Introduction to the School of Materials and Energy

School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, is a key discipline construction under the Phase III of Guangdong's "211 Project". With a history of 48 years in education, it has established a comprehensive talent cultivation system encompassing undergraduate, master, doctor, and postdoc programs.

The School comprises six departments (Metallic Materials Engineering, Materials Forming and Control Engineering, Polymer Materials and Engineering, Energy Engineering, Renewable Energy Materials and Devices, Renewable Energy Science and Engineering), one research institute (Low-Carbon Metallurgical Engineering Innovation Research Institute), as well as experimental centers and administrative offices. A capable teaching and research team comprises a total of 155 faculty members, including 120 full-time teachers, 26 professors, and 60 associate professors. Among them, there are 31 doctor supervisors and 117 master supervisors. A total of 118 teachers hold doctor’s degrees, accounting for 98.3% of the full-time teaching staff. The School has one National "Outstanding Young Scientist" award winner, one National "Thousand Talents Plan" talent, four national high-level talents, ten provincial and ministerial-level talents, one provincial innovation team, and one provincial teaching team for the materials preparation and processing series of courses. Since 2015, 83 young university talents have been recruited. Teachers under 45 years old account for 74% of the total faculty.

The School has one key discipline under Guangdong's "211 Project" (Materials Science and Engineering), one peak-climbing key discipline at the provincial level (Materials Science and Engineering), and one distinctive key discipline at the provincial level (Thermal Energy Engineering). The School possesses a post-doctor research station in Materials Science and Engineering, as well as the authority to evaluate professors in the discipline of Materials Science and Engineering. It offers two first-tier doctor programs (Materials Science and Engineering, Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics) and four second-tier doctor programs (Materials Science, Materials Processing Engineering, Energy Materials and Engineering, Polymer Materials and Engineering). Additionally, it provides two first-tier master programs (Materials Science and Engineering, Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics) and two master programs in engineering (Materials Engineering, Power Engineering).

The School currently offers six undergraduate majors, including Metallic Materials Engineering, Materials Forming and Control Engineering, Polymer Materials and Engineering, Energy and Power Engineering, Renewable Energy Materials and Devices, and Renewable Energy Science and Engineering. Among them, Materials Forming and Control Engineering is a national-level characteristic major, while Materials Forming and Control Engineering, Polymer Materials and Engineering, Metallic Materials Engineering, and Energy and Power Engineering have been selected as national-level first-class undergraduate major construction points. The School has programs under the Ministry of Education's Excellent Engineer Education Plan, provincial-level teaching teams, provincial-level excellent courses, Guangdong provincial famous majors, provincial-level comprehensive reform pilot majors, and provincial-level experimental teaching demonstration centers. It has also won the Second Prize for Teaching Achievements in Guangdong Province. The School offers "Innovative Classes in Materials", "National Excellent Engineer Classes", and "3+1" school-enterprise joint training classes. Currently, there are 75 doctor students, 859 master students, and over 3,000 undergraduate students.

The School processes modern teaching and research equipment with total assets of approximately RMB 222 million and a laboratory area of 14,772 square meters. It has established the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Soft Condensed Matter, Guangdong Provincial New Energy Materials and Devices Engineering Laboratory under the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Guangdong Provincial International Cooperation Base for Micro-Control Technology and Applications Oriented to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Materials and Energy Storage Devices, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Photoresists and Advanced Packaging, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Advanced Metallic Materials and Forming Processes, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Green Polymer Manufacturing and Functional Membrane Materials, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage Batteries and Solar Conversion and Storage Materials, as well as 15 specialized laboratories. It possesses dozens of high-end instruments and equipment, including transmission electron microscopes, field emission scanning electron microscopes, high-temperature fatigue testing machines with scanning electron microscopes, lithium-ion battery/supercapacitor experimental lines, confocal micro-Raman spectrometers, battery performance and life testing platforms, high-performance supercomputer clusters, solid oxide fuel cell testing systems, modular rheometer workstations, high-vacuum organic/metal coating equipment, in-situ analytical X-ray diffractometers, laser scanning confocal total internal reflection fluorescence microscopes, and integrated testing systems for micro/nano devices. These are uniformly managed and shared among users.

The School adheres to the educational philosophy of "growing together with the rise of Guangdong and contributing to Guangdong's economy." It insists on integrating talent cultivation and scientific research with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, local economy, and social development in Guangdong Province, pursuing a path of industry-academia-research collaboration. It has developed distinctive research characteristics in research areas such as the physics and chemistry of low-dimensional materials, energy material devices and systems, functional polymer materials and their applications, and new technologies for material forming and processing. In the past five years, the School has won one First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress in Guangdong Province and four Second Prizes, established good cooperative relationships with enterprises in the Pearl River Delta region, and its research achievements have been widely applied by these enterprises.

The School adheres to the principle of fostering virtue through education and strives to cultivate high-quality, innovative, and interdisciplinary talents for the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It emphasizes the enhancement of undergraduate students' entrepreneurial and innovative abilities, the improvement of graduate students' research competencies, and the cultivation of their comprehensive qualities. Students are actively encouraged to engage in scientific and technological innovation activities. In recent years, the School has achieved remarkable results in innovation and entrepreneurship education for students, winning over 200 provincial and above-level awards.

School values international cooperation and exchanges. Over the years, it has established cooperative and exchange relationships with numerous universities and research institutions in countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. In recent years, the School has hosted multiple international and national academic conferences, undertaken more than ten international cooperation projects, and dispatched dozens of teachers to study abroad.