Introduction
The Institute of Ecology of Zhejiang University was established on the basis of two precedent institutes, the Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology and the Institute of Agricultural Ecology. For the last 30 years, the Institute of Ecology of Zhejiang University has not only formed its own unique features but also has grown up to be an influential international research centre of ecology. The institute aims at training young talented ecology researchers whose tasks are to help relieve environmental pollutions and plan the best strategy for the sustainable development of world ecosystem.
The Institute of Ecology plays an important role in the ecology education, which is evaluated as the national key and Double First-Class (A+) discipline. It has launched several high-performing academic platforms, including the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, the Key Laboratory of Ecological Agriculture and Environmental Engineering of Ministry of Agriculture, the Key Laboratory of Biosystem Homeostasis and Protection of Ministry of Education (the former Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife of the Ministry of Education). Faculty's research areas cover animal ecology, plant ecology, microbial ecology, ecosystem ecology and developmental ecology.
At present, the Institute has employed 11 professors, three research fellows, five associate professors and senior engineers, one senior lecturer, more than 10 postdoctors and 80 master and doctoral students, who are competent for series of national and provincial key projects, including Major Projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Key Projects of International Cooperation, National Key Research and Development Programs, and Major Projects of Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province.
Over the past 10 years, the Institute has contributed numerous important scientific findings, which were reported in the top academic journals, such as Science, Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, PNAS, Global Change Biology, The ISME Journal, Ecology, Global Ecology and Biogeography, New Phytologist, Cell Research, Molecular Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Biogeography as well as many scientific reviews in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Biological Reviews and other review journals. The Institute has also been granted for several times the provincial and ministerial awards for science and technology.
Looking forward to the future, the Institute will retain in the research frontier of ecology, regard China’s needs for ecological civilization construction as our central task, and train for more outstanding research talents in ecology. By encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations, technology innovations, and conceptual and theoretical breakthroughs, we are trying to enhance our international influence and turning the Institute into the world first-class research centre of ecology and the cradle of China's future ecologists.
Research Areas
1. Animal ecology
2. Plant ecology
3. Microbial ecology
4. Ecosystem ecology
5. Developmental ecology
Institute Director: CHENG Lei
Deputy Director: HUANG Jianguo, JIANG Weimei, LI Pan