Biostatistics also called biometry is the improvement of statistical techniques and their utilisation to a broad spectrum of subjects in biology. It incorporates biological investigations, gathering and interpreting information from those investigations, and the explanation of their results. Using the means of statistics, biostatisticians assist in answering driving research problems in biology, medicine, and public health, such as if a new drug works, what induces cancer and other conditions and how long an individual with a specific disease is anticipated to live. Biostatisticians use their quantitative abilities to couple with specialists in other disciplines ranging from biologists and oncologists to geneticists and surgeons. Apart from being mere number crunchers, they also play crucial roles in planning investigations to guarantee adequate data and proper kind of information gathering. They also examine, assess and decipher the results, taking into consideration variables, missing data and biases all along the way. Some important recent studies in the field include how antiretroviral therapy decreased the hazards of heterosexual communication of HIV-AIDS by 96% – a development that could rescue innumerable lives and ailments which the Science magazine entitled as the 2011 “Breakthrough of the Year”, as well as using DNA from elephant dung and tusk to pinpoint locations where illegal hunting happens in Africa, providing legal authorities and preservation officials with the means they require to stop the illicit trade.

The Ph.D in Bio-Statistics program is centred on graduate pupils who aspire for a job as an academic or professional, in epidemiologic or biomedical services. The program satisfies the requirements of the health specialists who aspire to proceed with public health education to accomplish a higher and more specific degree and the statistician who aims to focus on statistical training for biomedical uses. The program concentrates on statistical approaches and techniques so that pupils are equipped to be productive statistical contributors in multidisciplinary studies; form biostatistics methodology, and guide the study’s plan and accomplishment. Students are familiarised with knowledge associated to measure theory and probability, analysis of longitudinal and correlated data, survival analysis and categorical data analysis. This program along with the scholar’s activity within the lab and in the classroom as tutors, provide them with the opportunity to adequately plan for careers as researchers and academicians. The important topics of study are large sample theory, genetic data analysis, advanced biostatistical methods, clinical trials methods, biostatistical computing, applied survival analysis, analysis of categorical data, nonparametric statistics, analysis of multivariate data, multivariate analysis etc.

Ph.D in Bio-Statistics is a 3-5 year research program whose minimum eligibility is a postgraduate degree in the equivalent discipline. Few institutions also conduct entrance examinations like UGC-NET for the same. One of the greatest privileges of pursuing a Ph.D in biostatistics is that scholars will never find themselves separated from real-world problems. Each project they are involved in will be connected with imminent issues that scientists, politicians, mathematicians, and public well-being specialists deal with regularly. The job market for biostatisticians is hot, from high-end pharmaceutical companies to research institutions. Some of the major job designations for a Ph.D scholar in Bio-Statistics are assistant professor,  data analyst, data interpreter, research analyst, biostatistician, content developer, research scholar, teaching associates, assistant professor & lecturer, etc.