Founded in 1957, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) is a national agricultural research institution undertaking China’s agricultural research and development in both basic and applied sciences as well as new and advanced application technology. CAAS plays an important role in solving the fundamental and strategic technological issues in agriculture and rural economic development, training advanced researchers, integrating agriculture with science and technology, and developing agricultural science and technology exchanges and cooperation.

CAAS is the largest national agricultural research institution in terms of the numbers of researchers and facilities. It has the most complete set of disciplines and the most comprehensive research and development strength in the country. CAAS provides strong scientific and technical support and a positive academic atmosphere for postgraduate education with its well-developed infrastructure, sophisticated laboratories facilities, state funded key research and development projects, ample research funds, well-qualified supervising teams of senior researchers, and world-wide international cooperation and exchange programs.

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences consists of thirty-nine research institutes, one graduate school and one agricultural publisher with its research facilities located over 18 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions in China. CAAS also has:

● four national key laboratories
●twenty-two key laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture
● thirty quality supervision and testing centers of the State or Ministries
●thirteen crops improvements centers
●three national engineering technology centers
●one national crop germplasm bank (long term storage)
●eleven mid-term germplasm banks and 8 crop germplasm nurseries
●twenty-five national and ministerial key field experimental stations
●fifty-three state or CAAS field research bases
●ninety-eight large scale agricultural science and technology databases
●forty-seven science and technology websites


The Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GSCAAS), founded in 1979, was approved by the State Council of China in 1981 as one of the earliest degree conferral institutions for Master and Ph.D. degree. Characterized by its integration of instructional programs and the frontier research activities in the CAAS research institutes, the Graduate School of CAAS has been successfully educating a patch of highly talented agricultural scientific and technological professionals for years. GSCAAS’ faculty and staff include two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, nine academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, more than five hundred Ph.D. student advisors and one thousand Master’s student advisors. The four categorical discipline areas in the Graduate School include agriculture, natural sciences, engineering and management science, covering fifteen primary disciplines in which seven are Ph.D. level primary disciplines (crop science, horticulture, plant protection, agricultural resource utilization, animal science, veterinary, and agricultural economics) and eight are Master level primary disciplines. The Graduate School of CAAS offers 44 Ph.D. programs, 8 postdoctoral research stations and 56 Master programs.

1. Categories of Students
- Master Student
- Ph.D. Student
- Visiting Student
- Senior Visiting Student

2. Programs
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Crop Genetics and Breeding
- Plant Nutrition
- Plant Pathology
- Agricultural Entomology and Pest Control
- Pesticide Sciences
- Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences
- Preventive Veterinary
- Agricultural Economics and Management

3. Application
Applicants could download and complete the Application Form for Study in CAAS from the website http://www.gscaas.net.cn and apply to the Graduate School of CAAS before May 31.Visiting studies applications are accepted all year around.
Applicants, who wish to apply to a Chinese Government Scholarship, may apply to the Chinese diplomatic missions or the corresponding authorities in their home country between January and April every year. Applicants may refer to the website of the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) www.csc.edu.cn for details.

4. Eligibility
(1) Applicants must be non-Chinese nationals.
(2) Applicants must be in good health.
(3) Education background and age limit as below:
- Applicants for Master degree must have Bachelor’s degree and be under the age of 35.
- Applicants for Ph.D. degree must have a Master degree and be under the age of 40.
- Visiting students must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies and be under the age of 45.
- Senior visiting students must have Master or higher degree or hold academic titles of associate professor or higher, and be under the age of 50.

5. Application Documents
(1) Application Form for Study in CAAS.
(2) Highest diploma (notarized photocopy).
(3) Academic transcripts of the most advanced studies (notarized photocopy).
(4) Two reference letters from at least two Associate Professors or experts with equal titles in related fields.
(5) A study or research plan (no less than 400 words for visiting study, no less than 500 words for postgraduates).
(6) List of publications.
If any of these documents is written in a language other than English or Chinese, an official certified translation of the document must be included.
(7) Registration fee.
The applicants could transfer the registration fee to the account of the Graduate School of CAAS if in China or post the bank draft/cheque to the Graduate School of CAAS or telegraphic transfer to the A/c of the Graduate School of CAAS if outside China.

6. Approval and Notification
The Graduate School of CAAS will review all the application materials and send the Admission Notice and Visa Application Form for Study In China (JW202) to the qualified applicants by July 31.
The application will be considered as invalid and will not be processed if the applicants are not qualified or the application materials are inconsistent with the recruitment regulations or are incomplete.

7. Visa Application
International students should apply for X or F visa to study in China at the Chinese embassy or consulate-general with the original documents and one set of photocopies of the Admission Notice, Visa Application for Study In China (JW202) and Foreigner Physical Examination Form and valid ordinary passport.
Incomplete records or those without the signature of the attending physician, official stamp of the hospital or a sealed photograph of the applicants are invalid. The medical examination results are valid only for six months. All applicants are kindly requested to take this factor into consideration while determining the time to take the medical examination.

8. Registration
Students must register with the Graduate School of CAAS at the time specified in the Admission Notice along with the above documents for Visa. Those who are unable to register on time must seek permission from the Graduate School of CAAS in advance.

9. Duration of Study and Degree Conferral
The duration of study for Master and Ph.D. degrees are three years. Applicants who pass the required courses and thesis defense are conferred with relevant degrees.
The duration of visiting study is less than two years. Applicants who complete the study or research plan are awarded with a visiting study certificate.

10. Expenses (RMB)
(1) Registration fee
Master Student / PhD Student: 600 Yuan/person
Visiting Student/Senior Visiting Student: 400 Yuan/person
(2) Tuition
Master Student / Visiting Student: 30,000 Yuan/person/year
PhD Student /Senior Visiting Student: 40,000 Yuan/person/year
The yearly tuition must be paid at the beginning of each academic year.
(3) Other Expenses
Students are responsible for their own accommodations, food, medical, insurance, and study materials etc. associated with their study in the Graduate School of CAAS.

11. Contact Information
Address: The Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

12 Zhongguancun Nandajie 100081
Beijing P.R. China
Telephone：86-10-62152115, 68918848
Fax：86-10-68975643
E-mail: studyincaas@caas.net.cn
Website:http://www.gscaas.net.cn

APPLICATION FORM FOR STUDY IN CAAS