Founded in 1957, one of the three Academies of Sciences of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) is a national agricultural research institution undertaking China’s agricultural research and development in both basic and applied sciences as well as new and advanced application technology. CAAS plays an important role in solving the fundamental and strategic technological issues in agriculture and rural economic development, training advanced researchers, integrating agriculture with science and technology, and developing agricultural science and technology exchanges and cooperation.

CAAS is the largest national agricultural research institution in terms of the numbers of researchers and facilities. It has the most complete set of disciplines and the most comprehensive research and development strength in the country. CAAS provides strong scientific and technical support and a positive academic atmosphere for postgraduate education with its well-developed infrastructure, sophisticated laboratories facilities, state funded key research and development projects, ample research funds, well-qualified supervising teams of senior researchers, and world-wide international cooperation and exchange programs.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences consists of thirty-nine research institutes, one graduate school and one agricultural publisher with its research facilities located over 17 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions in China.

CAAS also has:

- ?four national key laboratories

- ?twenty-two key laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture

- ?thirty quality supervision and testing centers of the State or Ministries

- ?thirteen crops improvements centers

- ?three national engineering technology centers

- ?one national crop germplasm bank (long term storage)

- ?eleven mid-term germplasm banks and 8 crop germplasm nurseries

- ?twenty-five national and ministerial key field experimental stations

- fifty-three state or CAAS field research bases

- ?ninety-eight large scale agricultural science and technology databases

- ?forty-seven science and technology websites

The Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GSCAAS), founded in 1979, was approved by the State Council of China in 1981 as one of the earliest degree conferral institutions for Master and Ph.D. degree. Characterized by its integration of instructional programs and the frontier research activities in the CAAS research institutes, the Graduate School of CAAS has been successfully educating a patch of highly talented agricultural scientific and technological professionals for years. GSCAAS’ faculty and staff include two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, nine academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. There are more than eleven hundred student advisors, among them are five hundred Ph.D. student advisors. The four categorical discipline areas in the Graduate School include agriculture, natural sciences, engineering and management science, covering seventeen primary disciplines in which ten are Ph.D. level primary disciplines (crop science, horticulture, plant protection, agricultural resource and environment, animal science, veterinary, and agricultural economics and management) and twelve are Master level primary disciplines. The Graduate School of CAAS offers 53 Ph.D. programs, 8 postdoctoral research stations and 65 Master programs. Currently, the total registered students exceed 4,300, including 2,700 full-time postgraduates, among them 120 foreign students, coming from 35 countries of 4 continents of the world. More than 6,000 graduates are making great contributions to agricultural and economic development in China.

The Graduate School of CAAS cordially welcomes extraordinary and excellent young students and scholars coming from worldwide to study and research in GSCAAS.

1. Categories of Students

- Master Student

- Ph.D. Student

- Visiting Scholar

- Senior Visiting Scholar

2.  Instruction Language and Programs

               i.              Instruction language is English.

             ii.              Programs:

(1)      Microbiology *

(2)      Biochemistry and Molecular Biology *

(3)      Bioinformatics *

(4)      Agricultural Ecology *

(5)      Protected Agriculture and Ecological Engineering *

(6)      Agricultural Regional Development and Planning *

(7)      Agricultural Water-Soil Engineering *

(8)      Agricultural Biology-environment and  Energy Source Engineering

(9)      Food Science

(10)  Processing and Storage of Agricultural Products

(11)  Crop Cultivation and Farming System *

(12)  Crop Genetics and Breeding *

(13)  Crop Germplasm Resources *

(14)  Agricultural Product Quality and Food Safety *

(15)  Agricultural products processing and utilization *

(16)  Pomology (Fruit Tree Science) *

(17)  Olericulture (Vegetable Science) *

(18)  Tea Science *

(19)  Ornamental Horticulture *

(20)  Soil Science *

(21)  Plant Nutrition*

(22)  Agricultural water resource and its environment *

(23)  Agricultural Environmental Sciences *

(24)  Plant Pathology *

(25)  Agricultural Entomology and  Pest  Control *

(26)  Pesticide Science *

(27)  Weed Science *

(28)  Invasion Biology *

(29)  GMO Safety *

(30)  Biological Control *

(31)  Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction Science *

(32)  Animal Nutrition and Feed Science *

(33)  The Rearing of Special-type Economic Animals(including Silkworm, Honeybees, etc) *

(34)  Animal Environmental Engineering *

(35)  Preventive Veterinary Medicine *

(36)  Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine *

(37)  Veterinary Pharmacy *

(38)  Grassland Resource Utilization and Protecting *

(39)  Forage Plant Genetics Breeding and Seed Science *

(40)  Forage Production and Utilization *

(41)  Agricultural Economics and Management *

(42)   International Agricultural Trade *

(43)  Agricultural Information Management *

(44)   Agricultural Information Analysis *

* Ph. D Programs

3. Application Dateline

Applicants shall apply to the Graduate School of CAAS before May 31 or Chinese Scholarship Council before 31 March.

