Admission&Education
Graduate Studies
Graduate Studies
published date:2022-12-09

Peking University is one of the earliest academic institutions in spearheading teaching and research in environmental science in China. In the early 1970s, Peking University launched research program to study photochemical smog in Lanzhou (a city in northwestern China) and carried out environmental quality assessment for the western suburb of Beijing. In 1978, the  Environmental Sciences Center was qualified to confer maser degree in environmental science, and in 1985, the Center was qualified to confer Ph.D. degree in environmental science.

There are 310 graduate students enrolled in the college, including 254 doctoral students and 56 master students. On average, 15 master students and 60 doctoral students are enrolled in the college each year. The master degree program is a three-year research degree program. Students get their master degree upon the fulfillment of required course work and thesis as well as the completion of oral thesis defense with a success. The doctoral degree program normally requires four (for those with a master degree already) to five years of study and research. Students receive their Ph.D. degree upon the fulfillment of required course study, corresponding academic innovation and dissertation work.

Master students can choose from four majors and in each major, there are multiple research areas available, as follows:


Table 1 Majors and Research Areas for Master Students

Major

Research areas
Environmental science

a)  Environmental chemistry and monitoring

b)  Regional pollution and global change

c)  Water pollution control and environmental biotechnology

d)  Environment and health

e)  Environmental planning and management

       f)  Water resource and water-sediment environment

Environmental engineering

a)  Water treatment engineering

b)  Drinking water safety

c)  Soil and groundwater pollution control and remediation

d)  Solid waste disposal and reuse

       e)  Environmental engineering simulation and information system

Environmental health

       a)  Environmental Health

Environmental management

a)  Environmental planning and management

b)  Environmental economics and policy

c)  Environmental and development

d) Environmental law

       e) Environmental policy, science and technology (LSE double degree program)


Doctoral students can choose from four majors and in each major, there are multiple research areas available as well, as follows:

Table 2 Majors and Research Areas for PhD Students

Major

Research areas
Environmental science

a) Environmental chemistry

b) Environmental transition and countermeasures

c)  Atmospheric environment simulation

       d) Water pollution control and environmental biotechnology

Environmental engineering

a) Theory and technology for water treatment

b) Risk analysis and management on water rand sediment

c) Soil and groundwater pollution control and remediation

d) Environmental systems analysis theory and technology

       e) Solid waste disposal and reuse

Environmental science and engineering

 (Environmental Health)

      a ) Environment and health

Environmental science and engineering

(Environmental management)

 

a) Environment and development

b) Environment, Resource Economics and Environmental Policy

      c) Environmental planning and management

The college puts great efforts on student education, aiming at fostering qualified professionals in environmental sciences and engineering with great vision and responsibility. For that, the college is dedicated to providing rigorous academic trainings to students, broadening their horizons, fostering their sense of responsibility, and enhancing their executive capability. Over the years, the college has established a fairly mature system for educating undergraduate and graduate students. Research and education are well integrated here and students are one of the major forces for scientific innovation, as an example, several academic achievements have been published on international first-class academic journals such as Science, Nature, NSR, and PNAS during the postgraduate period.