The department of Applied Biological Sciences addresses a diversity of disciplines in fundamental and applied biological sciences. The research topics include viral genetics, plant genetics, plant physiology, Molecular and biochemical pharmacology, protein chemistry, enzymology, protein engineering, cellular immunology, immunochemistry, parasitology, structural biology, microbiology, microbial physiology, industrial Microbiology and downstream processing. The diversity of disciplines addressed supports the training programmes in biology, biochemistry, and bio-engineering at graduate, post-graduate and Ph.D. level. The department also hosts the Belgian EMBnet Node for the European molecular and biotechnology research community in a joint initiative with the ULB. Two out of the nine VIB departments (Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnology) reside within the Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.