Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences established its graduate school in 1979. It was among China’s first institutions authorized to award doctoral and master’s degrees. Drawing on 34 research institutes across 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, the graduate school follows the philosophy of “rooted in research, based on quality, and advancing agriculture through science and education.” It uses its distinctive approach of “integrating the academy and institutes, with two-stage training.” After over 40 years of exploration and development, it has established a multilevel, diverse education system encompassing full-time master’s and doctoral programs, part-time master’s programs, postdoctoral research, international students in China, Sino-foreign cooperative education, postgraduate students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and continuing education.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a centrally administered national agricultural research institution and China’s highest academic institution for comprehensive agricultural research. It undertakes major basic and applied basic research, applied research and high-technology research in agriculture. Its three-tier disciplinary structure comprises 11 broad clusters, 58 disciplinary fields and 283 research directions. The clusters are basic and frontier research, crops, horticulture, plant protection, resources and environment, animal science, veterinary medicine, agricultural microorganisms, agricultural product quality and processing, agricultural equipment engineering and information, and agricultural economics and rural development. It has world-class national research facilities and innovation platforms, including the world’s largest single large-animal biosafety level-four laboratory facility, Asia’s largest cluster of large-animal biosafety level-three laboratories, the world’s largest single national crop genebank with the most original germplasm resources, 2 major national scientific infrastructure facilities and 18 state key laboratories. These provide strong scientific support and educational resources for its postgraduate education.

Its disciplines cover 4 categories: agriculture, science, engineering and management. It has doctoral authorization in 12 first-level disciplines—biology, ecology, agricultural engineering, food science and engineering, crop science, horticulture, agricultural resources and environment, plant protection, animal science, veterinary medicine, grassland science, and agricultural and forestry economics and management—and master’s authorization in 16 first-level disciplines. It has 50 doctoral and 54 master’s degree authorizations and 5 interdisciplinary disciplines. It has 18 academicians of China’s two academies and 2811 supervisors, including 1040 doctoral supervisors. It currently has over 7500 postgraduate students and has awarded over 22000 doctoral and master’s degrees, training many high-level agricultural science and technology professionals for China’s agricultural and economic development.

The graduate school admits students in autumn and offers scholarships including the Chinese Government Scholarship, Beijing Government Scholarship for International Students, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Scholarship, and Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World Scholarship. Doctoral and master’s programs normally last 3 years. Most teaching is in English or bilingual Chinese and English. It currently has 323 international students, over 85% of whom are doctoral students, from 47 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. It has graduated 937 international students, including 804 doctoral and 133 master’s graduates, from 73 countries. With Ministry of Education approval, it jointly offers doctoral education programs with the University of Liège in Belgium and Wageningen University in the Netherlands. It has partnerships with over 90 overseas universities and research institutions, continually improving international cooperation and exchanges.

Upholding its motto, “Cultivate Virtue and Investigate Things, Learn Broadly and Act Diligently,” the graduate school pursues an educational goal of being “high-level, research-oriented, international and distinctive.” It strives to become a nationally first-class and internationally renowned institution for cultivating high-level agricultural science and technology professionals.

Contact details

Address: International Education Office, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing, China

Postal code: 100081

Telephone: (86-10) 82109676

Fax: (86-10) 82106609

Email: studyincaas@caas.cn

Website: https://gs.caas.cn/