Being one of the oldest and supreme departments of the University of Dhaka, the Department of Chemistry has always left pioneering contributions in establishing the prominence and supremacy of the University of Dhaka, and has steadily developed into a leading center of active research and teaching.
The journey of Dhaka University started with 12 departments under 3 faculties. The Department of Chemistry was established on the 1st day of July 1921 when the University of Dhaka opened its doors under the “Dacca University Act 1920”. The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of both the Department of Chemistry and the University of Dhaka. Over time, the size of this department together with many other departments has been increased exponentially.
The Department of Chemistry was located in a building near the main Curzon Hall. In order to meet the growing demands of the increasing number of students, a new multistoried building named as Mukarram Hussain Khundkar Biggan Bhaban, was built opposite to the University Play Ground. The extended Chemistry Department was housed in the north wing of this new building. Initially, the Department of Chemistry was established with the hope of creating new areas of knowledge in chemical science and disseminating this knowledge to the chemistry related industries through its students. Furthermore, the faculties of the department enriched the global pool of knowledge in chemical science by making notable contributions in the fields of teaching and research.
From the very beginning of the department, MSc degree was offered in two disciplines: (i) Organic and (ii) Physical-inorganic chemistry. The students from three streams were admitted in the M.Sc. class, (i) BSc (Hons) graduates of the Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka (ii) BSc (Honors) graduates of Colleges and (iii) Preliminary students of the Department of Chemistry. After the establishment of National University in 1992, the admission of students from the latter two steams has been entirely stopped in the MSc class. Currently MS degree is given in three disciplines (Physical, Organic, and Inorganic Chemistry) from the Department of Chemistry and only the chemistry graduates from University of Dhaka can get admitted for the MS degree.