A Historical Overview of the Department of Life Sciences
The College of Science was established in 1949 under the name of the College of Arts and Sciences in its building in Adhamiya, which was originally the headquarters of Adhamiya Secondary School. The college included five scientific departments at the beginning: the departments of animal, plant, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The College of Arts and Sciences continued as one college until 1953, when the College of Sciences separated and became an independent college, as well as the College of Arts. The College of Science gradually expanded and established other departments until today it includes twelve departments and scientific units in which preliminary and graduate studies are taught and scientific research is conducted. It has become the distinguished scientific college in Iraq. The Departments of Zoology, Microbiology, Botany, and Microbiology were the nucleus of the current Department of Life Sciences in the College of Science. The initial study was shared in the first year for all college departments at that time, and from the second year onwards, students specialized in their departments. This was followed by the creation of a third specialty in the life sciences, which is microbiology. At the beginning of the College of Science, there was a unified zoology department in the colleges of science at the University of Baghdad, which is a scientific organization that includes all zoology departments. Later, its name became the Department of Zoology. The Department of Zoology was directly connected to the presidency of the University of Baghdad. This department was responsible for scientific affairs of zoology in the colleges of science, education, girls, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine, in addition to the colleges of Mosul Sciences and Basra Sciences, in developing curricula for teaching zoology to suit each college, and responsible for examinations. And the appointments of faculty members, their loans, and their distribution of these tasks. Likewise, the Department of Botany and other scientific departments for each of the scientific specializations were linked to the presidency of the University of Baghdad and responsible for the teaching curricula for each of them. The Department of Zoology and Microbiology occupied part of the front of the building of the College of Science in Adhamiya. The Department of Botany and Microbiology occupied the front of the upper floor of it with the plant herbarium full of species. Plants for diagnosis, research and study. The two departments were united in 1969 under the name of the Department of Life Sciences, which then included the largest part of the front of the college, its upper and lower floors, in addition to the botanical garden and the greenhouse, where laboratory and field research was conducted. The garden was equipped with an advanced environmental room for research and graduate studies. Another building was built for the department in the middle of the college, which included halls, laboratories, and other facilities for the department, which expanded greatly. In the beginning, teaching was in the English language. All the faculty members were graduates of foreign countries, in addition to Arab and foreign teachers who were fluent in English. They were able to continue teaching, discussing, and writing research in English. After the two departments were unified into the Department of Life Sciences, the process of abolishing the College of Education at the University of Baghdad followed, so the life professionals joined their colleagues in the College of Science. The specializations were integrated and the department took its path towards development, expansion, and graduate studies. Specialized committees were established, including the Scientific Committee, the Graduate Studies Committee, the Curriculum Committee, the Arabization Committee, and the Import and Equipment Committee. These committees took Each one works actively according to his specialty. The Arabization Committee decided that the initial and then graduate studies should be in Arabic, and it activated the movement of writing and translating into Arabic the curricula of the two studies. The first registration for a master’s degree in zoology was at the beginning of the academic year 1966-1967, and postgraduate studies grew first for the master’s and then for the doctorate in the Department of Life Sciences in the year 1970-1971 in line with the needs of the scientific renaissance that Iraq witnessed. The study curricula in the Life Sciences Department have changed and developed. At first, the animal and plant specializations were separate, and when the two departments merged into one department, Life Sciences, the study in it was unified for the first two years, and students in the third and fourth years specialized in either animals, plants, or microbiology. Later, these specializations were canceled in undergraduate studies, and students graduated with a degree in life sciences at that time. I moved to graduate studies for the three specializations mentioned, then added a fourth specialization, which is environmental science. This is the current reality of the Life Sciences Department/College of Science. All students in the department study unified curricula in life sciences for undergraduate studies, then they are divided into four specializations in graduate studies for masters and doctorates.
