Overview

The Department of Animal Science celebrates more than six decade of incomparable service to the nation. At the inception, a Department of Animal Husbandry was established in 1948 with the commencement of higher education in Agriculture in Sri Lanka under the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Science of the then University of Ceylon. When a fully pledged faculty was established for Agriculture in 1972, the Department of Animal Husbandry was one of its six academic Departments and taught in both agriculture and veterinary students. In 1980, the Department was renamed as the Department of Animal Science and continues to be one of the oldest three departments of the Faculty. The Department of Animal Science offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to all aspects of animal science, aquaculture and related disciplines. Its academic programs are supported by well-trained academic staff who have doctoral degrees obtained from well-reputed universities from all over the world. The academic support staff, modern laboratories and livestock field station and pilot processing units are valuable assets to the Department and immensely contribute to the academic programmes. With the extended physical and human resources, the department was able to introduce a new undergraduate degree program in Animal Science and Fisheries through the Faculty of Agriculture in 2009 thus, catering to all the three undergraduate degree programs offered by the faculty at present. The department also involves in offering four taught master’s degree programs, research M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees through the Board of Study in Animal Science at the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya. The Department of Animal Science is always dedicated to offer the best training to the undergraduate and postgraduate students and to produce talented graduates who are employable and maintains strong links with reputed global universities for enhancement of teaching and research.