Goals
The Biology Department of the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering of University, which has been operating since 1983 with a Postgraduate Program and since 1987 with an Undergraduate Program, is an internationally recognized center of University Education and Research in the field of Biology. The Department offers:
- Well-equipped laboratory spaces for the general education of all students.
- Specialized laboratories, where internationally recognized research groups offer the possibility to those interested in training in cutting-edge topics.
- Modern library and information centers with access to scientific journals, books and databases.
The undergraduate students of the Department of Biology have the opportunity to acquire sufficient theoretical foundations and practical experience in advanced technologies of a number of scientific fields of Biological science, such as Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology, Applied Biology and Bio- and Nano-technology. Through their thesis work, students are given the opportunity to participate in a variety of basic and applied research projects, many of which are carried out in collaboration with laboratories from Europe and America.
The learning goals include the understanding of the basic concepts of Biology, as well as the basic structures and mechanisms that govern the phenomenon of life from the sub-cellular to the ecosystem level at various spatial and temporal scales, the understanding of the interactions of living beings with the non-living world, as well as the development of free, creative and critical thinking,, the understanding of the biological basis of problems and issues that concern society, the development of interdisciplinary and practical skills that stem from a deep knowledge of the biological phenomenon.
The Department of Biology is in close collaboration with Research Institutes of international scope, located in Crete and supervised by the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GRET) such as the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB/ΙΤΕ, http://www.imbb.forth.gr) and the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (ELKETHE, http://www.hcmr.gr/en/). The Department also collaborates with the Natural History Museum of the University of Crete (http://www.nhmc.uoc.gr) which provides valuable scientific and educational services on environmental issues in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as with the National Agricultural Research Foundation (http://www.nagref.gr).
The Department offers postgraduate programs leading to the acquisition of a Master's Degree and then a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in the following fields:
- Molecular Biology and Biomedicine
- Green Biology – Biology of Plant Organisms from the Molecule to the Environment
- Environmental Biology – Management of Terrestrial and Marine Biological Resources
- Erasmus Mundus Joint master's degree in Aquaculture, Environment and Society
- Bioethics
COURSE OF STUDY
