Introduction of the College of Food Science and Engineering

The School of Food Science and Engineering of Ningbo University adheres to the motto of "Upholding Integrity and Diligence, Devoted to Public Health" and serves the sectors of "Big Food, Big Nutrition, and Big Health". It is a research-oriented school integrating undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral education. The history of the college can be traced back to the original Zhejiang Fisheries College, which was founded in 1958 and majored in Aquatic Products Processing. In June 2018, the College of Food and Pharmacy of Ningbo University was established by the major of Food Science and Engineering and Marine Pharmacy. In December 2023, the College was renamed the College of Food Science and Engineering.

The College has established the undergraduate program of Food Science and Engineering, which is a National First-class Undergraduate Program Construction Site and a Zhejiang Provincial First-class Specialty, and has built a Provincial Key Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for the "14th Five-Year Plan", as well as successfully completed the Engineering Education Accreditation on-site visit. Following the suspension of enrollment for the Marine Pharmacy undergraduate major, one cohort of students is still enrolled.

The Food Science and Engineering program is a key discipline at both the Zhejiang Provincial and Ningbo Municipal levels, and has been promoted in the fifth round of national discipline level assessment. It has been ranked within the global top 50 in both the ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities subject rankings. Furthermore, it serves as the primary contributor to Ningbo University's Agricultural Science sector, which is now ranked in the top 1.4‰ globally by ESI. At present, the discipline has a second-level doctoral degree in Comprehensive Utilization of Aquatic Resources, a first-level master's degree in Food Science and Engineering, and master's degrees in Biology and Medicine (Food Engineering), Agriculture (Food Processing and Safety) and Food Nutrition.

The college adheres to the principle of "Five-Pronged Education" (moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education) and is committed to cultivating high-level, interdisciplinary, and innovative talents. There are nearly 1,000 full-time students, including international students from 6 countries, and the ratio of graduate and undergraduate students is more than 1:1. Meishan Campus has beautiful environment, perfect teaching facilities, strong learning atmosphere and rich cultural activities. In the past five years, students have published more than 500 academic papers in core journals, and more than 70 projects have won provincial and ministerial awards such as "Challenge Cup" college Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, "Internet+" College Student Entrepreneurship Competition, and National College Student Life Science Competition, including 26 national innovation and entrepreneurship Competition awards. The postgraduate study rate (for further education) of undergraduate graduates is over 40%. Some students are enrolled in world-class food colleges such as Wageningen University (Netherlands) and Jiangnan University. The employment rate of all graduates exceeds 95%.

The college adheres to the principle of "Simultaneous Introduction and Nurturing" and has assembled a group of outstanding faculty members, with returned overseas scholars forming the backbone. There are more than 70 staff members, including 17 full professors/distinguished researchers and nearly 30 associate professors/distinguished associate researchers. More than 90% of the full-time teachers have a doctor's degree. It has 2 National-Level Youth Talents, 1 National Modern Agricultural Industrial Technology System Position Scientist, 1 "Qianjiang Scholars" Distinguished Professor, 1 Zhejiang Province Science and Technology Innovation Leading Talent, 6 winners of the Zhejiang Province Outstanding Youth Fund, 1 National Food Industry Youth Top Talent, and 1 Zhejiang Province Higher Education Institutions High-Level Top Talent each.

The college actively integrates into the national strategy, docking local development, and upgrading the service industry. There are 7 superior scientific research and innovation teams, the total laboratory area is about 10000 square meters, more than 1000 sets of experimental instruments and equipment, the total value of equipment exceeds 100 million yuan. It has participated in the National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Hazard Factors and Risk Prevention and Control, the Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Logistics and Processing for Fresh Food and the Provincial Key Laboratory of Food Microbiology, Nutrition and Health. It has Zhejiang-Malaysia Joint Laboratory of Agricultural Product Processing and Nutrition and Health, Key Laboratory of Animal Protein Food Deep Processing Technology of Zhejiang Province, China-Australia Joint Research Center on Food and Health and the Zhejiang Provincial Joint Graduate Training Base. In the past five years, teachers have presided over more than 250 scientific research projects of various kinds, including more than 50 National-Level Young Talent Projects, National Natural Science Foundation Regional Innovation Key Funds, National Key Research and Development Program and International Cooperation Projects, as well as more than 50 provincial and ministerial level research and development programs such as Zhejiang Key Research and Development Program, Provincial "Spearhead" and "Leading wild Goose" research and development research and development programs. The total funding is more than 100 million yuan. Teachers have published more than 800 papers and granted nearly 110 patents. As the first completion unit, the College has won one First Prize of the Ministry of Education University Scientific Research Outstanding Achievement Award, one First Prize of the China Light Industry Federation Science and Technology Progress Award, two Special Prizes of the China Commerce Federation Science and Technology Award, and four Second Prizes of the Zhejiang Province Natural Science/Technology Progress Award. As the second unit, it won the First Prize of the Ministry of Education University Scientific Research Outstanding Achievement Award and the first prize of Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Progress Award.