Aiming to promote education and research in biology, life science and biotechnology in the north eastern states of the country, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), ministry of science and technology, has formulated a special programme under which it will establish institutional level biotech hubs in the region.

Senior officials in the DBT said that the broad purpose of the programme is to promote education and research in biotechnology, biology, life science and to attract brilliant young students to build their career in different fields of biological sciences and biotechnology. The support under this programme will be provided by the government initially for a period of three years.

Under this programme, the DBT proposes to provide several facilities to each biotech hub such as a biotechnology lab with basic set of equipments, support for site preparation/renovation, computers with Internet connectivity, biotechnology electronic journal access facility, recurring budget for procurement of chemicals, glassware and for maintenance of Internet connectivity, support for organizing trainings/workshops for teachers,  travel support for conference allowance, short term training in any institute in India,  student fellowships, etc.

The biotech hubs will be established in interested institutes, colleges, universities of higher education of the north eastern region of India offering undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses in any branch of biology, life science, biotechnology, environmental science, chemistry, physics, computer science, biomedical sciences and agri/veterinary sciences. Besides, R&D institutions in this region those are actively engaged in biological research will also be considered for this programme. The DBT has invited proposals from interested institutions for this purpose.

Depending on the status and potential, the institutions will be identified for providing necessary infrastructure support both for teaching and research activities and will be funded accordingly. Each biotech hub will be looked after by a coordinator to be nominated by the host institute and guided by a small committee constituted as per guidelines framed by DBT. The host institution shall have to provide necessary space and accommodation.