Postgraduate studies in the College of Sciences have expanded and include theoretical and applied research in the life sciences, and the number of students there has increased. This has required the expansion of precise scientific equipment and research materials and the allocation of laboratories to branches of study specialized in the life sciences. Environmental and agricultural fields (specializing in botany) and adding facilities in the department that support scientific research, such as a scientific photography laboratory and a laboratory animal house to conduct research on animal physiology, hormones, immunity, environment, insects, and others. Today, the College of Science (Baghdad Science) has become the distinguished scientific center in Iraq, graduating scientific cadres specialized in life sciences and other sciences from the college’s twelve departments and institutions. Life sciences graduates have proven that they and their fellow graduates of other departments in the college, through practical experience, possess competence and a good scientific reputation – primary and postgraduate university studies. They now work in various state institutions and contribute, along with the generations they graduate, to supporting the ministries of higher education, scientific research, education, industry, health, and the Scientific Research Foundation. (formerly) and many other governmental and private scientific institutions with qualified scholars, and the state depends on them in establishing modern Iraqi universities. Arab universities also depend on a number of graduates of this college. When the College of Science was established in 1949 under the name of the College of Arts and Sciences, it included among its five departments the Departments of Animals and Plants. Then the two departments began to bear the name of the Department of Animals and Microbiology in the lower floor of the front of the College of Science building in Adhamiya, and the Department of Botany and Microbiology on the upper floor of the same building, which included The College of Science herbarium contains types of plants used for the purposes of diagnosis, research and study. This site was and still is the source to which all researchers in the field of plant classification turn. The two departments were united in 1969 as the Department of Life Sciences and included the Botanical Garden and the Greenhouse for research purposes. The language of instruction was English, then the Arabization Committee approved teaching in Arabic after the College of Education was abolished and it joined the College of Science. Registration for postgraduate studies began in 1966-1967 to study a master’s degree and then a doctorate in 1970-1971. The department is and still is a shining scientific center referred to as Lebanon, and many researchers and teachers have graduated from it and have held prominent positions in local institutions and in various countries of the world. The first batch of master’s students graduated in the academic year 1969-1970, and the first batch of doctoral students graduated in the academic year 1981-1982. The department currently awards master’s degrees and doctoral degrees in the following specializations:
Microbiology
Zoology
Botany
Ecology
Among the specializations, multiple subspecialties branch out to cover all modern fields in basic, theoretical, and applied biological sciences. The number of master’s students graduating from the department has reached 564 students, and the number of doctoral students is 91 students. The department is currently seeking to activate the role of science in society by holding scientific seminars, forming various committees, and opening up to other state institutions to develop solutions related to the problems of environmental pollution, delayed agriculture, and the spread of bacterial diseases and cancerous diseases in Iraqi society. Biology is very broad and is divided into several branches, the most important of which are microbiology, zoology, botany, and ecology. With the advancement of this science since the nineteenth century, it has become closely linked to other sciences, both theoretical and applied, and other technical fields that meet the necessary and ongoing human needs.
Thus, today we are not talking about science, but rather life sciences, because it deals with the study of all forms of life, so it contains within it many independent scientific disciplines and branches, but they all come together in their relationship with living organisms (the phenomenon of life), and on a broad field it begins with the study of viruses and germs, then plants and animals in While other branches specialize in studying the relationships between biology and the environment in ecology, not to mention genetic studies, it also studies phenomena that have baffled humanity throughout history. Despite all the difficulties that faced the organizational structure of the Department of Life Sciences, it refused to keep pace and continue all the rapid progress and development in the various contemporary life sciences, through the expansion of its specializations and the introduction of modern topics to the curricula of its students in primary and graduate studies in a way that is compatible with their peers in scientifically superior countries through Enriching them with research, research projects, and scientific seminars, to create a generation with scientific talent and knowledgeable of the importance of their specialty. We hope in the near future that all of our department’s laboratories will be modernized and equipped with the latest equipment, especially graduate studies laboratories, and that they will be equipped with the latest technologies to match in their scientific results what researchers in international universities have achieved, and that direct communication via the Internet will be provided in them with the specialized laboratories through cooperation with them in providing the scientific guidance that they may need. Students in their current and future experiences. Expanding the horizons of science and knowledge among students by holding mini-seminars for each stage by discussing modern scientific topics that students need in order to open their minds and expand their ideas to become researchers of the new generation. The department includes the following facilities:
•Laboratories for preliminary studies
It is characterized by having a good capacity, providing comfort to its students, and equipped with chemical materials and the latest academic and informational means. However, it will remain in need of advanced laboratory and research equipment to improve the practical performance of its graduates.
