Northeast Forestry University

Northeast Forestry University is a research university with a distinctive industry focus. Its characteristic strengths include Forestry, Forestry Engineering and related fields. It serves ecological civilization development and green productive forces, and takes as its mission the protection of clear waters and green mountains and the strengthening of northern China’s ecological security barrier. It pursues interdisciplinary integration and innovative development. Located in Harbin, at the heart of China’s largest state-owned forest region, its campus covers 136 hectares. It also has teaching, research and internship bases including Maoershan Experimental Forest Farm (Maoershan Forest Park) and Liangshui Experimental Forest Farm (Liangshui National Nature Reserve), bringing its total area to 33000 hectares.

History

Established in July 1952 as Northeast Forestry College, it was based on the forestry departments of Zhejiang University’s College of Agriculture and Northeast Agricultural College and directly administered by the former Ministry of Forestry. It was renamed Northeast Forestry University in August 1985. In February 2000, it was transferred from the former State Forestry Administration to direct Ministry of Education administration. In October 2005, it became a key national Project 211 university with approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education. In November 2010, the Ministry of Education and former State Forestry Administration signed a joint support agreement. In June 2011, it became a key institution under the national Innovation Platform for Advantageous Disciplines project. In March 2012, the Ministry of Education and Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Government signed a joint support agreement. It was included in the Double First-Class initiative with State Council approval in September 2017 and selected for the second national round in February 2022.

Faculty and students

It has more than 31000 postgraduate and full-time undergraduate students, including over 20400 undergraduates and over 11000 postgraduate students. It has over 2600 faculty and staff, including more than 1600 full-time teachers.

It has 1 member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 1 member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 54 selections for national talent programs, 23 experts receiving special State Council allowances, 15 experts receiving special Heilongjiang Provincial Government allowances, 1 national young or middle-aged expert with outstanding contributions, and 4 such experts at provincial or ministerial level. It has 2 National Huang Danian-style University Faculty Teams, 5 National Forestry and Grassland Administration science and technology innovation teams, and 9 Heilongjiang leading professional and technical talent groups. In recent years, its staff have received honors including 1 National Model of Teaching and Education, 5 nationally distinguished teachers, 6 National Outstanding Teachers, 3 National Model Teachers, 1 National Advanced Worker in the Education System, 4 nationally distinguished forestry and grassland teachers, 2 National Workers’ Pioneer teams, 1 National Outstanding Communist Youth League Cadre, 2 National May Day Labor Medal recipients, 1 National May Day Female Model Worker, 1 National March 8 Red Banner Pacesetter, 1 National Advanced Individual in Grassroots Theoretical Public Education, 2 National New Era Young Pioneer Award recipients, 3 provincial model workers, 32 provincially distinguished teachers, 9 provincial outstanding teacher selections, 2 provincial model teachers, 5 provincial advanced collectives in teacher ethics development, 7 provincial advanced individuals in teacher ethics, 6 provincial May Fourth Youth Medal recipients, and 2 Heilongjiang Good People honorees.

Disciplines and programs

The university has a graduate school, 22 schools, 1 teaching department and Hainan International College. It has 80 undergraduate programs, 26 national first-class undergraduate program development sites, 9 first-level doctoral degree fields, 2 professional doctoral degree fields, 2 independently established interdisciplinary doctoral fields, 18 first-level master’s degree fields, 19 professional master’s degree categories, 9 postdoctoral research stations and 1 postdoctoral workstation. It has 2 world-class development disciplines, Forestry Engineering and Forestry, and 4 nationally first-class development disciplines: Biology, Ecology, Landscape Architecture, and Agricultural and Forestry Economics and Management. It has 3 national first-level key disciplines, 11 national second-level key disciplines, 8 National Forestry and Grassland Administration key disciplines, 2 key disciplines under cultivation by that administration, 1 Heilongjiang key discipline cluster and 7 Heilongjiang first-level key disciplines. It hosts one of the first Heilongjiang university interdisciplinary centers for carbon neutrality. Eight disciplines rank in the ESI global top 1%: Plant and Animal Science, Agricultural Sciences, Environment and Ecology, Chemistry, Materials Science, Engineering, Biology and Biochemistry, and Geosciences. It is gradually developing a disciplinary and program system integrating forestry with engineering, supporting forestry through science, connecting forestry and the humanities, and integrating agriculture and forestry. It has a national life sciences and technology talent training base jointly approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Education and a national basic science research and teaching talent training base in Biology approved by the Ministry of Education. It is a national pilot institution for education system reform, a national pilot institution under the Excellent Engineer and Excellent Agricultural and Forestry Talent Education and Training programs, a Ministry of Education demonstration university for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education, and a national university practical education innovation and entrepreneurship base.

