Тhe Department of Biotechnology was established at the University of Food Technologies, Plovdiv in 1963. Throughout its development, the Department has gradually introduced education in a wide spectrum of scientific fields, related to various industrial spheres: biotechnology, pharmacy, food technology, food quality and safety, ecology, etc. The main goal of the Department is through the nature of academic disciplines to educate specialists for carriers both in academy and industry.

The Department has modern training and research laboratories to facilitate education and scientific work and has been accredited by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency for “bachelor” and “master” degree of “Biotechnology” subject and PhD degree of  “Technology of Biologically Active Substances”.

Our scientific work is directed towards fundamental and applied research in various aspects: technology development and production of bioproducts for the food and cosmetic industry, food quality and safety, functional food development, ecology.

The main educational and scientific research fields at the Department include:

•  Genetics and selection of microbial strains;
• Technology development for the production of various bioproducts: enzymes, antibiotics, protein products, vitamins, etc.
• Production and application  of  food ingredients, food supplements,  and biologically active substances for application in the food industry and cosmetics;
• Development of dietetic and functional foods and beverages;
• Rapid methods for microbiological and chemical analyses;
• Food quality and safety management;
• Ecological aspects of the biotechnology and food industries.

The Department is proud of its well developed international collaboration. Our students have opportunities for training and specializations at universities in Europe, America and Asia under various programmes and projects. Our partner universities are the University of Karlsruhe, Humboldt University, University of Technology of Compiegne, University of Coimbra, National Technical University of Athens, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Ghent University, University of Milan, University of Vermont, Texas A&M University, Iowa State University, University of California, Davis, Vellore Institute of Technology, and others.