The Department of Animal Biotechnology was established in the year 2013, although the M.V.Sc programme in Animal Biotechnology was started in this college in August, 2010 following receipt of an initial sanction for Rs. 1.09 crore from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India during the financial year 2009-10. The programme was initially run in a multidisciplinary mode involving five collaborating departments, viz. Microbiology, Biochemistry, Genetics & Breeding, Physiology and Animal Reproduction. However, since August 2013, the separate Department of Animal Biotechnology has been established following approval of the august Board of Management and His Majesty, the Hon’ble Chancellor of AAU. The department also started Ph.D. programme in Animal Biotechnology since 2013 initially with an intake capacity of 2 (two) students per year. The Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India recognized the department as the Nodal Centre under the NER-centric Biotech Hub programme and the State Level Biotech Hub (SBT Hub) for the state of Assam was established in the department in 2010, which was upgraded later in 2015 as the Advanced Level State Biotech Hub with an expanded mandate.
The DBT-support for the M.V.Sc programme in Animal Biotechnology was extended further for another 5 years till 2024-25 under the 15th Finance Commission based on its performance during the last 10 years. The annual intake capacity has also been increased now to 15 for M.V.Sc. and 3 for Ph.D. degree programmes. Out of 15 seats in the M.V.Sc programme, 10 are filled up from among Graduate Aptitude Test – Biotechnology (GAT-B) qualified candidates and the rest 5 are selected through AAU admission test.