As one of the earliest Chinese institutions dedicated to environmental higher education and research, the School of Environment (SOE) of Tsinghua University (THU) is pledged to the development of sustainable solutions that allows minimizing the impact of human activities on environment. Its commitment also includes educating people to embrace the idea of sustainability.

By the unremitting practices and endeavors of generations of SOE people, we have gradually clarified our own development mission: developing high-quality environmental education to cultivate leadership talents with innovative mindset, compound skills and global perspective for the building of ecological civilization; engaging in cutting-edge interdisciplinary and applied basic research to promote the advancement in theories and practice of environmental sciences, environmental engineering, environmental management and relevant disciplines; providing professional technological services to help industries, society and the government to formulate key environmental strategies and to solve pressing environmental challenges; and thus contributing to global sustainable development and the construction of a beautiful China.

Development History

The discipline of environmental engineering at Tsinghua University has a long history, which can be traced back to the Department of Municipal Engineering established in 1928 under the former National Tsinghua University. In 1977, the first undergraduate program of Environmental Engineering in China was established at Tsinghua University. In 1984, the Department of Environmental Engineering was approved by Tsinghua University to be an independent department, and it evolved into the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering in 1997. It was in 2011 that it finally developed into the School of Environment. The school has long served as the director of The Education Steering Committee of the Environmental Science and Engineering under the Ministry of Education and the convener of The Assessment Team of Environmental Science and Engineering Discipline of the Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council. Since 2020, the school has been ranked among the Top 10 in the QS World University Rankings by the Subject of Environmental Sciences.

Faculty Development

The greatness of a university is not attributed to the grand buildings it constructs, but the distinguished scientists and scholars who work in it. The school has prominent faculty led by Prof. Qian Yi, Prof. Hao Jiming, Prof. Qu Jiuhui and Prof. He Kebin. It boasts four members from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, two foreign members from the US National Academy of Engineering, three state-level teaching masters, and one state-level teaching group. Among the faculty members, more than 80% have international educational backgrounds or academic experiences, and more than 80 members are in charge of vital journals and academic organizations at home and abroad.

Talent Cultivation

With the goal of contributing to global environmental governance based on China's green development, we have established a full-chain talent training programs and curriculum systems including Bachelor/Master/Doctor of environmental science and engineering, and promoted five categories of curricular activities comprised of course learning, overseas research, growth community, welfare services and employnment practice, thus effectively implementing the educational concept of value shaping, knowledge acquisition, ability development. At present, the school has developed five national-level courses and won nine national teaching achievement awards.

The school has achieved remarkable results in cultivating students' global competency. The Environmental Engineering Program and the Water Supply and Wastewater Engineering Program have passed the ABET certification. The Global Environmental Program launched in 2011 and the Global Environmental Leadership Program launched in 2018 have greatly improved the global competency of both undergraduate and graduate students. We have also developed multiple collaborative academic programs with world-class universities such as Yale University and Wageningen University for double master's and doctoral degrees. Students from foreign countries and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan of China account for about 10% of the total students, more than 65% of our graduate students have experience in overseas academic exchanges and research as well as internships in international organizations.  

Scientific Research

Based on the national strategy of ecological environment protection, the school has closely integrated its vision with the national strategic goal of ecological environment protection. We have established a comprehensive and interdisciplinary discipline system including Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, and Environmental Management. We have set up seven national-level teaching and research institutions including the National Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, the Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific, as well as a research finding commercialization platform based on the Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou) Tsinghua, hence providing important theoretical support, technological solutions and management advice for addressing key environmental challenges and implementing sustainable development strategy in our country.

Oriented towards international frontiers of science and technology, faculty members of the school have carried out systematic and in-depth studies in the key fields of environmental disciplines, and we have achieved remarkable breakthroughs and pioneering progress in areas including air quality improvement in mega-cities, Multi-resolution Emission Inventory, coordinated and in-depth control of industrial smoke and multi-pollutants, urban sewage treatment and reuse, high-tech biological treatment of toxic and hazardous industrial organic wastewater, groundwater pollution prevention, and solid waste treatment and disposal. We have won 32 national science and technology awards in total, and many of our innovative research findings have been published in world-renowned journals such as Nature and PNAS. We have also founded our own SCI journal, Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, which is steadily seeing its global influence grow.

Serving the Society

Oriented towards fulfilling the nation's needs, the school has fully leveraged the strengths of national think tanks. We have provided solid technical support to major national projects related to environmental governance, such as implementing Greater Protections for the Yangtze River and winning the battle against pollution for Blue Sky, Lucid Waters and Pure Land. In addition, we have led the drafting and formulation of over a dozen laws, schemes and plans, including the Circular Economy Promotion Law and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan.

Oriented towards the life and health of people, the school has fully responded and provided technical support in more than 20 major environmental accidents and public events, including the critical pollution incident in Songhua River, the Wenchuan earthquake, and the Beijing Olympic Games. In 2020, we organized and implemented the Relationship between the Spread of COVID-19 and the Environment, and Risk Prevention and Control of COVID-19, the sole key environmental emergency project of the State Council, providing strong technical support for the joint prevention and control of the pandemic and the resumption of work and production.

Outlook for the Future

By passing on the torch from one generation to another, we aim to achieve constant growth and eternal vitality. We hereby sincerely welcome excellent scholars and outstanding students to join us in this remarkable relay!