Acharya Prafulla Chandra College

Acharya Prafulla Chandra College
Type Coeducational
Established 1960
Principal Dr. Saktibrata Bhowmik
Academic staff
 100+
Students 5000+
Location Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Campus Urban
Colors Cornflower blue and white
Nickname APC College
Affiliations West Bengal State University, previously University of Calcutta
Website http://www.apccollege.ac.in/

Acharya Prafulla Chandra College, established in 1960, is a co-educational degree college located in West Bengal, India.[1] Until 2007 the college was affiliated with the University of Calcutta. Currently, it is affiliated with the newly established West Bengal State University.[2][3]

Departments

The college has the following departments, offering Honours degrees:

   General Courses Offered
   Major Courses
 Major subjects in three year courses:
   Professional Course ( Self Financing )
   Post Graduate Courses
   Department of Microbiology

The Department of Microbiology, Acharya Prafulla Chandra College (hereinafter referred to as APC College), West Bengal State University, has the oldest Post Graduate (PG) Department in the college and APC College is one of the first colleges (along with one more college) to start the PG Microbiology course with academic autonomy under the Calcutta University. The Post Graduation course was started in the year 2004.

In today’s scientific and educational sphere, the subject Microbiology has become a very promising discipline of the applied sciences, which has several interesting applications for the sole benefit of society through its interdisciplinary essence. To unravel the vast potentials of the tiny microbes and to use them for the benefit of the human kind, the study of this subject is very crucial. The faculty members of the Department of Microbiology always strive to make the subject interesting for students through their lucid style of teaching the subject.

The subject Microbiology was introduced in the college at the Under Graduate (UG) level in the year 1997. Since the 1997 academic session, Microbiology was introduced by Calcutta University at UG level as a subject of study to award a degree of Bachelor of Science with Honours [B.Sc. (Hons)]. APC College is one of the first colleges (along with one more college), under Calcutta University to commence the Three Years B.Sc. Honours Degree course on Microbiology. Presently, the three year UG course is divided into three parts, Part I, Part II and Part III.

The first batch of 7 graduate students passed out in the year 2000 of which 5 secured 1st class, which included the top ranker in the Calcutta University merit list. Such outstanding performances by the students at the UG level proved to be inspirational for the Department of Microbiology, as well as for the entire APC College, that still remains a pivotal source of motivation for the students and the teachers alike. Subsequent batches of students continued to excel in their respective academic sessions. The top rankers of the Calcutta University in the discipline of UG Microbiology during academic year 2004 and 2005 were none other than students from this Department. Since then the students have made the Department and the college proud through their excellent academic performances even in the coveted competitive examinations of the National and International levels. Successful academic performances created a congenial academic environment in the college to undertake quality-based teaching by the entire faculty of the Department of Microbiology that engaged in deliberation of best of their potentials to improve both theoretical and practical classes.

Many of the ex-students of the Department are presently well placed in their respective research areas in India and abroad. The successful academic track record of the Department of Microbiology in APC College can be evidenced by viewing placements of the students in overseas countries like U.S.A., Russia, Germany, Sweden, etc., to pursue their research careers at various levels of Doctoral and Post Doctoral Research. Some have already made a debut in the field of microbiological research and teaching at various institutes of national and international reputes.

The Post Graduate (PG) course with academic autonomy was started in 2004. Currently, there are a total of 62 seats in the PG course divided into two academic years, containing 31 students in each academic year, including reserved seats as per Government of India norms. The Department adopted the Semester System of Examination for the post graduate course since the academic session of the 2008 – 2010. Ther performance evaluation is based on the absolute grading system on a 6 point scale.

The faculty members of the Department are well qualified, possessing professional expertise and skill to deliver their best of teaching and research capabilities. The Department organises scientific seminars on technical as well as popular topics each year at regular intervals.

The Department has already received requisite sanction of financial grants by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for conducting three Minor Research Projects on relevant topics of researches that have strong bearing on societal issues. In addition to that, the Department has been sanctioned two Major Research Projects from the Department of Science & Technology, and Department of Biotechnology, Government of West Bengal. This reflects the fact that the Department of Microbiology has the capability to undertake teaching oriented research projects for the benefit of science and society to generate a brand of excellent researchers and professionals for future from the present batch of students at UG and PG levels. It is worth mentioning that the minor and major research projects are designed in such a way that the PG students can actively participate in these projects to enrich their technical skills and expertise through rigorous experimental studies during their PG classes and Summer Research Projects.

The Department is actively engaged in rendering its services to other Colleges of the same and different Universities. The PG students of the Department of Microbiology, West Bengal State University, have done occasional practical classes in the Department. The Department has also offered help to other colleges in Kolkata to train MSc Microbiology students. In addition, the Calcutta University has selected the Department of Microbiology, APC College, as a centre for the BSc Honours Practical Examinations in Microbiology for eight consecutive years. This manifests the congenial academic environment, the superior infrastructural facility and the cooperative attitude of fellow faculty members to assist students and researchers of the city.

Due to the presence of a strong group of well qualified teaching and research faculty, the Department took the initiative of giving training to students of other colleges in Microbiology practical classes with our available basic infrastructural facilities.

The Department has two ICT enabled classrooms with over head projection systems and integrated high speed internet facility.

Few of the Facilities (equipment/instruments) available in the Department

Names of Equipment

  1. Thermal Cycler 2720 for PCR (Applied Biosystems)
  2. Multiskan EX ELISA Reader (Thermo Scientific)
  3. Analytical Balance AB54-S (Mettler Toledo)
  4. Visible Spectrophotometer (Systronics) Basic Model
  5. CH20i Phase Contrast Microscope (Olympus)
  6. BXT-20.M UV Transilluminator
  7. −20 °C Refrigerator (Blue Star)
  8. Horizontal Laminar Air Flow Hood (3 numbers)
  9. BOD incubator (3 numbers)
  10. Basic Centrifuge (Remi)
  11. Circulatory water bath (Heating and Cooling)
  12. Distillation and solvent evaporation apparatus
  13. TS100-F Inverted Phase Contrast Microscope with attached Camera and Computer (Nikon)
  14. Basic Gel Documentation System (Indigenous)
  15. Gel Documentation System (Bio-Rad)
  16. 80 kVA Power Generator (Kirloskar, from the College in general)

In addition to these, the Acharya Prafulla Chandra College has been selected by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, for their DST-FIST grant for the year 2012. Therein, the following equipment has been purchased:

Names of Equipment purchased under the DST-FIST grant of the year 2012

  1. Cold Room
  2. Power Backup System, i.e., 10 kVA true online UPS, with ~3 hours backup (Emerson)
  3. Ultra Low Temperature (−80 °C) Chest Type Freezer (Operon)
  4. BioLogic LP low-pressure chromatography system with Fraction Collector and accessories (Bio-Rad)
  5. Ultrasonic Processor (Takashi)

References

  1. ↑ "Educational Institutes, Colleges and Universities in India" (http). Education for India. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  2. ↑ "Affiliated College of West Bengal State University". wbsubcollegeinfo.org. Retrieved 30 December 2012
  3. ↑ "Colleges left without parent - from The Telegraph". Calcutta, India. 12 May 2008.

External links

Coordinates: 22°41′55″N 88°26′16″E / 22.6986°N 88.4379°E / 22.6986; 88.4379

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