History

The School of Life Sciences of Yunnan University has been rooted in the Department of Botany since 1937. Professor Xiong Qinglai, then president of Yunnan University, renamed the department the Department of Biology in 1938. In 1997 a new school of Life Science and Chemistry was established merging the department's biology and chemistry subjects taught over the previous 60 years. The School of Life Sciences was independently established in April 2002.

Goals

Facing the strategic demands of economic development and public health in Yunnan province and China, the school will focus on key subjects in modern life sciences. The school is determined to carry out leading life science research to international standards.

The Life Sciences Research Center of Yunnan University will establish close cooperation with Yunnan province's National Key Laboratory for Biological Resources Protection and Utilization and will mature into a key base of life sciences research in Southwest China and throughout Southeast Asia.

Majors

Currently, the school's undergraduate program offers two majors: biological sciences and biotechnology. The school has two doctoral programs in biology and ecology which are recognized as national first level disciplines.

The school also provides four master's and 12 doctoral programs with national second level disciplines. It administers two research stations for post-graduate studies in biology and ecology.

The school has developed one National Key Discipline -- Microbiology -- and five Provincial Key Disciplines, one a first level discipline in biology and four second level disciplines in botany, biochemistry and molecular biology, genetics, and microbiology.

There are two national talent cultivation bases in the school -- a National Base for Basic Scientific Research and Teaching Talents Training and a National Base for Life Science and Technical Talents Training.

Faculty

There are 105 staff members in the school including 22 professors and 26 associate professors, two of whom are funded by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars; two others have been awarded as National Teaching Masters, three noted as New Century Excellent Talents of the Ministry of Education and ten named as Academic Technology Leaders of Yunnan Province.

The school's faculty as a whole has been awarded as a National Teaching Team and a Yunnan Province Teaching Team.

Research

The School of Life Sciences has published more than 20 treatises and authored 12 textbooks, six of which are National Programming Textbooks while one was selected nationally for excellence.

The school enjoys distinct regional characteristics and research advantages in botany, zoology, and microbiology. It recently established the Life Sciences Research Center of Yunnan University to help the university evolve into the country's leading school offering cutting-edge disciplines.