University of the Punjab Postgraduate Admissions (2016)

Eligibility:

ü  School of Biological Sciences

ü  Institute of Biochemistry &Biotechnology

ü  Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics

ü   Centre for excellence in molecular biology

ü  Centre for applied molecular biology

How to apply:

Advertisement will display on university website and newspaper by the end of July. Admission forms will be available at the respective departments. Separate form for applying in separate departments and the price of each form varies Rs. 300 – Rs. 500.

Entrance test:

Note: This year university of the Punjab is conducting GRE based test of 40 marks for M.Phil. Admissions, which includes questions on verbal reasoning (English), analytical reasoning (logical thinking) and quantitative reasoning (mathematics). The details will be given after the advertisement of admission.

In spite of GRE based test, each department will conduct its own entrance test. Don’t forget to bring the equivalence certificate and provisional certificate on the day of entrance test. The details of the entrance tests is given in the description of each department.

School of Biological Sciences:

Entrance test of SBS contain 120 multiple choice questions (M.C.Qs) each containing 1 marks with no negative marking. To pass the test you have to score 50% i.e. 60 marks but only top 50 candidates who have cleared the test will get an interview call. Test result is announced within a week and list of candidates eligible for interview will also be displayed on the website as well as the respective department. Test is generally from different fields of biology and some calculations related to pH and solution preparation.  F.Sc. Pre-medical biology books are referred for preparation. In SBS there are total 15 seats. The degree title will be “Biological sciences”.

Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics: 

Test comprises of 150 M.C.Qs each containing 1 marks with no negative marking. To pass the test you have to score 50% i.e. 75 marks and all who have cleared the test will be called for interview. Test result is announced within a week and list of candidates eligible for interview will also be displayed on the website as well as the respective department. Test majorly covers microbiology and genetics, so you have to consult any book of genetics as well as microbiology. There are 15 seats for M.Phil. at MMG. The degree title will be “Microbiology & Molecular Genetics”.

Institute of Biochemistry & Biotechnology:

Entrance test contain 100 multiple choice questions (M.C.Qs) each containing 1 marks with no negative marking. To pass the test you have to score 50% i.e. 50 marks and all who have cleared the test will be called for interview. Test result is announced within a week and list of candidates eligible for interview will also be displayed on the website as well as the respective department.  Books related to biotechnology and molecular biology are needed to be studied. In IBB there are total 40 seats out of which 20 seat are for biotechnology and the rest 20 for biochemistry. The degree title will be “Biotechnology”.

Center for excellence in molecular biology:

Test comprises of 66 M.C.Qs and 4 blanks each containing 1 marks with negative marking of 0.5 marks. To pass the test you have to score 50% i.e. 35 marks and all who have cleared the test will be called for interview. Test result is announced within a week and list of candidates eligible for interview will also be displayed on the website as well as the respective department. If you successfully cleared the test, then you must check the research activities from the department website before appearing in the interview. Test majorly covers microbiology, immunology, plant biotechnology, health biotechnology and genetics. F.Sc. Pre-medical biology books can be referred for preparation. There are 45 seats for M.Phil. at CEMB. The degree title will be “molecular biology”. 

Center for applied molecular biology:

 In 2015 the admissions and the tests of CAMB were delayed as compared to other departments. So, keep yourself updated according to current rules. Test comprises of 66 M.C.Qs and 4 blanks each containing 1 marks with negative marking of 0.5 marks. To pass the test you have to score 50% i.e. 35 marks and all who have cleared the test will be called for interview. Test result is announced within a week and list of candidates eligible for interview will also be displayed on the website as well as the respective department.  Test majorly covers microbiology, immunology, forensic sciences, health biotechnology and genetics. F.Sc. Pre-medical biology books can be referred for preparation. There are 25 seats for M.Phil. at CAMB. The degree title will be “molecular biology”.

Fee Structure:

First semester fee for all applicants	Additional charges for foreign graduates
Rs. 20,000 - Rs. 25,000	Registration	Equivalence certificate
	Rs. 2700	Rs. 2250

**Equivalence certificate:

Equivalence certificate is needed before applying for the admission. Same equivalence certificate can be used if you are applying in more than one department but during application you have to tell the names of all the departments to the admin officer where you want to apply for admission.

Postgraduate Admissions (2016) in University of veterinary and animal sciences:

Eligibility:

          Four years education (130 credit hours) after HSSC/F.Sc/Grade 12 equivalents. (16 years of education) Minimum 2nd Div. with 50% marks according annual systems or minimum CGPA 2.50/4.00 according to semester system from HEC recognized University in related field of study. Microbiologists are eligible to apply in the following departments.

