College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, developed from the former Department of Biology, National Zhejiang University founded in September 1929, is proud of its more than 90 years history and lots of outstanding scholars. Many distinguished biologists, including Shizhang BEI, Zongluo LUO, Zhaoqian ZHANG, Jiazhen TAN, Lvji SHI, Renbao ZHU, Zhen YAO, Jiaonai SHI, studied or taught here.

        College of Life Sciences was re-organized in 1999. The college has about 120 faculty and staff members including 45 professors and 27 associate professors. Currently, about nearly 927 full-time students register in the college for various programs, including 319 undergraduate students, 265 for master's degree graduates, and 343 PhD candidates.

        The college presently has four departments: Department of Ecology, Department of Biological Science, Department of Biotechnology and Department of Bioinformatics, which provide students with a distinctive education and training in the life sciences. These departments have been qualified to function as National Teaching Bases for Biological Science and Biotechnology, respectively. The undergraduate students are required to complete 4 years of study and research training to obtain their BS degree. Their major courses include General Biology, Biochemistry, Cellular Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Animal or Plant Physiology and Bioinformatics etc. A series of optional courses that reflect the frontiers of biological sciences and technology, such as bioengineering, neurobiology, immunology, developmental biology, are also available. All students are encouraged to join a lab for research training after two years of study under the faculty's guidance.

        The college owns three State Key Discipline in Ecology, Botany and Biophysics, and two Provincial Key Disciplines in Genetics and Microbiology. It also has the State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, the State Conservation Center for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, the Key Laboratory of Biosystem Homeostasis and Protection of Ministry of Education, and the Provincial Key Laboratory of Cell and Genetic Engineering. The college receives research funds from National Natural Science Foundation, National Science/Technology research and development programs, international cooperative research programs, and research and development programs from local governments and enterprises. Annual research budget of the college is around 70 million RMB and annual publications in SCI are above 160. A haystack of scientific papers produced from the college has been published in the international top journals of the field, including SCIENCE, PNAS, Circulation Research, Cell Research, Nature Communication, Plant Cell, Plos Genetics, Molecular Cell, ISME, Ecology, JBC, and so on.