• Laboratories for postgraduate studies
It includes the microbiology laboratory, the cytogenetics laboratory, the plant laboratory, the environmental laboratory, and the zoology laboratory. Most of them are distinguished by their precise specialization, modern equipment and techniques, and specialized scientific design, providing their students with the appropriate conditions for the atmosphere of their research projects, including digital incubators and other modern laboratory equipment, which had an effective impact on the accuracy of the results and thus progress. Society and patenting of this extensive research. However, the continuous progress of science increases the desire to keep pace with developed countries and parallel them in their practical research.
• Experimental Animals Unit
This unit has witnessed great interest because of its effective impact on the development of experiments and laboratory studies in proving scientific theories that contribute to the development of the practical reality of all branches of life sciences. This unit includes rooms designed to house experimental animals such as mice, rabbits, and hamsters, with small rooms for dissecting animals and injecting them, with a special incinerator for disposal. Of dead animals after completing experiments on them, it also contains a leishmaniasis laboratory specializing in parasitology. This unit is managed by veterinarians qualified to follow up on this unit with specialized scientific services in this department.
•Plant herbarium unit
It includes the most important references for the classifications of thousands of Iraqi plants dried and preserved using scientific methods recommended by the workers in the unit for preserving the Iraqi plant flora to emulate their counterparts from the international research plant units in preserving the country’s plant heritage. The herbarium also exchanges plant models of medical importance and modern scientific publications with many Arab and foreign scientific institutions. The department’s professors and graduate students have contributed to reviving this unit and enriching it with many scientifically unsubstantiated studies, so that it has become a scientific reference for researchers in the field of plant sciences.
•Botanical Garden Unit
This unit was established by allocating land to establish a botanical garden containing research laboratories and greenhouses that serve research in the fields of development and propagation of medicinal herbs, the study of plant physiology, and in the fields of environment, insects, soil microbes, and plant diseases in a practical way that serves its students from primary and postgraduate studies.
• PCR unit
It is a unit that was recently created after striving to obtain a PCR device used in diagnosing the genetic material of all living organisms, which will contribute to the development and keeping pace with modern research that provides for advanced technologies. The unit is still in the process of being established to make it an integrated genetic diagnosis unit that works with the rest of the department’s laboratories to reach The most accurate results and the latest and fastest methods.
•Central laboratory unit
It is a laboratory with wide services for all biological technologies approved in research, so that it meets the needs of its students and the needs of all students of science and knowledge, with its staff and modern equipment, which includes separation, filtration, and extraction services, and everything related to modern laboratory techniques, which provides its students with all specialized means.
•Department library
The idea of establishing a library within the department is considered one of the most important scientific achievements that saved the department’s students the trouble of researching and scrutinizing various sources, as it included more than 800 books and more than 400 magazines in the English language and in their modern editions, in addition to the theses and dissertations of the department’s graduates for postgraduate studies.
• The store
It is considered the most important unit that provides the department with glassware, chemicals, and laboratory equipment that are used in various teachings and research. The department, in its continuous endeavor, strives to equip the warehouse with the materials and glassware it needs to conduct its experiments.
In conclusion, we must mention the genius of the pioneer professors who left their scientific touches in the path of this ancient department since its founding, and we have all the respect for them.
Appreciation and we bow before them in reverence and honor for the most beautiful years of their lives they have given with all generosity, so that this department is at the forefront of specialized scientific departments.
