ABOUT NUCSER

Centre for Science Education and Research is an independent teaching cum research facility under Nitte (Deemed to be University). The Centre offers niche courses that have great potential for employment in research. The courses are highly interdisciplinary, application oriented, skill based and provide a perfect platform for those aspiring to take up a career in advanced research and development.

The course curriculum is designed to help students gather not only theoretical knowledge but also gain hands-on practical experience in high-end molecular techniques and tools used in biological research. The impetus is on “One Health” and the various infectious, non-infectious, zoonotic and environmental issues affecting human health. The Centre also offers Ph.D in Biological Science.

Priority and Thrust Areas
NUCSER being an academic institution focused primarily on research, the thrust areas of the institute are on research and science education.

Priority 1: “Basic and Translational Research in One Health”
Research is an integral part of quality education. NUCSER is committed to conducting research activities that generate new knowledge and advancement in technology that improve the quality of life, alleviate diseases, and fortify human health & well-being in society under the concept “One Health”. The thrust areas of research are as follows:
1.1 Infectious Diseases:
The major thrust of this division is to carry out cutting-edge research toward improved knowledge on diseases by infectious diseases. The research conducted is related to the development of methods to evaluate, diagnose, prevalence, prevent, and control causative agents of various infectious diseases and the implementation of intervention strategies. It also works on genome sciences, microbial diversity, development of novel diagnostics, understanding of drug resistance mechanisms, disease transmission, and virulence mechanisms of disease, etc.

1.2 Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics:
The major thrust areas for Bioinformatics and Comparative Genomics are the analysis of infectious diseases including parasitic, viral, or bacterial diseases. With the ever-increasing availability of whole genome sequences, the doors to knowledge and discovery are always open. Our endeavors are focused on contributing to the global knowledge pool and providing skilled manpower through quality education

1.3 Molecular Genetics and Cancer:
It is focused on seeking answers for the treatment and management of complex human diseases such as cancer and rare bone marrow failure syndromes and hematological disorders. Few other thrust areas include genomics and epigenetics of rare genetic diseases and cancers, the role of small RNAs and noncoding RNAs in cell signaling pathways, role of ribosomes in human diseases, nucleolar proteins and their role in tumorigenesis, and stem cell deregulation in cancer. The division also focuses on the discovery and development of small molecule anti-cancer drugs through the whole animal small molecule screening or high throughput screening of chemicals using the zebrafish model system.

1.4 Food Safety and Nutrition:
The thrust is on fundamental and applied aspects of pathogen biology, understanding their mode of action, the molecular mechanisms involved. The focus is also on developing rapid and sensitive molecular detection techniques for major foodborne infectious agents.

1.5 Bioresource and Biotechnology:
The thrust areas are understanding various aspects of marine ecosystems and bioresources, exploring the marine microbes and their potential in different bioprocesses, the marine plants and animals and their products as future drugs for humans, and aspects of marine environmental health management through integrated and multidisciplinary approaches.

Environmental Health and Toxicology:
The thrust area is the biodegradation of toxic pollutants, developing novel molecular tools for the detection of pathogenic bacteria, microbial ecology of contaminated ecosystems, geo-microbiology, soil nutrient cycling, and developing sustainable waste management and agriculture practices. It also seeks practical solutions to complex environmental problems through interdisciplinary and integrative approaches.

1.7 Nanobiotechnology:
The thrust is on the development of novel functional materials such as 3D scaffolds to develop biomimicking cancer models and glyco-nanoparticles to understand bacterial/viral infections and nano-carriers for drug delivery applications. The research also focuses on developing biosensing platforms for ultrasensitive and cost-effective detection of analytes by optical (colorimetric and fluorescence methods), electrochemical, dipstick, and paper-based platforms. The group has expertise in the synthesis, functionalization, and characterization of nanoparticles (Quantum dots, gold/silver, graphene, TiO2, polymeric, liposome-based)

Priority 2: Education in Life Sciences
Education is the central part of a progressive change in society. It is a crucial component that directly moulds the citizens who are the principal agents of change. Education provides knowledge, skills, and values that bring an attitude change in all its stakeholders. We intend to orient students and empower our students with exceptional research skills in life sciences.

Thrust Areas in Education:
In recent times, India witnessed a phenomenal rise in the healthcare sector. As the healthcare sector in the country grew, the employment opportunities for biomedical scientists also increased. Recognizing the need for producing quality biomedical scientists who could serve in the health care sector in India as well as creating a state-of-the-art facility for biomedical research through an interdisciplinary approach, NUCSER started its teaching program with the B.Sc. and M.Sc. Courses in Biomedical Sciences in the year 2013 and two years later introduced M. Sc. programs in Food Safety and Biotechnology and Marine Microbiology and Biotechnology. Subsequently, the institute also introduced other PG programs including MSc Microbiology and MSc Biotechnology and more recently MSc Cancer Biology. These courses are the first of their kind in the state of Karnataka and NUCSER stands tall amongst the institutes in the entire country that offer these courses, designed keeping in mind the opportunities and need of quality manpower in the field of research.

Skill Development and Knowledge Enhancement.
The institute is committed to imparting quality education in Human Health and Diseases comprising the infectious, non-infectious, and environmental modes of diseases through the various courses in the undergraduate B.Sc. (Honours) Biomedical Science, a four-year program based on the revised national education policy. The institute drafted an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary CBCS system aligning with the NEP2020. The IQAC ensured the consent of stakeholders such as parents, and student representatives and enlightened them of the new structure of the course. The choice-based system will enable students to enhance skills across various subjects offered. The system will also ensure active student participation, with more weightage given to practicals/skill development. The PG programs are practical-oriented and offer great opportunities for skill development. The state-of-the-art research labs complement the teaching programs and offer great value to the skills that are being imparted to the students.