Teaching and research platforms

The university has strong teaching and research platforms and practical teaching bases. These include the National Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding (Northeast Forestry University), the National Key Laboratory of Woody Oil Resource Utilization (Northeast Forestry University), the National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Ecological Utilization of Biological Resources, and the Heilongjiang Maoershan Forest Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station. It has 4 Ministry of Education key laboratories in Forest Plant Ecology, Biomass Materials Science and Technology, Restoration and Reconstruction of Saline-Alkali Vegetation in Northeast China, and Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management; 5 National Forestry and Grassland Administration key laboratories and a Felid Research Center; 16 Heilongjiang key laboratories; and 5 Heilongjiang international cooperation laboratories. It has 2 Ministry of Education engineering research centers, 3 university disciplinary innovation and international expertise introduction bases, 3 national experimental teaching demonstration centers in Forestry, Forest Engineering and Wildlife, 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching centers in Forest Engineering and Wildlife, and 6 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers. It has 2 Ministry of Education field scientific observation and research stations and 4 National Forestry and Grassland Administration long-term ecosystem research stations. It has 11 provincial platforms in philosophy and the social sciences and 2 provincial think tanks, 3 long-term research bases approved by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, a wildlife and plant testing center of that administration, and the National Woodworking Machinery Quality Supervision and Inspection Center of the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. It has 1 overseas postgraduate innovation and practice base, 1 national demonstration joint training base for professional degrees, and 155 off-campus postgraduate innovation and practice bases. In 2020, Maoershan Experimental Forest Farm, Liangshui Experimental Forest Farm and the Forest Museum were selected for the fifth group of national forestry and grassland science popularization bases, and the Forest Museum became a National Grade II Museum. In 2021, it established the Northeast Asia Biodiversity Research Center and the Institute of Carbon Neutrality Technology Innovation.

International exchange and cooperation

The university actively conducts international exchange and cooperation and has partnerships with more than 100 universities and research institutions in nearly 30 countries and regions. Each year, nearly 300 experts and scholars from overseas and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan visit to lecture, collaborate in research or undertake academic visits. More than 100 teachers are sent abroad or to other regions each year for degree study, further training, visits and research cooperation. It conducts varied student exchange programs with partner institutions in Russia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and actively selects students for overseas degree study through government-sponsored channels. It jointly operates Sino-foreign education institutions and programs with the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the University of Technology Sydney in Australia, Aston University in the United Kingdom, and Birkbeck, University of London. In May 2024, it established Hainan International College in the Hainan Lingshui Li’an International Education Innovation Pilot Zone. Through the integrated development of Sino-foreign joint institutions, joint education programs, an international credit center and joint research institutes, it aims to create an important window and platform for international exchange. In recent years, it has hosted major international academic conferences including an International Symposium on Tree Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and an International Symposium on Transboundary Conservation of Tigers and Leopards. It strongly supports international student education. As a host institution for Chinese Government Scholarship students, it has educated many outstanding international students from more than 100 countries across five continents.

Awards and honors

The university received an Excellent rating in the undergraduate teaching evaluation in 2007. It was named a National Civilized Institution by the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress in 2011, 2014 and 2017. It first received the National Civilized Campus honor in 2020 and retained it after review in 2025. It has received the provincial Civilized Institution title for 16 consecutive years. In 2021, its Party committee was named a Heilongjiang Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization.

In recent years, its honors have included National Ecological Civilization Education Base, National Model Workers’ Home, National Advanced Collective in Teacher Ethics Development, National Model Institution in Greening, the seventh and tenth Mother River Awards, National Advanced Institution in University Student Financial Aid, National May Fourth Red Flag Youth League Committee, National May Fourth Red Flag Youth League Branch, an Excellent-rated project office under the National University Student Volunteer Service in Western China program, Heilongjiang May Day Labor Award institution, one of Heilongjiang’s Top Ten Harmonious Campuses, Heilongjiang March 8 Red Banner institution, Heilongjiang Advanced Collective in Confidentiality Work, Heilongjiang Advanced Collective in Patriotic Education, Provincial Advanced Institution in Legal Publicity and Education, Heilongjiang Advanced Institution in Military Recruitment, Advanced Collective in Joint Military-Police-Civilian Development and Education, Heilongjiang Advanced Collective in Student Affairs, one of Heilongjiang’s first demonstration centers for university mental health education, and one of Heilongjiang’s first demonstration institutions for law-based university governance. It has been named a National Advanced Institution in University Student Social Practice on 23 occasions.

In 2020, it successfully hosted the 12th Challenge Cup Chinese University Student Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, won a Victory Cup, and earned 2 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze awards. In 2023, it successfully hosted the second China Postgraduate Dual-Carbon Innovation and Creativity Competition and won the overall championship. Since the start of the 12th Five-Year Plan, it has received 819 research achievement awards of various types and levels, including 6 second prizes in the National Science and Technology Progress Awards and 340 provincial or ministerial research awards, including 31 first prizes. It has received 1830 granted invention patents. In 2014, 2018 and 2022, it received a total of 4 second prizes in the National Teaching Achievement Awards.