Biochemistry and biotechnology department
Head of the department:
Professor, Doctor of Biological Science,
Ziyaddin Mammadov Mahmud
The Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology was established in 1972 on the attempt of prof. A.A. Kuliev. Since the opening, with the exception of 1979-1983, until 2018, prof. A. Kuliev was the head of the department, but he still plays a decisive role in the educational and research work of the department.
Under the guidance of prof. A. Kuliyeva opened a new direction in the field of biochemistry and physiology of fruit maturing and storage, which has long been the main focus of the research work of the department. In 1977, as a result of research conducted in this field, synthetic ethylene producer which called “hydrel”, an important in scientific and practical terms, was synthesized, and copyright evidence was obtained for this discovery.
On the basis of the research conducted, the Ministry of Agriculture offered recommendations on the use of hydrel and other important ethylene producers - etrela as regulators of fruit ripening and storage. The researches were carried out jointly with the Institute of Biochemistry named after A.N.Bax of the Russian Federation EA, and as a result, employees of the department Ziyaddin Mammadov, Rasim Akhundov, and Sahib Gulahmadov completed their scientific work at that institute and defended their dissertation.
The second scientific direction of the department is the "Study of the biochemical and molecular properties of antibacterial components of active lactic acid bacteria." This work was carried out by the staff of the department together with INRA Scientific Research Institute in Nant, France and the results received were brought to the attention of the scientific community at conferences held in Russia, England, France, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and other European countries. During the period of the department, the staff of the department, in particular, under leadership the head of the department, prof. A.A. Guluev's, 22 PhDs in biology and two doctors of biology have been trained, five of them (Egypt, Germany, Syria, Iran) have been foreigners.
As a result of many years of scientific activity, the department staff published 3 author's certificates, more than 500 scientific articles (120 of them abroad), 7 textbooks, 10 textbook resource, program and methodical instructions, 1 monograph. Two of the textbooks - "Immunology" and "Fundamentals of Enzymology" were first published in Azerbaijani. Being one of the most actual and promising areas of modern times in the biology and medical sciences, immunology has started teaching as a subject first time in our republic by A.A.Kuliyev and his lecture started exactly in Biology faculty of BSU.
The department is a participant of several international grant projects. The first grant of the department was the project "Establishment of national refinement centers for biomedical and veterinary sciences in the South Caucasus countries" within the framework of TEMPUS program MP JEP-23070-2002. The project, which lasted from 2003 to 2005, included Baku State University, Azerbaijan State Medical University, Westminster and London Universities of England, Tbilisi State University of Georgia. On the basis of the project, the department is equipped with new equipment, "Immunology Laboratory" has been established, teachers and masters have passed scientific and pedagogical practice courses at Westminster and UCL universities in England.
Another project was a grant project on "Preparation of masters in the field of ecology" covering September 2005 and the end of 2007. The AGRENA Scientific Research Institute of France and the Azerbaijan Agricultural Academy also participated in this project. The main purpose of the project was to prepare masters in the field of ecology. To this end, 25 students from Azerbaijani universities were selected, with dozens of European universities, as well as lecturers from local universities. Up to 8 masters have been enrolled to the Belgian Ghent University for a period of 6 months to achieve the highest results. Local faculty members were also sent to the French and Belgian universities for a three-week internship.
Employees of the department also participated in the project "Study of antimicrobial and hypoallergenic products in the bacteria of acetic acid" within the NATO Science Path Program (2007-2010).
The project, which is based on pure research, started in 2006 and was designed for three years. The grant totaled 280,000 euros. A number of equipment has been procured under the project.
The project has also been implemented by teachers and young researchers in order to conduct researches abroad.
Currently, the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology is a participant in 4 projects under the TEMPUS program and one project under the ERASMUS MUNDUS program aimed at the development of science and education in our country. These projects are implemented the tsya in conjunction with leading universities in Germany, the UK, and Portugal, the budget of each of them is around one million euros. Due to the financial resources of these projects, over 30 Ph.D. students, masters, and students have improved their education in their leading universities in Europe, the UK, Germany, France, and Italy.
Teaching staff:
- c.b.s assoc. prof Aydin Nasibov
- d.b.s., prof. Ziyaddin Mammadov
- c.b.s., assoc. prof. Zakir Jafarov
- d.b.s., assoc. prof. Saib Gulahmadov
- c.b.s., assoc. prof. Naila Abdullayeva
- Ph.D., assistant prof. Narmina Abdullayeva
