Literature survey, formulation of the problem, planning and execution of the project work within the stipulated time frame, analysis and interpretation of the obtained data, writing technical report, and presentation of the results.

The project must be designed to work in teams, to be trained in problem identification, project execution, effective communication, and impart interdisciplinary perspectives. It is expected that work equivalent to 2 credits will be completed by the end of the winter vacation.

The idea is to facilitate interaction of MTech students with external stakeholders such as industry, national laboratories, government agencies, and other academic organizations, in the form of an internship. DRC needs to approve the internship. In case external engagement is not feasible, the project may be carried out in the institute itself (with the approval of the DRC) as a “minor project”.

Physical variables, units and dimensions, dimensional homogeneity and dimensionless quantities, chemical composition, stoichiometric relations and reaction concepts – yields and selectivity, chemical equilibrium, system and process, steady state and equilibrium, fundamentals of material balance, material balances on single-unit and multiple-unit processes, material balances with recycle, bypass, and purge streams, stoichiometry of cell growth and product formation, elemental balances, electron balances, basic energy concepts, general energy balance equations, enthalpy calculation procedures, enthalpy change in nonreactive processes, energy balance calculations without reaction, enthalpy change due to reaction, heat of reaction for processes with biomass production, energy balance equation for cell culture, unsteady-state material balance equations, unsteady-state energy balances, behaviour of gases, vapour pressure, humidity and saturation, gas-liquid systems, heat capacity of gases, liquid-liquid systems, liquid and solids.

The topics include introduction to cell structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms; microbial nutrition and growth; metabolism including important pathways; bacterial reproduction and recombination; preservation and control of microbial cultures; molecular tools to study microorganisms (culturables and as-yet-unculturables), viruses; microbial pathogenicity, antimicrobial resistance, and the interaction of microorganisms with other organisms in the context of One Health

Continuum approximation, Lagrangian and Eulerian description, Fluid statics, Fluid, kinematics, Flow visualization and description, Flow measuring devices, Reynolds transport theorem, Conservation equations, Euler's equation, Bernoulli's theorem, Fully developed laminar flows, Navier-Stokes equation, Cuvette flow, Hagen Poiseuille flow, Stokes flows, Dimensional analysis, Losses in pipe flow, Pumps, Potential flows, Boundary layer theory, Drag and lift on solid bodies immersed in fluid, Lubrication approximation, Flow through packed bed, Fluidization, Turbulent flow

Characteristics of bioproducts, mechanical separations, cell disruption, solvent extraction, adsorption, chromatography, membrane separations, crystallization and process integration. Lab practicals on filtration, centrifugation, settling, column packing, breakthrough curves, solvent extraction. Gel filtration, HPLC and SMB.

Molecular biology review for omics; introduction to genomics and first generation sequencing; the 'human genome project'; next (second) generation sequencing; third generation sequencing; application of genomics: genome assembly, metagenomics, and counting molecular events - DNA-DNA, and DNA-protein interactions; introduction to transcriptomics and RNA-sequencing data analysis; sample multiplexing and high-throughput sequencing applications - single cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics; introduction to proteomics and first generation proteomics; mass-spectrometry and second generation proteomics; application of proteomics. Quantitative proteomics - protein dynamics; studying protein-protein interactions; introduction to metabolomics. Applications of metabolomics - lipidomics.

Introduction to mathematical modeling in biology, The language of Dynamical Systems, Dynamics of microbial populations (Single species), Dynamics of genetic circuits – Compartmental Models Single cell Dynamics (Models of gene expression and regulation), Dynamics of multiple interacting microbial populations

Advanced microscopy techniques (fluorescence microscopy), spectrofluorimeter, real-time PCR, 2-D gel electrophoresis, genomic analyses, gas chromatography with FID and TCD, Dionex HPLC with ECD and CD, HPLC and FPLC, protein chromatography, elemental analyzer, microfluidic chip fabrication, microfluidic programming and set-up.

