School of Biotechnology

The history of School of Biotechnology dates back to the year of 1952. It is the oldest teaching and research center in the field of fermentation engineering. Originated from the Fermentation Engineering Laboratory in Nanjing Institute of Technology, the school was founded by incorporating a couple of relevant laboratories of three prestigious universities inclusive of Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and Wuhan University. In 1984, the Fermentation Department was established based on the specialty of fermentation engineering, and in 1995 the department was renamed as School of Biotechnology. Between 1981 and 1986, it was then one of the first specialties with master degree programs in this field and the oldest one that boasted of doctoral degree programs in China. In 1988, it was selected and approved as the sole national level key discipline among all the universities affiliated to the Ministry of Light Industries. In 1991, the department, in collaboration with other departments, founded the Postdoctoral Research Station for Light Industries. In December of 2001, School of Biotechnology, JIANGNAN University, successfully passed the “Key and Key” specialty evaluation implemented by Jiangsu provincial government, and thus became one of the eleven national level specialties selectively sponsored by the provincial government. In the same year, during the specialty evaluation executed by The Ministry of Education, the sole title of “Fermentation Engineering Key Specialty” was awarded to the school once again.

At the same time, the school has also possessed the capabilities in the self-development, cross-development, and self-regeneration in scientific researches. In the School of Biotechnology, there are now 24 professors and 48 associate professors, including one academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, one Distinguished Young Scholar for National Science Fund of China, one Changjiang Scholar; 20 doctoral students’ supervisors, and 40 master students’ supervisors. Among the full time faculty members under the age of 50, the rate of Ph.D. and master (or higher) degrees have reached 60.5% and 94.8% respectively. The school has established closely cooperative relationships with a couple of national universities in The US, Canada, Holland, Japan and South Korea. Through the tremendous endeavors, the school has acquired a number of international advanced achievements and greatly contributed to the development and promotion of the industrial biotechnology sectors in our country. The achievements would be very significant and helpful for solving problems occurred in food, energy, resources, environment and human healthcare for the 21st century; which serve to speed up the industrial biotechnology development in the nation and enlarge the effects or impacts of industrial biotechnology on other economic sectors. Simultaneously, with the research directions mentioned above, the school has disciplined a large amount of biological science and application-oriented technical experts for many relevant industrial sectors in our country, and has become an important base for disciplining innovative talents in industrial biotechnology field.??

The Ministry of Education has allocated “Yangtze River Scholarship” positions for the school. In the past decades, over 200 graduates (Ph.D. or master) and 5,000 undergraduates have been disciplined in the school. Among similar specialties in other universities of the nation, the school takes lead in terms of scientific research level, specialties development, and students disciplining.

Dean
Prof. Guocheng DU, PhD

Majors/Disciplines
School of Biotechnology now has 4 master degree programs covering fermentation engineering, microbiology, biochemical engineering, and biochemistry & molecule biology. The school also holds one first-class discipline of doctoral degree program in Light Industrial Engineering & Technology (including the doctoral degree program for fermentation engineering). Moreover, the scientific research bases such as The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology – the Ministry of Education, the National Life Science & Technology Disciplinary Base, the National Fermentation Engineering & Technology Centre, and the Bioactive Products Processing Research & Engineering Centre of Jiangsu Province, also provide an excellent platform for the development and construction of the specialties, under which the school is entitled to fully explore and apply its techniques in the field of biological engineering and technologies.

Research Orientation
Over the past 50 years, aiming at pursuing the international life science frontier and satisfying market requirements, School of Biotechnology has been dedicating and focusing on R&D of industrial biotechnology. Through multiple disciplining cross, the school has clearly specified the following specialties development directions: the key & universal technologies in modern fermentation engineering and high technology for traditional fermentative industries promotion; microbial metabolism regulating and modern breeding technologies; the biological technologies in pollutants treatment & control as well as synthesis of biomaterials friend to environments; microbiological pharmacology, chemistry of natural products; biocatalysts, biochemical reaction, bio-energy techniques, and fine biochemistry.

Research Achievements
The school has won a couple of important scientific and technological achievements including first award of the national scientific and technological advance and the second awards of the national scientific and technological invention, and has undertaken a large number of key research projects including the National 863 Projects, the National 973 Projects, and the National Science Foundation Projects. All of the achievements mentioned above have greatly contributed to the development of the state light industries, and have actively promoted the progress of industrial biotechnology sectors in the nation.