School of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, established in 1995, makes one of the important schools in the university. Three affiliated departments including Department of Food Engineering, Department of Biotechnology Engineering and Department of Biotechnology Science, Research Institute on Deep Processing of Agricultural Products, and Two related laboratories respectively called Laboratory on Biotechnology and Food Engineering and Laboratory on Basic Biology constitute the school. The school has set up four undergraduate majors, among which Food Science and Engineering is selected as National Specialty, five master degree-conferring units, one doctoral degree-conferring unit and one station for post-doctoral research in the first-class discipline of Food Science and Engineering. Integrated system of talent cultivation has been formed in the field of Food Science and Engineering.
The discipline of Agricultural Products Processing and Storage Engineering is the key state-sponsored discipline with strong support from Project 211. The discipline of Food Science is the key discipline of Anhui Province. Additionally, the school has built Key Laboratory on Deep Processing of Agricultural Products for Anhui Province and Research Center on Bio-chemical of Agricultural Products for Ministry of Education.
School Today
The school boasts 85 faculties with high ability and integrity. There are 22 professors, 23 associate professors, 7 doctoral supervisors, and 28 Ph.Ds.. The distinguished members include 3 experts enjoying the special allowance of the State Council, 1 Winner of the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, 3 distinguished professors entitled as ‘Huangshan Scholars’, 4 Huangshan Young Scholars, 3 science and technology experts of China Machinery Industry, 2 national science and technology pacesetter, 4 provincial discipline leaders and excellent teachers and 2 winners of New Century Excellent Talents of Ministry of Education.
Currently the school has 40 doctoral candidates, 260 postgraduate candidates, and 1,000 undergraduate students. As the education and teaching reform has been energetically propelled, great importance has been attached to the improvement of comprehensive individual quality and creative ability as well as cultivation of students’ practical ability. The acceptance rate of graduated masters in recent years reaches 36% and the employment rate over 95%.
The school has favorable environment for teaching, research and experiment, including 12,000 square meters buildings for experiment equipped with advanced devices worth more than RMB 500 million, several engineering bases for intern practice and etc..
Endeavor and Achievements
Since the 15th construction plan, the school has accomplished more than 200 projects, covering national "863 program", the National Natural Science Fund, the National Science and Technology Support Program, scientific and technological project at provincial and ministerial levels and enterprises commission projects, gained up to 20 provincial science and technology awards, registered 46 invention patents, and published more than 1,000 academic papers and 8 teaching works.
The school keeps vitality and vigor in prompting the combination of production, teaching and research, puts research focus on practical needs of both the nation and the field. So far, there has been at least 60 leading enterprises in the field of the industrialization of agriculture establishing close cooperation relation with the school, and several research and developing centers built by enterprises of medium and large scales.
Foreign academic exchange has been in steady progress, and exchange and cooperation bridges have been built between several leading universities in Japan, USA and EU and the school.
Future
After a decade of striving for survival and development to a high level, the school has gained high speed for progress. We will inherit the school motto that “keep learning with thinking and acquire achievement with the foundation of morality”, try our utmost both spiritually and materially to make the school an important base for high-level talent cultivation and scientific research in the field of biotechnology and food engineering in China.
