China University of Geosciences

Overview

China University of Geosciences (CUG), founded in 1952, is a national key university affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is also listed in the National "211 Project" and the "Double First-class Plan". CUG, featuring geosciences, is a comprehensive university that also offers a variety of degree programs in science, engineering, literature, management, economics, law, education and arts. Its Geology and Geological Resources & Engineering have both been ranked as national number one disciplines.

Campus

Located in the hinterland of the Wuhan East Lake National Innovation Demonstration Zone, CUG has two campuses in Wuhan, the Nanwang Mountain Campus and Future City Campus, covering a combined area of 1,474,353 m2. The total area of buildings is 1,385,752.04 m2. CUG is equipped with modern teaching buildings, libraries, student apartments, sports facilities, and other amenities such as the Yifu Museum, an 4A-level Tourist Attraction.

Education Principle

Guided by the principle of cultivating virtue and fostering knowledge and skills at the same time, aiming at equipping students with virtues, solid foundation, and expertise, CUG implements the “Three-Fusion” approach, which emphasizes the fusion between different disciplines, fusion between teaching and research, and fusion between academic work and innovation and entrepreneurship education.

“Three-Fusion and Three-Cross” graduate education approach is championed by CUG: pursuing the fusion between research and teaching, between industry and education, and that between undergraduate and graduate learning; promoting cross-disciplinary learning, cross-platform learning, and cross-culture learning.

Themed on “A Beautiful China & A Habitable Earth”, CUG’s strategic plan depicts the blueprint of the second goal of the “Three-Step Strategic Goals”, which is to build a world-renowned research university in Earth Sciences by 2030 based on the attained goal of developing CUG into a “high-level university with first-class Earth Sciences and coordinated development of multi-disciplines”.

Teaching and Research Facilities

CUG has 1,956 faculty members and 1,413 staff members. Among the faculty members, 12 are members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 is the member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. And there are 464 PhD supervisors, 452 professors, and 814 associate professors at CUG.

Among CUG faculty members, 16 scholars have received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and 19 have received the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars. Besides, CUG has 3 innovative research groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 3 innovation teams of the Ministry of Education, 6 national-level teaching teams, 1 national-level outstanding teachers, and 9 provincial outstanding teachers.

CUG has 86 affiliated institutions, laboratories and institutes (centers). Among them, there are 2 state key laboratories, 1 national research center for engineering technology, 1 national field scientific observation and research station, 1 national and local joint engineering laboratory, 1 international science and technology cooperation base, 1 international joint research center, 2 national platforms for innovation of advantageous disciplines, and 1 demonstration base of innovative talent cultivation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, 3 national demonstration centers for experimental teaching, and 1 national center for experimental teaching of virtual simulation.

CUG has 4 field study centers in Zhoukoudian, Beidaihe, Zigui, and Badong, among which the center in Zhoukoudian is known as “the cradle of geologists” and recognized as the "National Demonstration Center for Experiment (Fieldwork) Teaching of Geology" as well as the “National Base for Basic Science Research and Teacher Training”. 

The Library of China University of Geosciences is an academic institution providing services for CUG’s teaching and scientific research. The 27,000 m2-library provides various services such as catalog searching, regular borrowing, scientific and technological novelty search, retrieval and citation, selective dissemination of information (SDI), user training, document delivery, etc.

Academic Disciplines

Guided by academic frontiers, responding to the demands of socioeconomic development, CUG aims to be a comprehensive university, featuring geosciences with coordinated development of multiple disciplines and offering a variety of degree programs in science, engineering, literature, management, economics, law, education, and arts. 2 of CUG disciplines are national first-level key disciplines and 16 are provincial-level key disciplines. The 2 first-level disciplines, “Geology” and “Geological Resources and Geological Engineering” have been ranked NO. 1 in every national evaluation of academic disciplines and have been listed in the “Double First-Class Plan”. CUG comprises 23 schools (institutes), which offer 69 undergraduate degree programs, 16 first-level doctorate degree programs, and 34 first-level master’s degree programs. The 15 professional degree master’s degree programs include Master of Engineering in 14 research directions, MBA, MPA, etc. There are also 15 postdoctoral research stations at CUG.

Education

CUG provides a complete range of degree programs in which students can earn bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees. As of October 2022, there are 31,040 full-time students, including 18,214 undergraduate students, 10,758 master’s students, 2,068 PhD students, and 787 international students. Over 50,000 students enroll for part-time education and online education programs. CUG has a National Geologist Training Base and a Geological Engineer Training Base of the Ministry of Land and Resources. For more than 60 years, CUG has cultivated nearly 300,000 talents for the country.

Strong body, strong mind. Following in the time-tested tradition, CUG boasts a few physical education programs. The CUG Rock Climbing, Swimming, Badminton, Basketball, and Field and Track teams are top competitors in their respective fields. CUG students have won 250 plus gold medals and 500 plus silver medals in major international and national events. CUG teams have won “the President’s Cup” seven times in the National College Games. CUG team became the first college team that has ever successfully reached the peak of Mount Qomolangma in in May 2012. 

Research

CUG faculty members have been awarded 2 Special Prizes for National S&T Advance (as participants), 1 Second Prize for National Natural Science, 3 Second Prizes for National S&T Advance, 69 citations for S&T achievements at the provincial and ministerial level, 1 listed among Top Ten National Science Advance, 2 listed among Top Ten Geological S&T Advance, 2 listed among Top Ten Geological Prospecting Results since 2016. 6 faculty members have listed as Highly Cited Scientist by Clarivate Analytics, 19 as Highly Cited Scholar by Elsevier, and more than 100 as Highly Cited Author by ESI since 2014.

Based in Hubei and rooted in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, CUG is embracing nationwide opportunities. It vigorously promotes the cooperation between government, industry, education and research, substantively serving the local and regional development and sectors of industry. In the "Pearl River Delta" and the "Yangtze River Delta" region, CUG has set up 2 research institutes at Shenzhen and Hangzhou (Zhejiang) respectively as platforms to facilitate technology transfer and help incubate startups.

International Exchanges

CUG has signed agreements with more than 100 international partner universities from the USA, France, Australia, and Russia etc. on academic and scientific cooperation and culture exchanges. The International University Consortium in Earth Science (IUCES) is an international organization focused on educational, scientific and technological cooperation. It was initiated by CUG, and co-founded by other well-known geoscience research institutions, including Stanford University, Macquarie University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Hong Kong, Oxford University etc. in 2012. Since its establishment IUCES has been committed to further exchanges and cooperation in the field of geoscience among world-class universities and research institutes. Each year, more than 400 international experts and scholars are invited to CUG for academic research and lectures. At the same time, more than 900 CUG faculty members and students go abroad for academic exchanges and studies. Around 1500 Chinese and international students participate in CUG exchange programs every year.

As the Chinese partner institution, CUG sponsors three Confucius Institutes, namely, Confucius Institutes at Bryant University (USA), Confucius Institutes at Alfred University (USA), and Confucius Institutes at Veliko Turnovo University (Bulgaria). CUG owns China-U.S. Joint Center for Trenchless R&D and other 5 international S&T cooperation centers. To fulfill its social responsibility and support the Belt and Road Initiative, CUG has established “Silk Road Institute”, Research Center for Jordan, International Research Center for Geological Resources along the Silk Road. 

(as of December 2021)