Visiting scholars could apply all year round.

4. Eligibility

(1)      Applicants must be non-Chinese nationals.

(2)      Applicants must be in good health.

(3)      Education background and age limit as below: 

- Applicants for Master degree must have Bachelor’s degree and be under the age of 35.

- Applicants for Ph.D. degree must have a Master degree and be under the age of 40.

- Visiting students must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies and be under the age of 45.

- Senior visiting students must have Master or higher degree or hold academic titles of associate professor or higher, and be under the age of 50.

5. Application Documents

(1)     Application Form for Study in CAAS.

(2)     Highest diploma (notarized photocopy).

(3)     Academic transcripts of the most advanced studies (notarized photocopy).

(4)     Two reference letters from at least two Associate Professors or experts with equal titles in related fields.

(5)     A study or research plan (no less than 400 words for visiting study, no less than 500 words for postgraduates).

(6)     List of publications.

If any of these documents is written in a language other than English or Chinese, an official certified translation of the document must be included.

(7)     Verification of current employer or working unit.

6. Approval and Notification

The Graduate School of CAAS will review all the application materials and send the Admission Notice and Visa Application Form for Study In China (Form JW201/JW202) to the qualified applicants by July 31.

The application will be considered as invalid and will not be processed if the applicants are not qualified or the application materials are inconsistent with the recruitment regulations or are incomplete.

7. Visa Application

International students should apply for X or F visa to study in China at the Chinese embassy or consulate-general with the original documents and one set of photocopies of the Admission Notice, Visa Application for Study In China (Form JW201/JW202) and Foreigner Physical Examination Form (original copay and photocopy) and valid ordinary passport.

Incomplete records or those without the signature of the attending physician, official stamp of the hospital or a sealed photograph of the applicants are invalid. The medical examination results are valid only for six months. All applicants are kindly requested to take this factor into consideration while determining the time to take the medical examination.

8. Registration

International students must register with the Graduate School of CAAS at the time specified in the Admission Notice along with the above-mentioned documents for Visa. Those who are unable to register on time must seek written permission from the Graduate School of CAAS in advance.

9. Duration of Study and Degree Conferral

The duration of study for Master and Ph.D. degrees are three years. Applicants who pass the required courses and thesis defense are conferred with relevant degrees.

The duration of visiting study normally is less than two years. Applicants who complete the study or research plan are awarded with a visiting study certificate of GSCAAS.

10. Expenses (RMB)

(1)     Application fee

Master Student / Ph.D. Student: 600 Yuan/person

Visiting Student/Senior Visiting Student: 400 Yuan/person

(2)     Tuition

Master Student / Visiting Student: 30,000 Yuan/person/year

Ph.D. Student /Senior Visiting Student: 40,000 Yuan/person/year

The yearly tuition must be paid at the beginning of each academic year.

(3)     Other Expenses

Self-support international students are responsible for their own accommodations, food, medical, insurance, and study materials etc. associated with their study in the Graduate School of CAAS.

Students with Scholarships will follow the terms specified in the Scholarship Program.

11. Scholarships

Available scholarships for international students and scholars are as follows:

- The Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) Applicants, who wish to apply for the Chinese Government Scholarships, need to apply to the Graduate School, CAAS before 31 March or directly apply from Chinese Embassy or qualified agent in his/her countries. Please refer to the website of www.csc.edu.cn for more detail about the Scholarship.

- The Beijing Government Scholarship(BGS) BGS is established by Beijing Government in CAAS to encourage and sponsor either international students and scholars with excellent academic performance who intend to study or pursue higher degree in CAAS or those distinguished international students and scholars who are currently study at CAAS. The GSCAAS is entrusted to administer the BGS.

The applicants can apply to the Graduate School, CAAS before May 31 every year.

The winners of BGS are exempt from full or partial tuition for the specific academic year.

International students who have received scholarships from the Chinese government are not eligible for the scholarship.

- The Graduate School of CAAS Scholarship (GSCAASS) GSCAAS is established by the GSCAAS to sponsor these distinguished international students and scholars with excellent academic performance to pursue higher degree or conduct research in CAAS.

The applicants can apply to the Graduate School, CAAS before May 31 every year.

The winners are exempt from full or partial tuition for the specific the academic year.

International students who have received scholarships from the Chinese government or Beijing government are not eligible for the scholarship.

- Other Scholarships GSCAAS has been welcoming international students/scholars, supported by foreign governments, research institutions, universities and organizations, to study or conduct research in GSCAAS.

12. Contact Information

Address: International Education Office

The Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

12 Zhongguancun Nandajie 100081

Beijing , P.R. China

Telephone：0086-10-62193793/82109245/82106598

Fax：0086-10-82106609/62193793

E-mail: studyincaas@caas.cn

Website:http://www.gscaas.net.cn