Introduction to Nanjing Forestry University

Nanjing Forestry University (NJFU) is a high-level research-oriented university with the advantage of forestry and the guidance of serving the national ecological civilization construction. It has coordinated development of science, engineering, agriculture, liberal arts, management, economics, law and arts. NJFU is one of the "Double First-Class" initiative universities and class A construction university of the Jiangsu Provincial High-level University Construction Peak Plan, co-administrated by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, the Ministry of Education and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The history of NJFU can be traced back to the Department of Agronomy of Sanjiang Normal College in 1902 and the Department of Agronomy of Jinling University in 1914. In 1952, the College of Forestry of Nanjing University (formerly the College of Forestry of National Central University) and the College of Forestry of Jinling University were merged to form Nanjing Forestry College which was one of the only three higher forestry colleges in the country at that time. In 1952, the Department of Forestry of Huazhong Agricultural University which was composed of the Department of Forestry of Wuhan University, Nanchang University and Hubei Agricultural University was merged into Nanjing Forestry College. In 1972 the name was changed to Nanjing Forestry Industrial College and later restored to Nanjing Forestry College in 1983. 1985 witness the establishment of Nanjing Forestry University.

Fully implementing the Party's educational policy, NJFU has always adhered to Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era and the fundamental task of cultivating morality and talents, upholding the original mission of educating people for the Party and the country. At present, NJFU has 23 colleges of Forestry and Grassland, College of Soil and Water Conservation, College of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, College of Economics and Management, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Information Science and Technology, College of Artificial Intelligence, College of Landscape Architecture, College of Science, College of Foreign Languages, College of Art and Design, College of Furniture and Industrial Design, College of Light Industry and Food, College of Automotive and Transportation Engineering, College of Ecology and Environment, College of Marxism, College of Life Sciences, College of Continuing Education (College of Applied Technology), and College of International Education.

NJFU offers undergraduate education, graduate education, international education, continuing education, cadre training etc., with a total of more than 30,000 full-time students. Various teaching prizes have been won, including 2 first prizes and 11 second prizes of national teaching achievements, 3 special prizes, 18 first prizes and 22 second prizes for provincial teaching achievements. At present, there are 73 undergraduate programs, 31 national first-class programs and 6 national characteristic programs. There are 18 provincial-level first-class professional construction disciplines. Forestry majors (forestry, landscape architecture, forest protection) and forestry engineering majors (forestry chemicals, wood science and engineering, forest engineering) were selected as the first pilot projects of the reform of the education and training plan for outstanding agricultural and forestry talents of the Ministry of Education. There are 2 Provincial excellent engineer education and cultivation plan 2.0 professional construction disciplines, 2 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching centers, and 1 national off-campus practice base for college students. There are 18 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers and practical education centers, 2 key industrial colleges in Jiangsu Province, 1 base of Top students Training Plan 2.0 of Basic disciplines in Jiangsu Province, and 1 key base of integration of production and education in Jiangsu Province. There are 2 virtual teaching and research rooms of the Ministry of Education, 3 first batch of excellent grass-roots teaching organizations in Jiangsu Province. There are 6 national quality open courses, 1 national ideological and political demonstration course, 30 national first-class undergraduate courses and 41 provincial-level first-class undergraduate courses. NJFU has won 19 gold awards, 5 silver awards and 11 bronze awards in the 7th, 8th and 9th China International "Internet +" College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and was listed as the "Ministry of Education National College Graduates Employability Training Base", "Ministry of Education National Graduate Employment Typical experience University", "Ministry of Education National Innovation and Entrepreneurship typical experience University", and "National Innovation and Entrepreneurship College". Adhering to the motto of "being sincere and majestic, cultivating trees and people" and the spirit of "unity, simplicity, diligence and progress", NJFU has cultivated more than 200,000 outstanding talents, including 9 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

NJFU is one of the first universities in China with the right to grant doctoral and master's degrees. At present, there are 7 post-doctoral mobile stations, 7 first-level doctoral degree authorized subjects, 26 first-level master degree authorized subjects and 19 professional master degree authorized categories. The discipline of Forestry Engineering was selected as the national "double first-class" initiative discipline. There are 2 first-level national key disciplines and 4 second-level national key disciplines. There are 1 national key discipline cultivation base of Jiangsu first-level discipline, 8 superior disciplines of Jiangsu universities, 13 key disciplines (including key cultivation disciplines) of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and 10 key disciplines of Jiangsu Province. In the fourth round of national subject assessment, Forestry Engineering and Forestry were awarded A+ and Landscape Architecture was awarded A-. The fifth round of discipline evaluation has also achieved good results, forming a new pattern of coordinated and high-quality development of disciplines. Seven disciplines - Engineering, Plant and Animal Science, Agricultural science, materials science, chemistry, environmental ecology and Biology and biochemistry - are ranked in the top 1% of ESI's global institutions.

