Department of Biological Sciences was established in 2008 as the newest department of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences. At present, the department offers M.Sc. programs in biochemistry and biophysics and more than 120 students have been graduated from this department in these fields yet. The necessary measure are taken to provide new fields of study and higher level educational programs in modern biological and interdisciplinary sciences. In 2018, the first group of biochemistry and biophysics Ph.D. (direct entry from a bachelor's degree to a Ph.D. program) students will start their study. The faculty members are also active in the field of cell biology and preparations are underway to establish graduate program in the field of cellular and molecular biology. M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs are both course and research oriented and research projects are defined with experimental and/or theoretical orientations. The research laboratories in department of biological sciences are Biochemistry, Biophysics, Bacterial Culture, Cell Culture and Bio-informatics. The faculty members aim to do high quality research and collaborate internationally. The research topics currently being pursued in the department are Folding and Stability of Proteins and Nucleic acids, Protein Aggregation and Amyloid Formation, Enzyme Research, Antibacterial Peptides, Biological Membrane, Drug design, Drug-DNA Interaction, Photoproteins, Recombinant Vaccines, Radiation Therapy of Cancer Cells, Stem cells, Organoid technology, Mathematical Modeling of Biological Processes and Magnetotactic Bacteria. So far, the department has hosted several scientific seminars on different topics such as Biophysics and Bioinformatics of Diabetes: Amyloid Frontier, Light and Biology, Cancer Cell Biology, Protein Folding and Stability, Annual Scientific Programs in Global Biophysics Week.