Page 49 - Handbook UG20182019

Faculty of Science Booklet, Session 2018/2019

INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (ISB)

Biological science teaching and research in Malaysia can be
traced back to the early days of 1959, when the Universiti Malaya
was instituted with two Divisions; the Kuala Lumpur and the
Singapore Divisions. The Kuala Lumpur Division at the Universiti
Malaya was officially opened on January 15, 1959. Lessons
began in the Department of Zoology and Botany on the 25th of
May 1959 in borrowed premises until the Faculty of Science
building was officially opened in 1961.

On the 1st of April 1967, the two Departments of Zoology and
Botany became one as the School of Biological Sciences with
five divisions: zoology, botany, ecology, genetics and physiology.
Eight years later on April 1975, the School of Biological Sciences
was separated into the Departments of Botany, Zoology, and
Genetics and Cellular Biology. The other two divisions of Ecology
and Physiology were managed by the Department of Zoology.
Physiology was discontinued in 1978 while Ecology continued to
flourish under the management of the Department of Zoology. In
1980, the Division of Microbiology was formed under the
management of the Department of Genetics and Cellular
Biology. On June 1st 1997, the amalgamation of these three
departments led to the formation of the Institute of Biological
Sciences (Institut Sains Biologi, ISB).

The ISB aims to advance scientific and technological knowledge
in the field of biology, through the establishment of research and
scientific links with institutions in and outside the country. In the
process of doing so, we hope that high quality graduates will be
produced. These young men and women will play important roles
in the development of our nation and the world in the future.

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