NJFU has a team of high quality faculties with noble ethics, exquisite business, and vitality. There are more than 2400 faculty members, including more than 1680 full-time teachers, 284 doctoral supervisors, 1146 staff with senior titles, 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 35 other national talents, 14 experts enjoying the special government allowance of The State Council, and 3 national Huang Danian teaching teams. There are 4 chief scientists at the first level of "333 Project" in Jiangsu Province, 11 national and provincial excellent teachers, 1 national excellent teaching team, and 1 national ideological and political curriculum famous teacher and teaching team. There are 14 young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions at the provincial and ministerial levels, and more than 471 provincial talent programs such as "333 Project" at the second and third levels, "Blue Project" and "Six Peaks"; There are 18 provincial innovation teams such as Jiangsu Province science and technology innovation team and "Qinglan Project".

NJFU insists on writing the paper on the earth, aiming at the major national strategies such as ecological civilization construction, rural revitalization, carbon peak carbon neutrality, and healthy China and the needs of regional economic and social development, and supporting high-quality development with high-level scientific and technological self-reliance. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, 7 national key research and development program projects, 27 projects, and 1 national biological breeding science and technology special project have been approved; 3 major projects and 1 key project of the National Social Science Fund have been approved. 33 high-level papers were published in "Nature", "PNAS" and other international top journals. 424 papers of NJFU were listed as ESI highly cited papers. 40 good varieties were approved. 79 new plant variety rights were obtained, and 62 international/national standards were made/revised. NJFU has won more than 60 national science and technology awards and more than 400 provincial and ministerial science and technology awards, including 2 first prizes of National Science and Technology Progress. There are 5 national innovation platforms and 50-odd provincial and ministerial level science and technology innovation platforms, such as "National Key Laboratory of Forest Tree Genetics and Breeding", "Joint Laboratory of International Cooperation on Forest Tree Heritage and Germplasm Innovation", "National Engineering Research Center for Low-carbon and Efficient Utilization of Forest Biomass", "National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomass Materials for Mechanical and Electrical Products Packaging", "Innovative and Intelligent Base of Forest Biomass Advanced Materials", and the "International Innovation Highland for Forest Chemistry and Materials" (jointly built by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the People's Government of Jiangsu Province). NJFU also has Jiangsu Province key cultivation think Tank (Ecological Civilization Construction and Forestry Development Research Institute), Jiangsu Province Decision Consulting Base (Jiangsu Ecological Forestry and Dual carbon Strategy Research Base), Jiangsu Province College Social Science Popularization Base (Jiangsu Province Ecological science Education Demonstration Base). Seven think tank results have been approved by Party and state leaders, more than 40 think tank results have been approved by central ministries and provincial leaders, and more than 20 results have been adopted by the National People's Congress, the CPPCC, and the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and provincial government. The university continues to publish "Ecological Forestry Blue Book" and "Ecological Civilization Green Book".

The university adheres to the international development strategy. As one of the earliest forestry colleges in China to recruit foreign students, the university receives more than 600 foreign students to study for degrees or further study every year, and is one of the first colleges and universities to pass the quality certification of studying in China by national institutions of higher Learning. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, NJFU has established long-term academic research and personnel training cooperation with more than 100 world-class universities and research institutions in more than 20 countries or regions. NJFU cooperated with Alabama A&M University in the United States to carry out Chinese language education and Chinese cultural exchanges, and jointly organized the "3+2" Sino-foreign cooperative education program with the University of British Columbia in Canada. Joint talent training programs with the University of Western Australia in Australia, the University of New Brunswick in Canada, RWTH University of Aachen in Germany, the University of Strathclyde in the UK, long-term and short-term credit mutual recognition visiting programs with the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the UK, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, the University of California, Berkeley and other overseas universities were also carried out. It is one of the first local universities in Jiangsu Province with the independent right to exam and approve specified foreign affairs.

The university adheres to the integrated development of multiple campuses, with Nanjing Xinzhuang campus, Huai’an campus and the new Baima campus under construction, with a total area of 10244.15 mu. The library has more than 2.4 million copies of paper documents and 4.3 million copies of electronic books. A highly-efficient integrated smart network covering all campuses has been built.

After 120 years of development, Nanjing Forestry University is not only a noble and great institution of higher learning with heritage, but also a place where profound ideas converge. Nanjing Forestry University continues to keep the revolutionary legacy and eco-friendly advantage. In the new era, the university will adhere to the "double first-class" construction and high-quality development, committed to building a world-class university with distinctive forestry characteristics, and striding forward toward the long-term goal of a world-class university with distinctive characteristics.