The Department of Botany was established in 1973 under the leadership of Late Professor Dr. M.A. Aziz Khan who became the Vice Chancellor of Chittagong University in 1981.
The department started academic function with the admission of fourteen students to first year B.Sc. Hons. Course in 1973. The Postgraduate course was first offered in 1975 with the admission of only two students, who passed B.Sc. Hons. Examination from Chittagong College, affiliated to Dhaka University; while M.Sc. (Preliminary) courses have been introduced with the admission of 15 students in 1987. At present 100 students are admitted to B.Sc. (Hons.) course having a four years duration in each. The total number of students including M.S., M.Phil, and Ph.D courses is 400. The department has been updated with the introduction of research facilities in different aspects of plant sciences and courses taught are Plant Diversity, Virology, Microbiology, Mycology, Phycology, Origin and Evolution, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Palaeobotany, Plant Anatomy, Embryology, Palynology, Plant Taxonomy, Plant Ecology, Plant Physiology, Plant Biochemistry & Biophysics, Cytology, cytogenetics, Genetics, Limnology, Plant Pathology, Plant Tissue Culture, Economic Botany, Ethnobotany, Phytogeography & Conservation, Forest Pathology & Mycorrhiza, Soil & Industrial Microbiology, Environmental Management, Plant Breeding, Plant Stress Physiology, Plant Nutrition, Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, Agronomy, Horticulture, Hill Cultivation, Soil Science, Computer Science, Phytopharmacology, Bioinformatics, Biophysical Chemistry etc.