Brief Introduction
The program of Geographical Information Systems was set up in 2003 and renamed Geographical Information Science (GIS) in theUndergraduate Specialty Catalogue of Higher Institutionsissued by the Ministry of Education in 2012.MajoringinGIS, the undergraduate program in the field of geosciences,students will grasp the fundamental theories and basic techniques on geographical information systems, remote sensing systems, satellite navigation and positioning systems, and other spatial information systems. GIS majors are trained to be compound talents of GIS technology, so they will be able to engage in geosciences related education, scientific research, management and production in the future.
Through the theoretical and practical teaching system, GIS majors will form a good structure ofknowledge, and can use what they have learnedto solve relevant problems in scientific research and production practice in earth sciences.GIS enrols the candidates of science in the China college entrance examinations and awards the Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) after 4 years of education.
Characteristics
Characteristic 1
1.GIS has abundant qualified professors and maintainsextensive exchanges with prestigious foreign universities. All of the professors have doctorates with a high percentage having studied abroad.
2.GIS closely integrates scientific research and undergraduate education.
3.GIS attaches importance to applying "3S" technology to the resource investigation and environmental monitoring.
4.GIS is entitled to confer the Bachelors of Science (BSc), Masters of Agriculture (MAg), Doctors of Agriculture (DAG), and recruit postdoctoral students.
Characteristic 2
1.GIS focuses on the systematic training in theoretical study and practical application with acurriculum system of mathematics, computer basics, professional basics and specialized courses, as well as a complete practice process including in-class tests, separate experiments, comprehensive practice, and a graduation internship.
2.GIS implements the joint training mode with a tutorial system providing excellentacademic guidance.
3.GIS has 4 off-campus practice bases, puts an emphasis on the cultivation of innovative ability and entrepreneurial consciousness. GIS majors can participate in projects improving college students’ innovation and entrepreneurship and various disciplinary competitions such as the “National Collegiate GIS Application, Development and Design Competition”, the “ESRI Cup GIS Software Development Competition for Chinese College Students”, the “Gongxiang Cup College Students Competition”, etc.
Characteristic 3
1.GIS graduates have wide employment opportunities, are highly adaptable,have a high rate of employment rate, and strong employability.
2.Around 50% of the previous GIS graduates have beenaccepted by graduate schools,the choices of which are wide, including PekingUniversity, TsinghuaUniversity, NanjingUniversity, WuhanUniversity, BeijingNormalUniversity, the CAS Institute of Remote Sensing, the CAS Institute of Geography, etc
3.GIS undergraduates with outstanding records have chances to study abroad.
Specialists’ View
With the current global changes, there’s an urgent need to grasp the regional and global information on natural resources and environment. The basic geographic spatial information provided only by the Surveying and Mapping Program isn’t sufficient to satisfy the demands of society.Forestry is the main body of the global terrestrial ecosystems, and plays an irreplaceable role in the process of carbon cycle. GIS not only equips students with the theories and techniques to obtain, manage and apply basic spatial information, but also focuses on the extraction of thematic information, resource management and environmental monitoring, in order to nurture the systematic knowledge structure of students composed of mathematics, computer basics, professional basics, and specialized courses, as well as their capabilities to solve the practical problems with what they have learned, thus after graduation they will have a wider variety of choices and better adaptability to the needs of the society.
About the Specialist
JuHongbo, Head of the Institute of Forest Resources Information Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry; Chief Expert of National “863” Program; Winners of the Second-class Prize of National Science & Technology Progress Awards and the First-class Prize of Liang Xi Science & Technology Progress Awards; Person selected for the National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project of State Ministry of Personnel.
Students’ Prospect
Entering postgraduate schools: 26 graduates (46.43%) in 2015 went to postgraduate schools; 24 graduates (51.06%) in 2016.
Going abroad:3 graduates went abroad in 2015, and 2 graduates in 2016.
Employment:The employment rate in 2015 was94.64%, and 97.92% in 2016.
Students’ View
GIS is a program with the systematic theoretical knowledge and strong practicality.Here you can acquire good structure of knowledge and strong problem-solving abilities. The successive seniors have shown us the brilliance and magnificence in GIS field, through their hard work either to study further in Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University and even foreign universities, or after graduation to be engaged in high-paying jobs in enterprises, corporations, public institutions, etc. Come to GIS to present the wonder of life and realize the value of your life.
