A unique two year post graduate degree program in contemporary biology
Why Ayurveda Biology? | Eligibility | Career Opportunities | Curriculum
Pedagogy Features | Contact | Faculty
Why Ayurveda Biology?
The terms Ayurveda and biology by definition mean knowledge of “biological change”. The goal of this trans-disciplinary program is to develop a cadre of next-generation young scientists with technical capability to combine the systemic and molecular perspectives of these disciplines, to solve problems of today and tomorrow in frontier areas of life sciences like metabolism, personalised food and medicine, brain health, drug design, regenerative biology and others.
The term “trans-disciplinary” goes beyond both inter-disciplinarity and multi-disciplinarity.
‘Inter-disciplinary’ refers to the intersection between two disciplines, such as bio-chemistry (biology and chemistry). Interpreting changes at this intersection is expected to help the learner to understand the phenomenon being studied more holistically.
‘Multi-disciplinary’ refers to the investigation of a question from the vantage points of multiple disciplines, in order to achieve better comprehension or solutions. This may be the case in town planning that requires multi-disciplinary inputs to plan effective planning solutions.
The ‘Trans-disciplinary’ is an open ended discovery framework for learning the meaning of “similar concepts” occurring “across” disciplines or knowledge systems. To outline an example of the trans-disciplinary approach, one can look at the concept of “structure”. It can be viewed differently “as an atomic structure (physics), molecular structure (chemistry), protein structure (molecular biology), skeletal structure (organismic biology), sentence structure (linguistics), organizational structure (politics, governance, economic management), social structure (sociology), and the structure of a sonnet or symphony, raga, or in drama, and sculpture”. Thus while the concept of structure is immediately familiar, it actually has got multiple and insightful meanings in specific contexts. It possesses a trans-disciplinary meaning which is yet to be uncovered from creative speculation of the inter -connections implied in its contextual meanings. The concept of structure can thus be studied and creatively used for new insight, on a trans-disciplinary platform.
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Admissions Process
- Register at the admissions portal.
- Fill and submit the application form with personal details.
- The submitted application form will be reviewed for eligibility. If eligible, the admissions office will contact you at the registered email address for the next step.
- The admissions office will ask you to submit a form where you have to input answers to three course-specific questions. Note that this step is mandatory to be short-listed for an interview. The answers are carefully assessed by the Admissions Committee and scored. The three questions are:
- Why do you want to join the M.Sc. Life Sciences (Ayurveda Biology) program? (200 words)
- In the second year of the MSc Life Sciences (Ayurveda Biology) program, all students execute an independent research project. Based on your knowledge and interests so far, narrate a research question that you would like to investigate and why you want to study it. (200 words)
- Describe a traditional health practice in your home or one that you have heard of. Do you think the practice is scientific? Explain your answer. (200 words)
- Based on the submitted personal and academic information, as well as the responses to the three questions, the Admission Committee will short-list applicants for a personal interview online.
- Post-interview, applicants will be informed if they are selected for the program.
For whom is this M.Sc. Program designed?
This program is designed for graduate students interested in pursuing careers in “life sciences” , using knowledge from both modern and Ayurveda biology.
A substantial part of the syllabus is in line the M.Sc. Life Sciences curriculum of the UGC-CSIR NET exam. The unique feature of the program is the in depth modules on the systemic biology of Ayurveda.
Students who have qualifications in any of the following disciplines are eligible to enrol for the program.
- B.Sc., in any combination of natural sciences
- Medical graduates (MBBS, BAMS, BSMS, BUMS, BSRMS)
- B.Pharm, B.V.Sc., B.Tech / B.E. (Biotechnology)
*If you are uncertain about your eligibility please contact admissions@tdu.edu.in
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What careers will the M.Sc. Program help students to explore?
The program will help students to imbibe the basic theoretical foundations and key practical skills of both modern and Ayurveda Biology.
Some of the potential career pathways that the M.Sc. program may open are listed below:
- Basic and applied biology
- Drug design and discovery
- Food science
- Pharmacology
- Clinical research
- Public health
- Community health
- Higher education
- Health start-ups
- Health and science policy
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Course Curriculum
- Philosophy of Knowledge – an Intercultural framework (1 credit)
- Fundamentals of Ayurveda (4 credit)
- Local health traditions and community health (2 credit)
- Biochemistry (4 credit)
- Molecular Biology and Genetics (3 credit)
- Ecological Principles* (3 credit)
- Computational Biology* (2 credit)
- Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Lab (2 credit)
- Cell biology and cell signalling (4 credit)
- Integrative Immunology* (3 credit)
- Medicinal plants and pharmacognosy* (3 credit)
- Genomics and Bio-informatics* (2 credit)
- Principles of Conservation of Biodiversity* (3 credit)
- Basics of Plant and Animal Physiology (2 credit)
- Medicinal plants & pharmacognosy Lab (2 credit)
- One Health and food safety (3 credit)
- Research Methodology and Biostatistics (4 credit)
- Research project – Dissertation# – 29 credits
* Indicates courses with lab, practical training and/or field visits.
# Can be in-house or external as long as TDU faculty is a co-guide.
Electives: Two electives in Semester 3.
Students can choose from: Biology of metabolic diseases, Ayurveda Biology of Dietetics, Advanced Research Seminars, Natural gums and resin, Basics of plant taxonomy and systematics, Policy and regulatory affairs in Medical sciences, conservation, Wood science, subjects related to social sciences, humanities, fine and performing arts.
Click here to view/download detailed curriculum
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Special Pedagogy Features
- Learner friendly environment with close student teacher relationships
- Equal emphasis on what, why and how of subjects
- Lecture notes to be circulated in advance and actual classroom online or off line to be largely used for seeking clarification, discussion, constructive debates.
- Progressive methods of assessment that are competency and application based
- Well equipped labs for life science research including functional genomics and bioinformatics
- Herbarium of medicinal plants of India
- 100 bed research hospital
- Wide choice of electives
- Dissertation research on subject of student choice
- Exit Option after Year 1: with PG diploma in Ayurveda Biology for students with professional degrees
Hostel
Hostel facility is available on first come, first served basis
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Email queries to admissions@tdu.edu.in
Phone: 080-28568000 (Ask for: Mr. Ravi Kumar G, Assistant Registrar, Academics)
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Faculty
TDU Faculty
Click here to view the List of TDU Faculty
Guest Faculty
Click here to view the List of Guest Faculty
Acknowledgements
Rural India Supporting Trust, NY – Support for establishing the Biology Training Laboratory
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Programme Information Downloads:
