University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

History of UCAS

Located in Beijing, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences was established with the approval of Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its predecessor, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GUCAS), was the first graduate school in China. UCAS graduated the PRC’s first doctoral student in science, first doctoral student in engineering, first female doctoral student, and first student with double doctoral degrees. In June 2012, GUCAS was renamed UCAS. Now UCAS includes campuses located at four locations (Yuquanlu, Zhongguancun, the Olympic Village, and Yanqi Lake), and has provided high quality education to over 170000 students. 

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UCAS and CAS

UCAS is administered and managed by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), established in 1949. Comprising more than 100 institutes, CAS is China's highest academic institution in the Natural Sciences, the highest-ranking consulting institution in science and technology, the preeminent research and development center for the Natural Sciences and high technology, and the most important base in the training of advanced scientific talents.

 

UCAS Education: "The Fusion of Scientific Research and Education"

UCAS espouses the philosophy of "The Fusion of Scientific Research and Teaching" as its basic system of education.  The fusion of UCAS and CAS institutes in terms of management, education, faculty, training, and scientific research is fully supported and facilitated by and under the auspices of CAS. Most CAS institutes shoulder the main responsibilities of graduate education, and also provide tutors, practice, and experience bases for UCAS undergraduates.  A high-level CAS institute and supported by several other relevant CAS institutes typically oversee all amalgamated UCAS schools of science and engineering. The leading institute is the first party of responsibility, its juridical person serving as the dean or executive vice dean who takes comprehensive control of all education and management affairs. All colleges are organizationally structured as either“College-Teaching and Research Sector” or “College-Department”educational bodies.  As of August 2020, UCAS had 57 teaching and research institutes. UCAS has also established 16 affiliated hospitals.

UCAS boasts a team of highly qualified faculty consisting of distinguished professors from CAS institutes, strong at both education and scientific research. UCAS also provides first-class research conditions for students to conduct scientific research. As of August 2020, UCAS had 3,090 professors, 11,257 supervisors, including 176 CAS Members and 6786 doctoral supervisors from three national research centers (or labs), 73 national key labs, 189 CAS key labs, 29 national engineering research centers (labs) and various national frontier scientific research projects.  This outstanding faculty are, thus, able to provide a grand and vast educational platform for students to engage in scientific research. 

Being the largest graduate educational institution, the main task of UCAS has long been graduate education.  As of December 2019, UCAS had over 51,700 postgraduate students enrolled, 52% of which are doctoral students; 1,625 undergraduates; and 1,734 international students from 96 countries, of whom1,055 were doctoral students.

UCAS is authorized to confer all Master’s and doctorate degrees in the scientific disciplines, as well as 90% degrees in engineering disciplines. UCAS is also authorized to confer professional Master's degree in such disciplines as engineering, business administration, finance, applied statistics, applied psychology, translation and interpreting, agricultural extension, pharmacy, engineering management, and public management. From 1978 to 2019, UCAS had conferred degrees on 171,526 students, including 83,561 Ph.D., 87,367 Master’s, and 598 Bachelor’s degrees.  137 UCAS graduates were elected Full and Emeritus Members of CAS and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).

Buttressed by the cutting-edge research advantages and superior CAS human resources, UCAS is committed to building itself into a world-class university. According to the Essential Science Indicators report released in January 2020, UCAS ranked 76th worldwide, and 1st among the PRC’s universities.  Among the 22 lists ranked by research fields, UCAS figured in the top 1‱  in the fields of materials science and chemistry, the top 1‰ in seven fields, including materials science, chemistry, environment/ecology, engineering, plant & animal science, agricultural sciences, and geosciences, and the top 1% in 18 fields.

 

International Cooperation

Based on CAS and its extensive international network of scientific cooperation, UCAS has established close ties and partnerships with Harvard University, MIT, Columbia University, Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Bristol , Munich University of Technology, the University of California-Santa Barbara, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Australian National University, Sorbonne University (Paris), Univeristé PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres), the University of Toronto, the National University of Singapore, the Royal Society, the Max Planck Society (Germany), the National Center for Scientific Research (France), the Russian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, as well as many other world-renowned universities. UCAS is also a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), and has also co-founded the Sino-Danish College in China with the Danish Ministry of Science and Education and eight Danish public universities, and has established the ICTP-AP with UNESCO. Supported by the Kavli Foundation of the United States, UCAS has also founded a Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, one of the 20 Kavli institutes across the world. To help promote education in Belt and Road countries, UCAS has been involved in international projects, including ANSO fellowship and the CAS “The Belt and Road”Master fellowship program.

 

For Better Students, For Better Future

Embracing the motto“Knowledge, Devotion, Investigation, Virtue”, continuing the CAS tradition of “Science, Democracy, Patriotism and Dedication”, and promoting a work ethic of “Practicality, Truth-seeking, Cooperation, and Innovation”, UCAS pays great attention to and focuses on helping students lay a solid foundation for future scientific research in addition to developing a spirit of innovation, a down-to-earth character, and a sense of social responsibility. Simultaneously and concurrently, in its development as a comprehensive national science center, UCAS is reaching further to explore its unique path and vision in the fusion of scientific research and education, aiming to create and construct a top world-class innovative university by 2050.