Agricultural University of Hebei (AUH), founded in 1902, as one of the oldest agricultural higher educational institutions in China and the pioneer in Hebei educational sector of higher learning, now is one of the key universities of the province.
There are 25 colleges offering 76 specialties for bachelor degree, 65 programs for master degree, as well as the program for master degree in agricultural extension and the program for master degree for the in-service teachers at higher educational institutions, 38 2nd-grade discipline and 4 1st-grade discipline programs for doctorial degree, and 5 projects for post doctorial research; Of all the disciplines provided, there is 1 national key discipline (under construction), 1 key discipline of the Ministry of Agriculture, 1 key discipline of state Forestry Administration, 4 disciplines with strong characteristics in Hebei, 11 key disciplines of provincial level, a National Engineering Research Center for Agriculture in Northern Mountainous Areas-the only one engineering research center of national level in all Hebei higher educational institutions, and 15 labs of ministerial and provincial level (centers and bases), as well as 18 research institutes. Its publications include Frontiers of Agriculture in China and Journal of Agricultural University of Hebei (editions of natural sciences and agricultural & forestry education), etc.
Its four campuses are located respectively in cities of Baoding, Qinhuangdao and Dingzhou, covering the areas of more than 1.9 million m2 in total where the building areas amount to over 1.1 million m2, in addition to an over 330-hectare affiliated farm, an over 2,700-hectare affiliated forest farm and over 50 experimental bases of teaching-research-production dotting in different regions of the province. The campuses’ libraries possess a collection of over 1.7 million volumes of books. The apparatuses and equipments are valued at around 19 million yuan RMB.
The teaching faculty, totaling more than 3,000, is made up of 321 professors and the equivalents, 621 associate professors and the equivalents, 129 doctorial and 476 master Supervisors. The total enrollment of over 44,000 includes 1,390 for doctorial or master degree and over 300 in-service candidates for Master degree programs, in addition to more than 3,000 participants in adult education.
AUH has been transformed into a cross-disciplinary university, with a characteristic of agronomy and forestry, covering the 8 fields of agriculture, industry, basic sciences, economics, management, literature, law and iatrology. Since 1989, 6 national awards and 57 provincial awards have been won for its excellent achievements in teaching.
The research work has reaped a bump harvest. For example, of the 449 projects which passed the evaluations since the 8th five-year plan, 224 projects reached international level; 276 projects have won awards of ministerial and provincial level or above, which has created evident social and economic effect to rejuvenate agriculture and Hebei through science and technology.
The University has established academic exchange and inter-university relations with 18 universities or colleges abroad and started joint programs with Inholland University, the Netherland, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, USA and Mongolia State University. International students have been enrolled for short-term or long-term studies. Moreover, the University has conducted several foreign-aid training programs sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of P. R. China with 179 participants from developing countries. A Self-support Study Abroad Office has been approved by the Ministry of Education. The long-term stable cooperative relations with some universities and colleges abroad have been formed and lots of students have been sent abroad for further studies.
Following the motto formed in its infant years: “In agricultural education, truth could not be obtained without practice; the subtleness of matters could not be approached without experiment; both of practice and experiment must not be neglected in favor of the other”, AUH has forged a tradition of running school of the combinations of teaching, research with production, which is later on known nationwide as Taihang Mt. Road and has formed the spirit of Taihang Mt. Road of “hard work, willing dedication, truth-seeking and pragmatic engagement, love for Motherland and service for people”, which serves as treasures to promote overall advancement of the university in upgrading itself and its students.