YNU, CAS succeed to shine in teaching atmospheric science

Founded in 1971, the atmospheric science major of Yunnan University – also known as YNU, which is located in Kunming, in Southwest China's Yunnan province – has a long history and it is one of the bases for national atmospheric science personnel training and scientific research.

Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics, with a major focus on weather forecasting.

In 2014, the university, together with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or CAS, established an advanced class for top young minds in atmospheric science in the country. The goal was to cultivate outstanding undergraduates in atmospheric science with innovative abilities.

The class combined the advantages of a complete university education system and the abundant scientific research resources of the CAS. It established a high-level teaching team that integrated science and education and built an integrated research-education model.

By adopting a "3+1" advanced training path for innovation ability, students explored a knowledge system, mastered methods and skills, as well as cultivated their research ability in YNU in the first three years. They then strengthened their independent research ability in the last year through comprehensive training at the CAS.

The model has now been implemented for nine years and is understood to have achieved great results, with a total of 87 percent of the students having the experience of forming teams and participating in innovation and entrepreneurial projects.

In addition, some 85 percent of the students have won awards at or above the provincial and at ministerial levels in various competitions. The average excellence rate of graduation papers has reached 60 percent, while more than 85 percent of the students have entered first-class universities to study for master's degrees and doctorates.

The model has been especially praised by experts in the field, innovating an integrated mode of science and education to cultivate innovative talent. In addition, based on this model, the university and CAS have successively established four joint classes in geophysics, geology, ecology and plant science and technology.