The Department of Zoobiology and Developmental Biology was established in December 2003, and developed from the doctoral program in zoology of the previous Department of Biology.

There are seven full professors/ supervisors of Ph. D. program, seven associate professors and one lecturer. The staff members of the Department conduct researches over a broad spectrum of areas relating to animal physiology and biochemistry, systematics of zoology, entomology, Hydrobiology, neurophysiology and neuroinformatics. The Department has undertaken many research projects granted by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education Foundation of Doctoral Program, Municipal Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin and 21-Century Science Foundation for Young Scientists. The researches have gained significant achievements in recent years, with a number of projects won national, provincial or ministerial awards. Several monographs and around 600 academic papers have been published.

The Department also has a specimen room in zoology that holds a collection of about 4000 specimens. 70 of these species are listed as the state protected species.

The Department currently has two postdoctoral staff, 25 doctoral candidates and 27 master candidates. The Department takes in postdoctoral researchers and admits students pursuing Ph. D. and M. Sc. degrees from home and abroad. It also provides research opportunities to visiting scholars in China.