Welcome to the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Peking University.
The Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Peking University was established in 1929. For almost 90 years, generations of atmospheric and oceanic scientists from the Department have strived to advance the frontiers of science with rigor and creativity. We grew from an initial meteorology programme to an atmospheric science programme, and we now extend to a full atmospheric and oceanic science programme. Although our faculty, curriculum, and research directions have changed with time, the Department has remained as the premier institution for atmospheric and oceanic science education and research, as well as the leader for international outreach in China. We have educated a large number of outstanding graduates who are now the leaders in education, research, administration, as well as in the defense forces. Today, we continue to build the best faculty, cultivate excellent students, engage in cutting-edge research, and serve the need of the Nation, all the while striving to become a world-leading institution in atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
The Department has an outstanding faculty, consisting of a group of mid- and early-career scholars actively engaged in cutting-edge research. In recent years, a number of junior researchers have returned from aboard to join the Department. This has led to an even more dynamic and vibrant academic ambiance in the Department. Our outstanding faculty is the key to high-quality research and education.
The Department aims to cultivate leaders in atmospheric and oceanic sciences with international perspectives. Our undergraduates are rigorously trained in mathematics, physics, and the fundamentals of atmospheric and oceanic sciences. During their college years, they are also given the opportunity to visit other world-class institutions to broaden their experiences. Approximately 30% of our undergraduates go on to pursue post-graduate degrees in leading foreign universities; 60% of our undergraduates pursue post-graduate degrees in China. Our graduate programme is geared primarily toward PhD students. Incoming students come from Peking University as well as from other atmospheric and oceanic science, mathematics, physics, and environmental science programmes across the Nation. All graduate students have ample opportunities to visit and/or collaborate with the international community in their respective fields. Approximately 20% of our PhD graduates go aboard to conduct postdoctoral research, proving that they are internationally competitive. Other career paths of our PhD graduates include Chinese universities (10%), research institutes (20%), government agencies (30%), and private corporations.
Our mission is to study the key, fundamental scientific questions in the atmosphere, the ocean, and the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Our research currently span the full range of spatial and temporal scales in atmospheric and oceanic sciences - from micro-scale atmospheric physics and chemistry, meso- to small-scale weathers, to the global-scale of the environment and climate systems; from current weather and climate to paleoclimate; from atmospheric boundary layer to the middle to upper levels of the atmosphere; from the atmosphere to the ocean, and extending to planetary atmospheres.
We welcome outstanding young scholars from both China and abroad to join our faculty. We also extend our welcome to all aspiring young students in atmospheric and oceanic science to join us in research and studies.
Professor Jintai Lin, Department Chair
Nov. 11, 2019
