Barkatullah University, formerly known as Bhopal University, was established in 1970 and rechristened in 1988 as Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya.

The Department of Microbiology was established in the year 1981-1982. The Department offers two year M.Sc. and Ph. D. research program in Microbiology. The Department has been extensively engaged on identification and characterization of economically important microbes and their application on agricultural field. The department is also working on plant microbe interaction to improve plant growth to support sustainable agriculture. Several research projects funded by MPCST, CSIR, UGC, DST and DBT are ongoing in the department.