CU Correspondent
Professor Dr. Mohammad Al-Forkan, founding Chairman and Professor of the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at Chittagong University, has been appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university.
Dr. Al-Forkan began his career in 1993 as a lecturer in the Botany Department at Chittagong University after completing his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees with first-class honors from the same department. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2006.
He earned his PhD in genetic engineering of Indica rice from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and completed post-doctoral research on improving the quality of oilseeds at the University of Alberta and the Agricultural Research Council in Canada. He also worked as a visiting professor and researcher at the University of California, Davis, in the United States.
In 2004, he established the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at Chittagong University, which is now recognized as one of the country’s leading science-based departments. The Functional Genomics and Proteomics Laboratory (FGPL) and the modern climate-controlled greenhouse established through his initiative have opened new horizons in research.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as coordinator for COVID-19 detection activities and played a crucial role in testing over 100,000 samples through his lab and research team.
Throughout his 31-year teaching and research career, he has published 51 research papers (h-index 12) and has served on the editorial boards of various renowned journals both domestically and internationally. Additionally, he has received funding for more than 50 national and international research projects from organizations including USDA, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Health.
As a research supervisor, he has mentored numerous MS, MPhil, and post-doctoral researchers. He has also held various important administrative responsibilities, including departmental chairman and hall provost.