Background

The College of Tea Science at Guizhou University was established in November 2016 in response to the growing demand of Guizhou's tea industry and in alignment with the directive from former Party Secretary of Guizhou, Chen Min'er, who urged Guizhou University to ground its research in the region's land.

The College traces its origins to the Tea Science section within the Horticulture Department of the Agricultural College at Guizhou University. It began offering adult education programs in tea science as early as 1989 and launched a three-year bachelor's program in Tea Economics and Trade by 1993. In 2007, the Horticulture Department officially introduced the Tea Science discipline, enrolling its first undergraduate students in 2008. Subsequently,the College formally established a Tea Science undergraduate program in 2012, with its first cohort of students graduating in 2017.

Inspired by the principles of innovation, coordination, sustainability, openness, and sharing, the College aspires to become a premier institution for talent cultivation and scientific research in tea science and the tea industry. It is dedicated to fostering the ecological and economic prosperity of Guizhou.

Party Building & Ideological and Political Education

The Party Committee of the College is centered on cultivating virtues and talents, adhering to strict governance, and strengthening ideological and political work to ensure the smooth development of all activities. The Party Committee has been recognized with several honors, including the title of “Advanced Group for Rural Revitalization in Guizhou Province,” a pilot unit for the comprehensive reform of “Three-All Education” in higher education institutions, and the designation of "Model Party Committee" at Guizhou University. Additionally, the faculty branch has been recognized as a "Provincial Party Branch Standardization and Regulation Demonstration Point," and the graduate student branch has been named one of the "Top 100 Graduate Model Party Branches" in China. Furthermore, one faculty member received honors as part of the first excellent team in Guizhou’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Action, another was recognized as an advanced individual in the Guizhou tea industry, and another was awarded the title of "Most Beautiful Worker in Guizhou Province."

Faculty and Students

The College has 40 staff members currently, including 33 full-time faculty, with 3 professors. Among of them, 88% of faculty hold doctoral degrees, and 48% have senior titles. There are over 280 full-time undergraduate and graduate students in our college now and students have achieved notable successes in academic competitions.

The College led the application of six projects for China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, earning one school silver medal and one excellence award at the university level. In the 18th "Challenge Cup" National Science and Technology College of extra-curricular academic competition works, we submitted 18 projects and received one first prize, two second prizes, and one third prize in the provincial competition. Additionally, we applied for 16 projects for National Undergraduate Training Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship & Student Research Training Program (SRT Program), winning one national-level award and three university-level awards.

Academic Research

The college hosts one provincial key laboratory & engineering technology center and three provincial engineering research centers which focused on tea resource conservation, molecular breeding of plants, and innovation in Guizhou’s tea industry, respectively. In collaboration with the Agricultural Bioengineering Research Institute of Guizhou University, the college co-manages the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for "Conservation and Germplasm Innovation of Mountainous Plant Resources" and the National-Provincial Joint Engineering Research Center for "Karst Mountain Plant Resource Utilization and Breeding" Currently, the college offers an bachelor's program in Tea Science, a master's program in Horticulture, and two professional master's programs in Agronomy and Seed Science, as well as Biological Engineering.

From 2016 to 2023, the college undertook 858 research projects with a total contract value of 220 million RMB. It has secured 80 projects from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), consistently ranking in the top three within the colleges in Guizhou university. In 2020, the College was awarded 23 NSFC projects, accounting for 15% of the university’s total. It has won one first prize, four second prizes, and nine third prizes for the Provincial-Level Science and Technology Advancement Award. The College has published 1,571 articles in total, including 506 in SCI/EI journals, 173 in authoritative journals and 532 in core journals indexed by CSCD/CSSCI. Additionally, it has authored 25 academic monographs, cultivated 13 new tea varieties, and been granted 66 national invention patents and 167 utility model patents.

Social Services

Leveraging its expertise in tea science, the College has focused on supporting Guizhou’s tea industry. It established a dedicated task force for the tea industry and organized a rural revitalization team. College leaders industrial planning and technical services for rural revitalization in 7 counties and 8 villages, completing the industrial planning” outstanding young PhDs to serve as, local deputies, and technology envoys. Faculty members have actively engaged in university-industry cooperation, providing technical training and consulting services. Students participate in summer fieldwork and programs like "Doctoral Village Chief," assisting agricultural enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers in solving technical problems. On average, the College trains over 20,000 people annually, providing robust technical support for Guizhou’s "Four Modernizations" and "Strong Provincial Capital" initiatives.

The College, leveraging its academic strengths and talent resources, has focused on Guizhou’s tea industry by establishing a dedicated task force and a rural revitalization team. In parallel the college leadership have personally participated in the industrial planning and technical services for rural revitalization, completing industrial plans for “Guizhou Provincial Characteristic Countryside and Rural Revitalization Demonstration Pilot in eight villages across seven counties. The College has also dispatched Outstanding young faculty with PhD degree to serve as first secretaries in villages, as well as government advisors and science and technology commissioners to support regional development. Furthermore, the college organized faculty to engage in university-enterprise collaboration for providing technical training and consulting, and mobilized students for summer internships and initiatives to assist agricultural enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers with technical challenges. Annually, the college train over 20,000 individuals per year, offering robust technical support for "Four Modernizations" construction and the "Strong Provincial Capital" initiative in Guizhou province.