The discipline of chemistry at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) was established in the 1950s, and was among the first group of disciplines that were authorized to offer doctoral and master degrees in chemical science in mainland China. According to strategic planning of CAS, the research and education activities of the chemistry discipline at UCAS are led by the Institute of Chemistry, with other 20 CAS institutes as joint partners, including the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, etc. Such broad partnership among CAS institutes highlights the depth of the Combination of Education and Research Training Program in UCAS chemistry discipline, that benefits from the vast education and research resources in the chemistry related institutes, with renowned faculty members and cutting-edge facilities located in many prominent laboratories at the CAS, state, and national levels. The UCAS chemistry discipline runs 30 CAS key laboratories, 14 state key laboratories/engineering centers, and one national laboratory.
The UCAS chemistry discipline is committed to balancing the research and education with two goals, contributing to the science progress and social development in China, and educating and cultivating the young generations to be patriotic and law abiding, innovative and creative, and with global perspective. The UCAS chemistry discipline maintains a steady stream of new students. The average score of National College Entrance Examination for the admitted undergraduate students is the third highest in China, and most graduate students are from prominent universities in China.
The UCAS chemistry discipline owns 1223 academic supervisors including 24 CAS Academicians and 110 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (NSFDY). In order to maintain the high level of teaching, 149 faculty members including 14 CAS Academicians and 50 recipients of the NSFDYS are actively involved in teaching. In 2014, UCAS started enrolling undergraduate students, and since then an intact higher educational system has been established in chemistry. Currently, there are 4761 graduate students and 106 undergraduate students enrolled in chemistry discipline at UCAS. Each year, nearly 800 highly-qualified students receive their Ph.D. or master degrees. After graduation, most of these students are holding offices in universities, research institutions, chemistry related companies, and government agencies in China.
The UCAS chemistry is a well-balanced and comprehensive discipline that includes inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry and physics, chemical biology, and nanoscience and technology. Benefiting from the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations, a series of innovative achievements have been made in the fields of materials, energy, environment and resources, with a grand goal of addressing China’s major national needs and advancing frontiers of chemical science. Since 2016, the researchers in UCAS chemistry discipline have been awarded more than 1200 national research funds, with an overall research funding of over 2.3 billion RMB and many scientific achievements have been made.
The UCAS chemistry also offers outstanding service to society. With the strong synergy among academic researchers and industry, a number of scientific works and findings have been successfully transferred to commercial technologies. For example, we have developed the new frontier of heterogenous single-atom catalysis oriented to highly efficient energy storage and conversion, precise synthesis of molecules, advanced technologies of green printing, coal-oil transformation, and high-performance polymeric materials. The license fees and consulting fees can up to 1.4 billion RMB. These investigation and development contributed a lot to the chemical industry, national defense, and to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The academic influence of the UCAS chemistry discipline has been increasing steadily. Since 2016, the researchers have been awarded 1 First Class Prizes of National Natural Science Award, 10 Second Class Prizes of National Natural Science Award, 1 First Class Prize of National Science and Technology Award and 3 Second Class Prize of National Science and Technology Award. Six faculty members hold offices in the important international science organizations such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Asia-Pacific Association of Catalysis Societies. 84 faculty members serve as editors-in-chief or associate editors at prestigious chemistry journals such as JACS. Since 2016, over 70 faculty members have been listed as the highly cited researchers by Clarivate Analytics. Currently the UCAS chemistry discipline ranks the seventh globally and the first nationally in the mainland according to the Essential Science Indicators.
We also devotes to the world-wide communication and education to international students and scientists. We are building overseas joint centers for education and research, and has been involved in international projects, including ANSO fellowship; and we created several co-founded centers, such as the center for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific with UNESCO. We are happy to see more international communication and collaboration with all of you.
Email: chem@ucas.ac.cn
