A Brief History of College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University

The college traces its roots to the Jiangxi Advanced Forestry School, established in 1910 at the White Deer Grotto Academy in Lushan. In 1912, it merged with the Jiangxi Advanced Agricultural School, founded in 1909, to form the Jiangxi Advanced Agriculture and Forestry School. In 1940, the Department of Forestry was established within Zhongzheng University’s College of Agriculture. In 1958, the Department of Forestry was set up at Jiangxi Communist Labor University. In 1980, the Department of Forestry was re-established at Jiangxi Agricultural University, renamed the College of Forestry in 1993, and renamed the "College of Landscape Architecture and Art" in 2002. In 2014, the name "College of Forestry" was restored, while retaining the title "College of Landscape Architecture and Art."

Faculty Strength

The college currently has 164 staff members, including 35 professors and 37 associate professors, with 88 holding doctoral degrees. There are 31 PhD supervisors, 78 master's supervisors, and 33 part-time master's supervisors. Among the faculty, there is one academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the European Academy of Sciences, one recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and one recipient of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars.

Academic Structure

The college currently has 90 doctoral students, 630 master’s students, and 47 part-time master’s students, along with 1,642 undergraduate students. It offers seven undergraduate majors: Forestry, Landscape Architecture, Forest Products Chemistry, Landscape Design, Urban and Rural Planning, Environmental Design, and Smart Forestry. The Forestry and Landscape Architecture programs are recognized as national first-class undergraduate programs, while the Forest Products Chemistry and Environmental Design programs are provincial first-class programs. The college hosts a postdoctoral research station in Forestry, a first-level discipline doctoral program in Forestry, first-level discipline master’s programs in Landscape Architecture and Botany, and professional master’s degree programs in Forestry and Landscape Architecture. The Forestry discipline is recognized as a key discipline by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, as well as a provincial first-class high-peak featured discipline and a high-level discipline in Jiangxi Province. Landscape Architecture is designated as a key discipline at the university level. The "Teaching Team for Subtropical Forest Resource Cultivation and Protection" was one of the first to be recognized as a national teaching team. The college has won one second prize for National Teaching Achievement and four first prizes and six second prizes for Provincial Teaching Achievement.

Scientific Research

The college has undertaken over 100 national projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, including more than 60 National Natural Science Foundation projects. The college has won two first prizes, four second prizes, and four third prizes for provincial and ministerial science and technology awards. It has applied for more than 50 international and national patents, with over 20 patents granted. The college has published more than 1,000 papers and authored or co-authored over 30 books. It has established cooperative relationships with universities and research institutions in countries such as Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands, as well as with over 20 domestic institutions, including Beijing Forestry University, Nanjing Forestry University, Northeast Forestry University, the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The college hosts several national and provincial platforms, including key laboratories, engineering technology research centers, national innovation alliances, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration’s National Forest Ecosystem Observation and Research Station. Additionally, the college maintains on-campus teaching and research facilities such as forestry practice teaching and research bases, landscape design training bases, a tree specimen museum, a meteorological observation station, an experimental forest, an arboretum, and a science and technology park. It also has one national exemplary professional practice base for forestry master’s degree students, one national exemplary joint training base for landscape architecture master’s degree students, one provincial graduate workstation, one provincial graduate innovation base, and four provincial industry-enterprise joint graduate training bases. Furthermore, the college has established long-term off-campus teaching and research platforms and practice bases at over 40 institutions, forest farms, nature reserves, enterprises, and cooperatives both within and outside the province.

Programs Offered

Forestry (National First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Site, First-Level Discipline PhD Program, Jiangxi Province First-Class High-Peak Featured Discipline), Landscape Architecture (National First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Site), Landscape Design, Forest Products Chemistry, Urban and Rural Planning, Environmental Design, Smart Forestry.