College Overview

The School of Earth Sciences at Jilin University originated from the Department of Geology at Changchun College of Geology. In 1951, in response to the nation’s need for large-scale economic development, the Northeast Specialized School of Geology was established, with the renowned geologist Professor Li Siguang serving as its president. In 1952, following a restructuring of academic departments, the Northeast Specialized School of Geology, the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at Shandong University, and part of the Department of Physics at the Northeast Institute of Technology were merged to form the Northeast Institute of Geology, which subsequently established the Department of Geological and Mineral Exploration. In 1958, the Department of Geological and Mineral Exploration at the Northeast Institute of Geology was renamed the Department of Geology at Changchun College of Geology. Prominent geologists including Professor Yu Deyuan, stratigrapher and paleontologist Professor Yu Jianzhang (an academician), petrologist Professor Dong Shenbao (an academician), sedimentologist Professor Ye Zhizheng (an academician), structural geologists Professor Wu Leibo and Professor Zhang Shouchang, mining engineering expert Professor Hu Yitong, geologist Professor Zhang Yixia, and ore deposit specialist Professor Zhang Qiusheng have all served at the school in teaching, research, and leadership roles.

With the approval of the Ministry of Education, Changchun College of Geology was renamed Changchun University of Science and Technology in 1997. The Department of Geology and the Department of Energy were merged to form the School of Earth Sciences. In 2000, Changchun University of Science and Technology merged with Jilin University; the Department of Land and Resources from the former College of Management was incorporated into the School of Earth Sciences, while the School of Earth Sciences retained its original structure and name. Today, the School has established close cooperative relationships with nearly 40 universities, research institutions, and geological survey agencies in over 20 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States, in areas such as scientific research, academic exchanges, and talent development.

The college currently has one national key discipline at the secondary level—Mineral Exploration and Prospecting—and four provincial- or ministerial-level key disciplines, including Mineralogy, Petrology and Ore Deposit Geology, Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Structural Geology, and Marine Geology. It offers six undergraduate programs: Geology, Geochemistry, Geographic Sciences, Resource, Environment, and Urban-Rural Planning Management, Resource Exploration Engineering, and Land Resources Management. The college is authorized to confer doctoral degrees in the first-level discipline of Geology (covering such second-level disciplines as Mineralogy, Petrology and Ore Deposit Geology, Geochemistry, Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Structural Geology, Quaternary Geology, and Digital Geological Science) as well as doctoral degrees in the second-level disciplines of Mineral Exploration and Prospecting and Land Resources Management. Additionally, it offers master’s degree programs in fields such as Mineral Resource Economics and Technology, Marine Geology, and Resource Economics. The college also hosts two postdoctoral research stations in Geology and Geological Resources and Geological Engineering.

The college currently has 113 faculty members, including 54 professors (35 of whom are doctoral supervisors), 33 associate professors, 3 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (dual-appointed), 5 foreign academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 13 part-time foreign professors, and 32 inter-university part-time professors. Over the past six decades, the college has trained more than 12,000 undergraduate and associate-degree graduates, as well as over 800 master’s and doctoral students. These graduates now work in government agencies, enterprises, and institutions across a wide range of fields—including geology, metallurgy, chemical engineering, energy, construction, environment, land resources, and economics—engaging in production, research, teaching, and management roles.

In recent years, our department has been recognized as a national-level “high-quality course,” has produced one nationally acclaimed textbook, and boasts two outstanding teaching teams in Jilin Province. We have undertaken two distinctive projects under the National Quality Engineering Initiative, and two of our faculty members have been named Provincial-Level Outstanding Teachers in Jilin Province, while one has been honored as one of the university’s “Top Ten Outstanding Teachers.” Additionally, two faculty members have been designated as model teachers at the university level. We have received five provincial-level awards for teaching achievements, and the Teaching and Experimental Center for Geology and Resource Exploration Engineering has been designated as a provincial-level demonstration center for experimental teaching. Our research performance across various geoscience fields ranks among the top in the university; over the past five years, we have secured a total of 250 million yuan in funding for natural science projects, with an increasing number of high-impact research outcomes each year. We have been awarded 15 provincial and ministerial-level science and technology prizes, along with seven individual awards for research excellence. Two of our papers have been selected among the "100 Most Influential International (and Domestic) Academic Papers in China," and three of our research teams have been recognized as Innovation Teams by Jilin University. According to data updated on March 3, 2011, from the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database maintained by Thomson Reuters’ Science & Healthcare Group in the United States, our Earth Sciences discipline has entered the top 1% of all disciplines in the ESI rankings. The proportion of undergraduate graduates who go on to pursue graduate studies remains consistently above 50%, and there is a significant demand for our graduates—resulting in a supply-to-demand ratio exceeding 1:10.

The college has established the “May Fourth” Youth Award Fund and the Undergraduate Scientific Research Fund. Scholarships have been set up by institutions including the Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Guangzhou), the Institute of Geochemistry (Guiyang), the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, the Institute of Geological Environment, the Nanjing Institute of Geological and Mineral Resources under the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Tianjin Institute of Geological and Mineral Resources, the China National Petroleum Corporation, Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., and Eldorado Gold Corporation.