ü  Department of microbiology

ü  Parasitology

ü  Epidemiology & public health

ü  pathology

ü  Biochemistry

ü  Molecular biology & biotechnology

ü  Forensic sciences

ü  Animal breeding & genetic

ü  Livestock management

ü  Genetics

ü  Meat science & technology

ü  Zoology

How to apply:

           Now a days admissions are open at UVAS .  Application form is online available on university website and you can also download prospectus. Deposit Rs. 2000/- at Habib Bank Ltd., Civil Line branch in Account no. 01277900351801 or in the form of a bank draft for the admission process. Separate form will be filled will an additional Rs. 500, if you want to apply in two disciplines (same rule for more disciplines). You can apply up to 23^rd of June 2016. Don’t forget to check the list of eligible candidates at university website on 4^th of July 2016.

Entrance test:

          Test of eligible candidates would held on 12^th & 13^th of July 2016. UVAS will conduct online test at campus I.T lab. Don’t forget to bring your CNIC on the test day. In the test there’ll be 50 M.C.Qs of 50 marks, out of which 40 M.C.Qs will be from respective discipline and 10 will cover the portion of GAT general. Test qualifying score is 50% i.e. 25 marks and test clearance is mandatory to continue the admission process.

Department of Applied Microbiology:

            This department is of best choice for microbiology graduates as it provides best teaching and research facilities. In 2015 total number of seats were 25 and may vary this year. The entrance test majorly cover fields of fundamental microbiology, general virology, general immunology, vaccinology and veterinary microbiology.

Fee structure:    

                                                                                                                                                                                               

Semester	Fee
1st Semester	Rs. 45,000 – Rs.50,000
2nd Semester	Rs. 22,000

Recommendations to get admission in master of philosophy for microbiology graduates of Pakistan

At the completion of undergraduate degree, most of microbiology students in Pakistan face problems to make choice of their postgraduate institution. It my personal experience that if one don’t keep himself updated then he have to tumble a lot. Internet is the easiest way to get informed, otherwise, sources include newspaper. So to create an ease I decided to write a blog briefing various postgraduate institutes that would benefit most of the freshly graduate students of microbiology.

First of all apply for the clearance certificate, character certificate and detail marks certificate (DMC). After getting all academic certificates from your university, make your decision whether you want to continue same institute for post-graduation or not. For choosing your home institute, you just need to apply and if you fall in merit then your admission is confirmed. But for applying in foreign universities, additional certificates are required i.e. No Objection Certificate NOC (from your parent institute) and equivalence certificate (from the admin block of foreign university where you want to apply). Remember, once you get NOC, you can’t apply for admission in your home institute, so it is strongly recommended to apply for NOC after the confirmation of admission in foreign university.

Microbiology student’s scope for M.Phil. Admission in Pakistan:

Graduates in the field of microbiology can apply in different universities. You need to keep yourself updated about admission advertisement displayed at the site of institute. The general procedure followed in most of universities is an entry test leading to an interview and finally display of merit lists according to the results of academics, entry test and interview. It is mandatory to score 50% marks in entry test in order to carry on the admission process. You also have to be updated that which institutes require Graduate assessment test general (GAT-general).

Some famous universities are displayed in the table below along with their expected months of admissions in 2016:

Sr. no.	Universities	city	Admissions 2016
1	University of the Punjab	Lahore	August
2	University of veterinary and animal sciences	Lahore	June & November
3	GCU	Lahore	June
4	University of Health Sciences	Lahore	July
5	The university of Lahore	Lahore	July
6	University of agriculture Faisalabad	Faisalabad	July
7	Nuclear institute for agriculture and biology	Faisalabad	August
8	National institute of biotechnology and Genetic engineering	Faisalabad	June
9	Quaid-i-Azam University	Islamabad	July & November
10	University of Karachi	Karachi	N\A
11	Bahauddin zakariya University	Multan	September

If you have any query, feel free to comment.

Welcome to the world of Microorganisms

Bacteria, viruses, algae, fungi and protozoans are major participants in an unseen world of microorganisms. As a general perception most of us hate microorganisms as these are notorious for causing infectious diseases and are potential cause of food spoilage. Let’s start imagining our universe without microorganisms. When we exclude microbes, there’ll be no more production of vitamin K in the human intestines, resulting in problem of food absorption, as these microorganisms manufacture vitamin K in our body. Algae carry out photosynthesis and is a source of oxygen in sea. Microorganisms are also famous for fixing nitrogen in plants and hence used as bio-fertilizers. All the fermented products like alcohol, yogurt and cheese etc. are available by the virtue of microorganisms. Decomposition of waste is done through bio-remediation and bio-degradation which are carried out using microbes. In short if there are no microbes there’ll be no life, so happily welcome to the microbial world with all its benefits.