The College of Animal Science, merged with the Laboratory Animal Center of Jilin University (“JLU”), enjoys a time-honored history and glorious tradition. Its predecessor can be traced back to the animal husbandry discipline established by the Army Veterinary School of the National Government of the Republic of China in 1941. The College, guided by the national strategy and new development demands of animal husbandry industry, has been continuously deepening the reform of education and teaching, integrating agriculture, science and engineering disciplines, and has formed its own features in the fields of breeding new animal varieties, regulating animal reproduction, genetically modified animals and research and development of functional feed.
The College consists of the Department of Animal Science, the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Experimental Animal. Currently, the College has two primary discipline doctoral programs in animal husbandry and biology and one post-doctoral research center, as well as a number of teaching and research platforms, such as the Changchun National Laboratory Animal Center, the National Training Base for Agricultural Science and Education Cooperation Talents, the National Demonstration Center for Experimental Teaching of Animal Science and Technology, and the Gongzhuling National Training Base for Beef and Yak Agricultural Science and Education Cooperation Talents of Jilin University, Jilin Provincial Engineering Research Center of Model Animals, and Jilin Provincial Center for Quality Testing of Laboratory Animals.
The College enrolls students in the major category of animal production. There are two undergraduate majors, namely animal science and biotechnology. The major of animal science includes animal science stream and laboratory animal stream. The major of animal science is the dominant characteristic major in Jilin Province during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period and the high-level major during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period. In 2014, the major of animal science was included into the first batch of pilot projects for reforming the cultivation mode of “Training Program for Outstanding Talents in Agriculture and Forestry of the Ministry of Education”. In 2017, the major of animal science was rated as a featured high level first-class (category A) undergraduate major in Jilin Province.
The College has a capable faculty, in which full-time teachers with doctor’s degree account for 90%, those with senior professional title account for 84% and those with overseas study experience account for 70%. The college has retained a number of high-level talents, such as national high-level foreign experts, selected candidates of major talent projects of the Ministry of Education, Tang-Aoqing chair professor, experts enjoying the special government allowance of the State Council, winners of China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award, talent included in the “Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education”, post scientists in the national industrial technology system, top innovative talents of Jilin Province, and experts with Outstanding Contribution of Jilin Province.
The College enjoys strong scientific research capabilities with six stable scientific research directions, namely animal gamete and embryo biotechnology, animal reproduction regulation, molecular genetics and animal breeding, molecular nutrition regulation and functional feed, model animal creation, and transgenic modified animal. In recent years, the College has undertaken more than 70 national (provincial and ministerial) projects, with an annual research fund of more than RMB 20 million. It has won 3 first prizes for scientific and technological achievements at provincial and ministerial level and 3 new breeds of livestock and poultry at national level. The College has established good cooperation and exchange relations with relevant universities and research institutions in the United States, Japan, Korea, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and others, and accepted international students.
It has been always committed to the basic task of cultivating talents by pursuing a teaching-centered principle. The College recommends 16-20% of postgraduates who are exempted from examinations each year. More than 50% of the total number of graduates have taken postgraduate entrance exams or been guaranteed postgraduate admission, and the one-time employment rate of students is about 95%. After graduation, most of the students are engaged in the research work related to life science, and some students are engaged in the technical research and development and general management in scientific research institutes, enterprises, government and industrial management departments in related fields. In addition to scholarships and grants from JLU, the college also provides social scholarships and grants, which help 100% of the poor students.