During the 1970s it was the University of Dhaka alone which was running undergraduate and postgraduate program in Biochemistry in Bangladesh. It was then strongly felt that further initiative is necessary to introduce this program in other universities of Bangladesh to fulfill the increasing demand of the graduates in Biochemistry both in Bangladesh and abroad. An initiative was then taken to open up this program at the University of Rajshahi under the leadership of Dr. M. Quaisuddin. The Department started its journey in 1976 initially with Master’s Program in Biochemistry with its Founding Chairman, Professor Dr. M. Qaisuddin. The B.Sc. (Honors) The program was introduced in 1981, and the MPhil and Ph.D. programs were subsequently offered.
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology belongs to the Faculty of Science and is located on the 3rd floor of the Second Science building of the University. Since its journey as a Program Offering Entity, the department has been conducting academic and research activities in the field of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and producing graduates of internationally acceptable standards. A good number of these graduates are pursuing doctoral and post-doctoral studies abroad, while some of them are also having jobs in different sectors including faculty positions in universities and research institutions of different countries of the world. Based on the changing demand, mission, and objectives, the department was renamed in 2001 as the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and was given a new dimension to its research and development activities. At present, there are 40 teaching staffs, 17 non-academic staffs and 275 students in undergraduate levels and 55 students at the master’s level. The department also offers related courses to other departments of Biological Sciences. There are a good number of students pursuing MPhil and Ph.D. studies in this department.