---

Copyright@Huazhong Agricultural University
Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China,430070.
Telephone:+86-027-87282027, Fax:+86-027-87384670
Enquiries to Webmaster

HUAZHONG AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
ADVANCES IN GIANT STRIDES

Huazhong Agricultural University, directly administrated by the Ministry of Education of P. R. China, is one of the national key universities. It is located in Wuhan City, the capital of Hubei Province and "a thoroughfare to nine provinces" known in history. Enclosed with emerald tree-covered Lion Hill and fascinating waters on three sides, the campus featuring by its beautiful surroundings serves as an ideal place for education and scientific research. The university covers an area of 4.95 square kilometers.

Huazhong Agricultural University (HAU) has a long history over one hundred years. Its predecessor, Huazhong Agricultural College (HAC), termed Hubei Agricultural College in 1940, was derived from Hubei Farming School (HFS) established in 1898 by Mr. Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei-Hunan region. In 1952 when China's high institutions were restructured HAC was founded, on the basis of merging Agricultural College of Wuhan University with Hubei Agricultural College, Agricultural College of Henan University, Agricultural College of Nanchang University, Agricultural College of Guangxi University, Agricultural College of Zhongshan University and some departments of Hunan Agricultural College. HAC had its name changed to HAU in 1985.

HAU is a multi-disciplinary comprehensive university giving priority to agriculture, characterized by life sciences and supplemented by the combination of agriculture, basic sciences, engineering, liberal arts, law, economic trade, and management. HAU, one of the first groups of universities in China which are authorized to confer Ph.D. and M.A. degrees, has produced the new China's first doctor majoring in agronomy. Firmly adhering to the two central tasks like teaching and scientific research, HAU maintains its management by means of various levels and flexible forms. As far as the educational quality and academic level are concerned, HAU ranks first among the agricultural universities in China. In addition, it has been converted into national important base for training senior special agricultural personnel and developing agricultural science and technology.

Now HAU comprises 11 colleges (Life Sciences and Technology, Economics and Trade, Land Management, Fishery, , Humanities and Social Sciences, Engineering Technology, Horticultural and Forestry Sciences, Basic Sciences, Plant Sciences Technology, Animal Sciences Technology, Veterinary Medicine, and Adult Education), 3 departments (Resources Environment and Agrochemistry, Food Sciences and Technology, and Foreign Languages). Besides, also affiliated to the university are teaching units, such as Foreign Language Training Center. HAU has 43 undergraduate specialties, 43 master specialties, 26 doctor specialties and 6 post-doctor mobile stations (Biology, Agronomy, Horticulture, Economic Management of Agriculture and Forestry, Agricultural Resources, and Animal Sciences), 6 national key disciplines and 12 ministerial and provincial key disciplines. In addition, there are 6 national engineering research centers, 1 national basic sciences research training center for teachers of biology, 1 national key laboratory of crop genetics improvement, 5 ministerial and provincial key laboratories, such as Agromicrobiology Laboratory, and 24 research institutes, such as Institute of Plant Genetics and Breeding, as well as 8 other centers, such as Monitoring and Testing Center of Breeding Pig Quality, Center for Rural Sustainable Development, Monitoring and Testing Center of Agromicrobiology Products of Ministry of Agriculture.

Presently the number of full-time students reaches about 11,500, of whom 1,500 are postgraduates. Meanwhile the adult education students are totally over 10,000.

HAU boasts a highly qualified teaching contingent of 954 teachers, of which 131 are full professors, 285 associate professors. Thus, a contingent of fine quality teachers has been shaped representing all the necessary subjects. Moreover, embodied in the teachers' rank are academicians, two from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, two from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 5 members of the Academic Degree Commission of the State Council, 101 doctorate advisors, 50 young and middle-aged state-level, province-level or ministry-level experts with remarkable contributions.

HAU regards actively catering to the needs of economic and social development, adjusting and optimizing the specialty structure and constantly improving the academic research ability. In the early of the 21 century, HAU's education have covered 7 kinds of specialties, such as Agronomy, Basic Sciences, Engineering, Law, Literature, Economy, and Management, 2/3 of which are the close-to-agricultural or non-agricultural specialties. HAU's national key specialties, such as Crop Genetics and Breeding, Microbiology, Pomology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Aquiculture and etc., with their brilliant characteristics and prominent advantages, maintain leading position among China's agricultural universities and colleges. And the social sciences specialties develop very quickly, such as Sociology, Industrial Economics, Economic Management of Agriculture and Forestry, Land Resources Management, Educational Economy and Management, etc.. Information Sciences, Resources and Environment, Food Sciences, and Engineering as well as the specialties of agricultural engineering have laid sound foundations for their development. Up to now, supplemented by the combination of agriculture, basic sciences, engineering, liberal arts, law, economic trade and management, HAU has initially formed the specialties system, with the priority over agriculture and the characteristic of life sciences.

HAU sticks to an all-round development in students' morality, intelligence and physical culture, therefore the educational quality has reached the advanced national level. In the course of undergraduates' teaching, painstaking efforts are made to lay solid foundations, broaden the students' knowledge coverage, emphasize experimentation, and foster ability. HAU's undergraduates have sound theoretic basis, wide range of knowledge, marked ability to solve practical problems, and impressive adaptability. In the case of the postgraduate enrollment ratio, HAU holds a leading position within China's agricultural universities and colleges. HAU's postgraduate education has witnessed a rapid development, and its educational quality won an extensive acclaim of the responsible departments. HAU has taken the lead in conducting an educational experiment with training application-oriented postgraduates of agriculture and pioneered new ways to bring up high-ranking application-oriented personnel for the main battlefront of the national economy.

In accordance with the research guiding ideology of "strengthening basic research and highlighting high and new technology, its industrial research and application development research", HAU has closely followed the tracks of international scientific development, and unfolded in a big way the spread of agricultural science and technology. HAU's scientific and technological network comprises three principal systems: (1) basic theoretical research system of modern biology, which centers around Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Development Biology and Environment Biology; (2) applied research system, which combines genetic improvement technology of traditional animals, botany and microbiology with bioengineering technology; (3) application development research system, which integrates with improved varieties, better farming methods, effective cropping systems, farm produce processing and technical popularization.

HAU, full of vitality, is very active in international exchanges and cooperation, and has established inter-university exchange relations and technological cooperation with more than 30 universities and scientific institutions abroad. Every year more than 100 teachers will be sent overseas for advanced studies, visits and cooperation of science and technology, etc. Meanwhile, HAU will invite over 100 scientists, technologists and cultural experts from abroad to lecture and teach. And every year HAU will organize or co-organize international symposiums or conferences. In the recent ten years, HAU has received over 100 foreigners from 32 countries for advanced studies and technical training.

Being practical and realistic, HAU will strive to open wider to the outside world by means of gearing up its reforms, and carry forward the fine tradition of "Solidarity, Industry, Truth-seeking and Advancement", marching towards the aim of being a nationally first-class, internationally influential multi-disciplinary comprehensive and research intensive university with its major academic areas reaching or close to advanced world levels.