Solid phase synthesis, solution phase synthesis, encoding technologies, deconvolution methods, photolithography, FACS, display libraries, applications in synthetic biology.

Introduction to emerging and interdisciplinary areas at the forefront of biochemical engineering and biotechnology. Emphasis on understanding the underlying principles that enable these technologies. Students will engage with contemporary research papers and case studies to critically analyze how modern biochemical engineering and biotechnology concepts are being translated to real-world applications.

This course introduces the fundamental principles of light–matter interaction and explores key optical phenomena such as absorbance, fluorescence, and scattering in biological systems. It covers essential components of optical instrumentation—from light sources to detectors—and a range of spectroscopic and imaging techniques, including confocal, TIRF, non-linear, super-resolution, and single-molecule microscopy. Practical modules include hands-on training in microscope handling, fluorescence staining, advanced imaging methods, and light sheet microscopy. Students will also engage in digital image acquisition, large dataset analysis, and automation workflows.

The goal of this course is to provide a foundational understanding of ethical principles in biochemical and biotechnology research and to develop communication skills. Students will gain an understanding of best laboratory practices applicable to both academic and industrial settings. Additionally, the course will provide a basic understanding of the use of biosafety equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), biological containment, sterilization, decontamination, and spill management. Content: Fundamental principles of biosafety, Lab design and safe working practices, Infectious agents, Biosafety levels (BSL1-4), Biological risk identification, Risk containment, and management, Relationship between biosafety levels (BSL) and risk groups, Sterilization, Decontamination, Disinfection, Containment facilities and equipment, Biological waste management, lab inspection guidelines, Guidelines for storage of lab consumable, and chemicals (hazardous chemicals, inflammable chemicals, refrigerated chemicals, compressed gases), Spill management. Principles of bioethics, Importance of bioethics in research, Need and justification of research, cost vs. resource utilization, Environmental impact and sustainability, Biomanufacturing and environmental ethics, Clinical ethics, Bioethics in research involving microbials, animals and humans, Bioethics in genetics engineering, Informed consent, Bioethical challenges, Ethics in research integrity. National and International regulatory affairs in biomanufacturing and drug development (CDSCO, CTRI, cGMP and CFR21, Commercialization of devices and drugs. Identifying key findings in research articles, Detail of methodology, Writing summaries and critical analysis, Identifying research gaps, Basics of IMRaD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion), Figure legends, Academic writing (Research article writing, Reports and theses, Grant proposals), Basic elements of a research proposal.

Cell, structure of biomolecules - nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, metabolism, biological membranes, genome, mutagenesis, plasmids and vectors, restriction enzymes and PCR, ligation, transformation, bacteriophages, DNA replication, transcription, translation, gene regulation.

Part 1 (statistics for engineers): a. Introduction to data in biotechnological applications and error analysis b. Introduction to statistical programming c. Data visualization; measures of location and dispersion d. Probability and common probability distributions e. Point estimation and central limit theorem f. Confidence interval, hypothesis testing and types of errors g. Regression for engineers, correlation, and calibration h. Design and analysis of experiments. Part 2 (Bioinformatics): a. Bioinformatic data generation technologies b. Bioinformatic databases c. Essential problems in bioinformatics - alignment, assembly, mapping.

Concept of functions and their graphs; calculation of ordinary and partial derivatives; derivation of ordinary differential equations arising from mass, momentum and energy conservation; solution of ordinary differential equations using geometric, numerical, and analytical methods.

Importance of engineering biomolecules: nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Enzymes used in genetic manipulation, genome engineering using CRISPR, protein engineering methods such as mutagenesis, shuffling, RACHITT etc., engineering carbohydrates and lipids, cell based versus synthetic systems, carbohydrate-mimetic peptides (CMPs), engineering lipid bilayer membranes for different applications, substrate based cellular engineering.

