Happy anniversary! The faculty of biotechnology and aquaculture is 90 years old!

The year 2020 is a milestone for Belarusian State of the Orders of the October Revolution and of the Labor Red Banner Agricultural Academy. The Faculty of Biotechnology and Aquaculture celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.  The first research in the field of animal husbandry began at the Gory-Gorki farming school. And when a farming institute was formed in 1848, zoological and anatomical museums were established there. The new Regulation on the Farming Institute, approved in 1859, provided the study of 4 specialities, and one of them was cattle farming. At that period scientists of the institute carried out experiments to extract the breed of fine sheep, which were not only well adapted to the climatic conditions of the central part of Russia, but also gave wool of high quality. As early as 1852 the fleece of Merino wool was awarded a gold medal in Moscow. In 1857 and 1862 it was displayed at international exhibitions in London, where it won bronze medals. Well-known Russian zootechnical scientists, professors A.M.Bozhanov and I.N.Chernopyatov were the graduates of the Gory-Gorki Institute. The farming school not only had started zootechnical science, but also gave the world a galaxy of scientists who became founders of agrarian scientific and pedagogical schools of Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine. So, the faculty has a rich and glorious history that continues today.

The faculty was established in 1930 and was then called zootechnical. In 1975 it was renamed zooengineering faculty. And in 2015 the faculty received its modern name - Faculty of Biotechnology and Aquaculture. At present, the faculty has developed a highly professional creative team headed by Dean Alexander Portnoy. Scientific schools have been created, which are headed by famous scientists, doctors of science, professors Grigory Medvedev, Mikhail Shalak, Ivan Seryakov, Nikolai Sadomov. The specialists of the faculty are seriously engaged in scientific activities. The faculty cooperates with educational, scientific, and manufacturing institutions of the Republic of Belarus and CIS. The cooperation is developed within the framework of international projects with a number of European Union countries.

Thanks to the support of the State, a modern material and technical infrastructure has been created, which allows the faculty and the Academy to train specialists in zooengineering, highly demanded in the labour market.

This anniversary year once again demonstrated that the Faculty of Biotechnology and Aquaculture cherishes its long-term experience and traditions, looks to the future with optimism, makes a great contribution not only to the training of personnel for the agro-industrial complex, but to the development of fundamental and applied research in the field of zootechnology as well.

We sincerely congratulate the employees and the   students of the faculty on the 90th anniversary. We wish them good health, optimism, confidence in the future, success in their studies and work for the benefit of their native Belarus!

Rector’s Office