The School of Chinese Materia Medica at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM) boasts a prestigious academic heritage as one of China’s earliest higher education institutions dedicated to Chinese materia medica. Originally established as the Department of Chinese Materia Medica at Beijing College of Chinese Medicine in 1958, it was renamed in 1995.
From its inception, the school has upheld a tradition of academic excellence, nurturing leaders in the field. In recent years, it has embraced the philosophy of “Aspiration for Learning, Tradition and Innovation,” attracting top talent, modernizing its educational vision and integrating resources to achieve remarkable growth. Established by the school in 1985, the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica was one of the earliest institutes to adopt a school–institute integrated management model. Today, the school comprises 12 departments, 15 laboratories or research centers, two engineering research centers of the Ministry of Education, four Beijing municipal key laboratories or centers, two key laboratories of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, four academic institutions and an integrated administrative office.
The school currently has 2,062 full-time students, including 177 doctoral candidates, 526 master’s students and 1,359 undergraduates. It offers undergraduate programs in Chinese Materia Medica, Pharmaceutical Preparations of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy; master’s and doctoral degree programs in Chinese Materia Medica (including nine sub-disciplines); and a master’s program in Pharmacy. It also hosts a postdoctoral research station in Chinese Materia Medica.
The school’s Chinese Materia Medica program is recognized as a national key discipline, included in both the “211 project” and the “985” advantage discipline innovation platform, and was selected in 2017 for China’s “Double First-Class” initiative for world-class disciplines. As of September 2017, its Pharmacology and Toxicology discipline ranked among the top 1 percent worldwide by ESI.
The school has 188 faculty and staff members, including 140 full-time faculty, 30 laboratory technicians and 18 administrative staff. Its faculty team combines distinguished senior scholars and outstanding young educators, many of whom hold prestigious national honors and leadership roles in the field of Chinese medicine.
Committed to cultivating high-level professionals, the school has developed distinctive training models emphasizing a solid academic foundation, practical skills and innovative thinking. It has produced numerous leaders in education, research, industry and management, and continues to play a leading role in reforming higher education in traditional Chinese medicine.
The school currently hosts three national-level first-class undergraduate program sites, a national excellence program base for foundational disciplines, three national first-class courses and multiple award-winning teaching teams. It is also among the first pilot institutions of the Ministry of Education’s virtual teaching and research initiative.
Its innovative teaching achievements — such as “Innovation and Practice of the Excellence Talent Training Model in Chinese Materia Medica” and “Building a Clinical Chinese Materia Medica Talent Training System to Meet Healthcare Reform Needs” — have won first and second prizes in the Beijing Teaching Achievement Awards. The school is committed to original research in Chinese materia medica and has achieved outstanding scientific results. In the past five years, it has undertaken 281 research projects at national, provincial and international levels, with total funding exceeding 360 million yuan ($5.1 million). These include 21 major national projects, such as the National Major Science and Technology Project for New Drug Development, the National Key R&D Program of China and key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The school has published 21 academic monographs, obtained 56 international and domestic invention patents and won 32 science and technology awards, including the National Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Prize) and the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award (First Prize). It has also contributed to the development of 32 national and industry standards, including the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
