The Department of Natural Science, housed under the School of Management offers M. Phil programmes in Material Science and Glycobiology. The former is currently in the third and the latter in the first year of operation. Faculty members of this department regularly publish in international peer-reviewed journals, chair sessions and deliver invited lectures and supervise projects funded by the granting agencies. They participate in teaching programmes of other departments viz in the B. Tech and M. Tech programmes. The Department of Natural Science also hosts seminars and organizes workshops on a regular basis.

Two post B.Sc. Integrated Ph.D programmes in physics and chemistry are running in the WBUT nodal centre, S.N.Bose Centre for Basic Sciences. Students are admitted into the physics programme through the national level JEST examination.

M. Phil in Material Science - Appreciating the importance of material science in the present day industrial environment throughout the world, WBUT started a one year M. Phil programme in Material Science from January 2007. The course stresses on the theory of polymer, ceramics and nanomaterials and features both lab-based work and research. There is a dedicated laboratory for this programme in the ground floor of the university. This lab is being expanded and upgraded.

M. Phil in Glycobiology - This one-year programme commenced from 2008 and covers such topics as the Foundations of Biochemistry, Chemistry & Biochemistry of Proteins, Biochemistry of Glycoconjugates, Structure and Synthesis of Carbohydrates, Carbohydrate-mediated interactions etc.

Proposed Programme - The Department of Natural Science is considering the introduction of an M. Sc programme in Material Science.

Workshops and Seminars

1. Workshop on Experimental Physics during March 29 – April 04, 2007: This workshop focused on the use of Phoenix, an interface instrument developed for designing physics experiments. There were 19 participants. Speakers included Prof A. R. Thakur (Ex VC, WBUT), Prof Subimal Sen (Vice Chairman, West Bengal Council of Higher Education), Dr Ajith Kumar IUAC, Delhi), Prof Bijiy Bal (SINP) and others.
2. Lecture demonstration of Phoenix Interface kit by Dr Ajith Kumar on September 23, 2007.
3. International workshop on “Complex Dynamics of Physiological Systems: From Heart to Brain” organized at Presidency College, Kolkata and jointly sponsored by WBUT and SINP during March, 2007.
4. Workshop on the use of Phoenix during March 06 – 09, 2008 at WBUT with 18 participants.
5. Workshop on “Complexity” held during March 17 – 28, 2008 co-sponsored by WBUT and ISI, Kolkata.

Ongoing Development Programmes
SOM plans to offer refresher courses, workshops and seminars on a regular basis in order to foster research activities in the area of management with special emphasis on interdisciplinary research. The link with industry will be maintained through regular consultancy services to be offered by SOM to the corporate sector. These activities will help to cement an effective academics – industry interface.

Keeping in mind the technological thrust of the university, SOM will offer programmes specifically geared towards the management of technology. A parallel focus will be on the diffusion of technology and management principles in the small scale sector of the Indian economy to encourage and facilitate the growth of entrepreneurship. To this end, SOM will also offer programmes for training of NGOs involved in social activities. The School plans to undertake projects of contemporary interest and issues and reach out to various segments of the society and be part of the vital link between technological and societal needs.

The School is scheduled to organize some more workshops/seminars on Forex Risk Management, Complexity/Stochastic processes in Finance/Economics, Risk Management, Engineering Project Management etc. in the near future.

SOM and South Asian Management Technologies have launched a global project to assist the banking community of developing nations by creating an Operational Risk Loss Data Exchange, an activity in accordance with Basel II norms of BIS (Bank for International Settlements). This exchange will store various operational risk losses faced by the banking industry and will make the data available, after suitable normalization, to the participating banks for better management of their operational risk.