometers, FACS machine, HPTLC, XPS, NMR, Scanning and Transmission electron microscopes. The department is equipped with modern and sophisticated scientific instruments and also houses plant tissue culture facility, animal cell culture facility, animal house and  aquaculture facilities. The department attracts extramural funding from national agencies such as DBT-GoI, UGC, DST, CSIR, AICTE and BRNS and international agencies such as Rockefeller Foundation and the Danish Government.

Pondicherry University

Founded in 1985, Pondicherry University is a NAAC 'A' accredited Central University and is ranked among the top 58 universities in India. It is ranked 8th out of the 56 Central Universities. Teaching and research are the primary focus of the university, with thrust areas catering to the current manpower requirement of the nation. The main campus is spread over 830 acres on either side of the East Cost Road (ECR). With the students and teaching faculties drawn from various parts of India, the social ambience in the University reflects the cultural diversity of the country. The University has a state of the art Library with remote access to digital information resources through a dedicated library portal (www.pondiuni.edu.in). With a faculty strength of more than 413, approximately 12000 students, 1587 full time PhD scholars and more than 100 part time scholars, teaching and research is carried out in the 14 Schools housing 53 departments, facilitating and promoting inter-disciplinary research. The University's commitment to innovation in the field of education is reflected in several spheres. It was the first University in India to provide the students with choice of the elective courses in addition to the major subject under the Choice Based Credit System (CBSC). The students can choose courses from other Departments and schools to augment their knowledge base, so that they can face the world upon their graduation with confidence. Currently the university is moving in full swing to adopt the innovative new educational policy of Government of India. The University is fully supported by the University Grants Commission.