Chemical reaction engineering: stoichiometry and kinetics of enzymatic reactions; stoichiometry and kinetics of microbial growth, substrate consumption, product formation, and maintenance; mass balances for biomass, substrate, and product in batch, plug flow, continuous stirred tank, fed batch, and recycle bioreactors; elemental balances for predicting stoichiometry of growth and checking consistency of data. Mass transfer: theoretical estimation and experimental measurement of oxygen transfer and consumption in bioreactors. Momentum transfer: criteria for mixing of gas, solid and liquid in bioreactors. Heat transfer: design of cooling systems for bioreactors.

Qualitative and quantitative characterisation of wastes; Waste disposal norms and regulations; Indian regulations; Principles of biological treatment; Aerobic and anaerobic biological wastewater treatment systems; Suspended and attached cell biological wastewater treatment systems; Biological nutrient removal; Treatment plant design calculations; Treatment and disposal of sludges; biological means for stabilisation and disposal of solid wastes; Treatment of hazardous and toxic wastes; Degradation of xenobiotic compounds; bioremediation. Laboratory: Characterisation of wastes; Design calculations for various types of wastes using various types of biological processes.

Introduction: Bionanotechnology: lessons from nature; Self-assembly of Biomolecules in Nanotechnology; Bacterial S-Layer; Biomimetic Ferritin; Molecular Imprinting Technologies and their applications, Nano-molecularly imprinted polymers (nanoMIPs); Aptamers as chemical antibodies and their commercial applications; Microbial Nanoparticle Synthesis; Magnetosomes: Trapping Nano-magnetite in Biological Membranes; Protein Based Nanoelectronics; Viral Nanoelectronics; Bacteriorhodopsin and its Technical Applications; Carbon Nanotubes: Towards Next Generation Biosensors; Molecular Lego: Design for Molecular Actuators; Molecular Motors; Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery to Cells and Tissues; Polymer Nanocontainers; Fluorescent Quantum Dots for Biological Labelling

This course provides students with a deeper understanding of cancer biology and is heavily focused on experiments: Topics include: Cancer Biology Overview, Hallmarks of Cancer, Types of Cancer, Causes for cancer, Oncogenes and Tumor suppressors, Cell Cycle and Regulation, Cell Differentiation, Cell Death Pathways (Apoptosis, Autophagy), Necrosis, Cell Senescence, Cell Adhesion and Motility, Cancer Epigenetics and sRNAs, Cancer Genome instability, Tumor Immunity, Growth Signaling pathways, Tumor angiogenesis, Cancer Stem Cell, Cancer Diagnosis, Prognosis, Cancer Therapeutics-- Advanced Methods and Clinical Trials Laboratory: Experiments on Cell Proliferation, Cell cycle analyses, Cell Differentiation, Necrosis and Apoptosis, Cell Migration, DNA damage assay, 3D Spheroid Model, Fluorescence Microscopy, Flow Cytometry. Together, these experiments will strengthen students’ capacity to connect theoretical knowledge with experimental outcomes, preparing them for advanced research and industry applications in cancer biology and therapeutics

Common electroactive microorganisms (Shewanella, Geobacter, weak electricigens); Microbial extracellular electron transfer (direct electron transfer, mediated electron transfer using soluble electron shuttles, microbial nanowires); Electrolytes in bioelectrochemical experiments (electrolytes as microbial growth medium, ion transport in electrolytes); Bio-electrodes (biofilm formation, role of planktonic electroactive community members, electrochemical features of the interface); Basics of electrochemical cells (electrode potential, thermodynamics, kinetics, overpotential, half-cell reactions, combining two half-cells, three-electrode set-ups); Characterisation of live electroactive microbial cultures using voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronocoulometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; Microbial fuel cells (power production, wastewater treatment, scale-up issues, common calculations, configurations and materials); microbial electrolysis cells (hydrogen and commodity chemical production); electrofermentation; bioelectrochemical sensors.