At the Iraq level, they are:
Professor Dr. Youssef Muhammad Arab / Head of the Unified Animal Department
Professor Dr. Abbas Taha Al-Najm / Head of the Zoology Department
Professor Dr. Helmy Saber Othman
Professor Dr. Mounir Qaryakos Bani / Assistant Professor – Vertebrates (Natural History of Birds) Doctorate of Science from the University of Michigan (United States) 1959, and the areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s and doctoral students were in the natural history of vertebrates, especially birds, and its relationship to reproduction and behavior.
Professor Dr. Khaled Majid Hamid
Professor Dr. Falah Abdel Ghani, MP/ Assistant Professor in Physiology of Plant Ecology, Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma (United States) 1970, and the areas of scientific research were supervision of master’s students and Ph.D. in: Chemical interaction between plant species in relation to paterning of vegetation.
Professor Dr. Muhammad Ammar Al-Rawi/ Professor of Environment and Insects – Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (United States) 1958. The areas of scientific research and his supervision of master’s and doctoral students were:
A- Life-environmental studies on economic insects. B- Reproduction life in some birds. C- The effect of light on sexual maturity in turkeys. D- Study of rodent behavior.
Professor Dr. Ahmed Shawky Abdel Wahab
Professor Dr. Ibrahim Aziz Al-Suhaili/ Professor of Fungi and Plant Diseases. The areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s and doctoral students were in mycotoxins and plant diseases.
Professor Dr. Farouk Yas Al-Ani/ Assistant Professor – Bacterial Genetics – Ph.D. – University of Liverpool – United Kingdom – 1972. The areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s and doctoral students were in: A- The relationship of genetic mutations to the biochemical properties of pyocin in psid and mons. B- Genetic mutations and nitrogen fixation in Azotobacter. C-Genetic mutations and nitrogen fixation in Rhizomium. D- Improving tetracycline productivity through mutations in Streptomyces.
Professor Dr. Hussein Abbas Al-Ali/ Associate Professor – Insect Taxonomy, Ph.D., University of London, 1964. The areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s and doctoral students were in: A- Classification of Iraqi insects from the Coleoptera. B- Palm and date insects in Iraq.
Professor Dr. Ibrahim Qaddouri Qaddo / Professor of Economic Entomology, Ph.D. from the University of California (United States) 1959. The areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s and doctoral students were: A- Study of the life of economic insects. B- Study of biological control factors: parasites and predators.
Professor Dr. Faisal Abdul Qader Al-Sukkari
Professor Dr. Abdel Hakim Ahmed Al-Rawi
Professor Dr. Azur Noman Khalaf
Professor Dr. Bandar Al-Rawi 1991- 1995
Professor Dr. Rashid Mahgoub Al-Musleh 1996-2000 / Lecturer of Food Microbiology, Cairo University – PhD 1978. The areas of scientific research and supervision of master’s students were in: A- Food poisoning bacteria and pathogenic bacteria related to food and water. B- Taxonomic and environmental studies on the bacteria that cause food and dairy spoilage. C- Microbial contamination of various types of water, juices, and soft drinks. D-Methods of preserving food and controlling microbial growth in it. E- Relationships between microbes present in food and water.
Professor Dr. Muhammad Nafie Al-Azzawi 2001-2003
Professor Dr. Martyr Raad Mohsen Al-Mawla 2003-2006
Professor Dr. Duha Saad Saleh 2006 – 2008 / School – Microbiology – Master’s – University of Baghdad – 1977. The areas of scientific research were in pathogenic bacteria and immunology (isolating and diagnosing pathogenic bacteria and studying their uses using immunological methods).
Professor Dr. Haifa Hadi Hassani 2008 – 2012
Professor Dr. Sabah Al-Alouji 2012-2014
Professor Dr. Abdul Latif Muhammad Jawad 2014-2015
Assistant Professor Dr. Samir Abdel Amir Alesh 2015
Dr. Raghad Harbi 2018-2019
Professor Dr. Hala Younis Fadel Al-Saadi from 2019 to the present