The predecessor of the College of Geology and Environment was the Geology Department established in Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1957.It developed with the establishment of Xi'an Mining Institute (predecessor of Xi'an University of Science and Technology) in 1958. It was one of the two main departments when the university was founded, and has a history of 64 years.
After more than 60 years of development, the disciplines and specialties of the College are becoming all-around.The College has a center for post-doctoral studies in geological resources and geological engineering, 1 doctoral program in the first-level discipline of geological resources and geological engineering (including 4 academic directions: mineral survey and exploration, geological engineering, mine geological environment and exploration geophysics), and 2 master's programs in the first-level disciplines of geological resources and geological engineering and environmental science and engineering (including 7 academic directions: mineral survey and exploration, geological engineering, mine geological environment, exploration geophysics, environmental engineering, environmental science and mine ecological engineering). It also has 4 undergraduate majors in geological engineering, resource exploration engineering, environmental engineering, and groundwater science and engineering, and 1 major in implementing the "Excellent Engineer Education and Training Plan" of the Ministry of Education (geological engineering major).The College has 6 national and provincial scientific research platforms, such as the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Green, Safe and Efficient Coal Mining and Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Geological Support for Green Coal Development, 1 national characteristic major (geological engineering), 2 national first-class majors (geological engineering and resource exploration engineering), 1 Shaanxi renowned major (geological engineering), 1 provincial characteristic major (resource exploration engineering), 5 provincial excellent resource sharing courses, 2 provincial innovation teams, 1 provincial teaching team, 1 provincial talent training mode innovation experimental area, 1 provincial geological and environmental experiment teaching demonstration center, and 1 provincial postgraduate joint training demonstration center. It has also won 2 national teaching achievement awards.In the fourth round of national discipline level evaluation, the discipline of geological resources and geological engineering obtained C + level, and the two undergraduate majors of geological engineering and resource exploration engineering passed the certification of China Engineering Education Certification Association twice in 2015 and 2018.
At present, the College has four departments: Geological Engineering, Resource Exploration Engineering, Environmental Science and Engineering and Groundwater Science and Engineering, 1 provincial experimental teaching demonstration center, 1 geological museum and 2 school-level research institutes.There are currently 122 faculty members, including 95 full-time teachers, 11 Ph.D. supervisors, 19 professors, and 33 associate professors.There are also 31 part-time teachers, including one two-way selected academician.There are more than 1,400 registered full-time undergraduates and more than 250 master and doctoral students.Among the full-time teachers, the College has 1 academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 1 distinguished professor of the "Changjiang Scholars Program" from the Ministry of Education, 2 "Shaanxi Renowned Teachers", 1 "Shaanxi Advanced Individual in Teachers' Ethics", 1 member of the "Outstanding Talents in the New Century from the Ministry of Education", 1 first-level talent from the "555" Innovative Talent Project in Gansu Province, 1 top-notch professional and technical talent from the former Ministry of Coal, 1 winner of the 29th Sun Yueqi Energy Award, and 1 with the title of the "Best Coal Worker of the China National Coal Association".The College has 1 Leading Young Talent of Shaanxi Province, 2 Young Scientific Stars of Shaanxi Province, 2 Outstanding Young Talents of Universities in Shaanxi Province, and 1 Member of the Teaching Steering Committee of Geology in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.
The College has long based itself upon the research on geological guarantee technologies for green coal mining and mine environmental protection in Western coal region, and formed distinct characteristics and advantages in structural coal control theory and coalbed methane geology, geological guarantee theory and technologies of green coal mining, mining subsidence and mitigation technologies in coal mine area, coal measure paragenetic and associate minerals and clean utilization, ecological restoration technologies in mining area, environmental pollution control materials, utilization and disposal of solid waste and wastewater treatment technologies.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", the College undertook more than 120 longitudinal projects, where there were more than 90 national and provincial-level projects and more than 30 bureau-level projects, and more than 400 horizontal projects with an average annual research funds of more than 40 million yuan.The College won 22 national, ministerial and provincial science and technology progress awards, obtained 74 national invention patents, and published 31 monographs and textbooks as well as more than 200 SCI- and EI-indexed papers with 16 included in ESI Highly Cited Papers (updated in December 2020).
