The Institute of Permafrost Research at Northeast Forestry University is strategically positioned to conduct applied basic research in permafrost engineering, environment, and cold-region resource development and utilization. Following the principle of “Three Orientations” — oriented towards the frontier of permafrost engineering and environmental sciences in Northeast Asia, the (sub-)Arctic regions, and the North, oriented towards major national strategic needs such as the “Belt and Road” Initiative, polar development, and national security, and oriented towards the revitalization of Northeast China and the sustainable development of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor — the institute emphasizes interdisciplinary integration among permafrost engineering, environment, resource development, and fields such as climate, ecology, agriculture and forestry, hydrology, physics, mechanics, geology, and thermology. The institute focuses on technological innovation in key projects related to permafrost engineering and resource development along the Belt and Road, in Northeast Asia, and northeastern China. It systematically studies permafrost environment and climate change, ecological and disaster impacts of cold-region engineering, and the rational development and planning of permafrost resources, aiming to rapidly become an internationally influential center for education and scientific research in permafrost engineering, environment, and cold-region resource development and utilization.

Established in 2021 based on the Institute of Engineering Mechanics at Northeast Forestry University, the Institute of Permafrost Research currently has four professors, four associate professors, and two lecturers. Among them are one Russian Academy of Mining Sciences academician, one recipient of the Chinese Academy of Science’s “Hundred Talents Program,” and four Heilongjiang Provincial Excellent Young Scientists Fund recipients. Currently, the institute’s faculty members are leading several major projects, including a special project and a sub-project under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Basic Research Survey Program, a sub-project under a National Key R&D Program, a National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) key project, seven NSFC projects, four projects under the National Foreign Experts Program, and four projects under the Heilongjiang Provincial Key R&D Program (Guidance Category). The Institute of Permafrost Research is steadily becoming one of the specialized research institutions in permafrost studies in Northeast China.

Research Directions

Research Direction 1: Permafrost Engineering and Resource Utilization

Research Direction 2: Permafrost Mechanics and Cold-Region Materials

Research Direction 3: Permafrost Environment and Climate Change