Facilities

• The Department is equipped with modern infrastructure to support teaching, training, and research. Facilities include:
• A well-equipped research laboratory with advanced microscopes, high-precision weighing machines, and essential instruments for aquaculture and fisheries studies.
• A departmental museum showcasing diverse fish specimens for enhanced learning.
• A functional hatchery facility for hands-on training in fish breeding and seed production.
• Well-equipped classrooms with smart boards to provide an interactive and technology-enabled learning experience.

• Ethnobotany
• Biodiversity
• Biochemistry
• Biotechnology
• Phycology
• Phytochemistry
• Oncology
• Natural products
• Phycology,
• Plant Diversity
• Phycoremediation
• Plant Tissue Culture
• Phytochemistry
• Plant Physiology
• Plant Breeding
• Environmental Science
• Phytochemistry
• Plant Taxonomy
• Orchid Ecology
• Pollination Biology
• Restoration

The high quality advanced research pursued by the faculty members supplement and complement the teaching and training endeavors of the department. The department is a recognized research centre of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. The centre receives support in the form of research grants from funding agencies like Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), University Grants Commission (UGC) and Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE).

Research in the Department of Chemistry is centered mainly on two areas;

(i) Chemical Biology (ii) Molecular Modeling and Computational Chemistry.

Research in the area of biological chemistry is headed by Dr. Franklin J and Dr. Jinu George. The research activity is targeted at the development of novel synthetic therapeutic agents against cancer cell proliferation. Cancer is a global health problem and a leading cause of death worldwide. The mortality rate is still high all across the globe. Cancer drug targeting is challenged by problems like drug resistance and low bioavailability. The group is engaged in the synthesis of heterocyclic systems and multicomponent reactions (MCR) enabling the detection and treatment of cancer more efficient.

Investigations in the area of Computational Chemistry is supervised by Dr. Abi T G. The research group specialized in Computational Quantum Chemistry, Molecular Simulations, Reaction Mechanism Studies and Drug Design. The group uses a wide variety of computational codes for performing the theoretical and computational chemistry research. The group has expertise in using commercial softwares such as Gaussian 09, Turbomole and StarDrop and Free-Academic Softwares such as GAMESS, Autodock, GROMACS, NAMD, MODELER and OPEN3DQSAR. The group is currently running a Research Based Certificate Course in Molecular Docking and Drug Design. The group offer consultancy and hands on training workshops in computational quantum chemistry and computer Aided Drug Design (CADD). from SH College & Other Institutions. The research group is seeking and offering effective collaborations with other experimental interdisciplinary research groups in India and abroad.

The department became an approved research department in Commerce on 13^th February, 1998. Over the years the department has produced more than 15 Ph.D’s under the guidance and supervision of Dr. K. X. Joseph, Dr. Thomas John Mampra and Dr. Mathew Jose.

Currently there are three approved research guides in the department. The department also has completed a total of five UGC minor projects by the initiative of faculty members. The department started M. Phil programme in the year 2015 (September). There are currently ten research scholars pursuing research degree in the department.

The department of Economics was elevated to the status of an approved Research center by Mahatma Gandhi University in 1994. The department has produced 59 PhDs so far. Dr. Siby Abraham and Dr. Aparna S provide the service of research guides from the department itself. The former internal research guides were Dr. K V Raju and Dr. V T Jose and the external guides were Dr. Ajith Kumar, Dr. Sunil Kumar S Menon, Dr. Stephenson and Dr. Radhakrishnan.

This is an approved research center affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University.

Physics department is an official research center approved by Mahatma Gandhi University.

There are three topics of research being pursued, currently : (i) space science  (Dr. Sumod S G), (ii) materials science (Dr. Siby Mathew) and (iii) computational physics (Dr. Roby Cherian).

Research in the are of Computational Physics is aimed at 1) Development of empirical pseudopotentials, Ab-initio electronic structure calculations, extraction of model Hamiltonian parameters from ab-initio approaches, understanding the physical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals using electronic structure calculations. (2) Computational Physics approach to understand various problems in physics.

Material science division envisage a platform to investigate on advanced materials and develop hybrid smart materials for sensor and optoelectronic applications. The material science lab highlight preparation, characterization and analysis of Nano semiconductor materials, Nano metals, Dielectric materials, Doped Polymer matrices and Sol-gel composite materials. The lab encourages student research activities via projects to MPhil, postgraduate and undergraduate students. Dr. Siby Mathew is in charge of the material science division.

Dr. Pius Augustine is also carrying out research in the Material Science Division. He was granted Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE), a research award from DST_SERB, Govt. of India to continue research at Material Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (Dec 2020 to Dec 2023). He is also having research collaboration with Material Science Research Centre, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and Superconducting Materials Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. His research interest includes Ferroelectrics Piezoelectrics, 2D materials, Ferroelectric memories, valleytronics, contact engineering etc. His group work on bulk and thin films studies (Sputtering, Pulsed Laser Ablation, Thermal Evaporation).

The Space Science Group (SSG) undertakes scientific research problems concerning the connection (Coupling) between Sun and Earth with emphasis on Space Weather and Plasma processes, using multitude of experimental (both ground and space based) platforms. The outputs from these studies provide corrections (which are more relevant over magnetic dip equatorial regions like Kerala, due to the unique electrodynamics of equatorial ionosphere) to the GPS signals with the help of ionospheric modelling, thereby enabling the ‘operational forecasting’ and has societal applications. In fact, the work encompasses the themes of international programs like NASA’s Living with a Star (LWS) and Climate and Weather of the Sun-Earth System (CAWSES) very well. Further, it helps in the fundamental understanding of our space, which is useful in context of safety of spacecrafts (satellites and rockets) and astronauts. In short, the gamut of activities of SSG would help not only to improve the reliability of communication/navigation systems, but also unravel many of the unresolved scientific problems in the realm of solar terrestrial research.

The department became an approved Research Centre of Mahatma Gandhi University in 1994 with five of its faculty members and five from other colleges as approved research guides. So far 20  Ph.D.s have rolled out from the department and currently 17 scholars are pursuing their Ph.D. programmes. Advanced research in the fields such as Arachnology, Neurobiology of Ageing, Ant Taxonomy,  Ichthyotaxonomy, Biodiversity and Endocrinology are the thrust areas of research. The Division of Arachnology is the only centre in south India devoted exclusively for the research on spiders and their kin. In 2001 and 2019, the department was selected for special funding under the FIST programme by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Over the years, the department has run 13 major research projects and 5 minor projects funded by national and international agencies such as Department of Science and Technology; University Grants Commission, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change; Indian Council for Agricultural Research; Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment; International Foundation for Science etc. Total funds of these research projects are about 2.88 crores.