1. Introduction to Marine Science

Marine science studies the phenomena, nature and changes of the ocean, as well as the protection, development and research of marine resources. Shanghai Jiao Tong University develops marine science and technology to serve national strategy of “caring for the ocean, understanding the ocean, and managing the ocean”, and to promote the development of marine science and technology, marine economy and marine humanities.

The discipline of marine science has the characteristics of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, which is different from the existing science, engineering and life disciplines. The professional selection, curriculum design and training plan for students of Marine Science are not only significantly different but also complementary to the existing disciplines of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which optimizes the subject layout of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Under the auspices of Institute of Oceanography, and the support of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, the School of Life Sciences and Biology, the School of Environment, also the State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering and the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Marine Science discipline has developed rapidly in the past five years.

In 2018, The Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Shanghai Jiao Tong University jointly established the School of Oceanography, enriching a large number of marine science and technology talents, and forming a special teaching and research team combining marine science with engineering and technology.

There are 49 full-time teaching and research personnel, including 3 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 3 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 2 from the national special expert programs, 2 from the national special expert programs, 1 academician of the US Academy of Sciences, and 2 winners of outstanding young people of the National Natural Science Foundation.

In March 2018, the master's degree in first-level discipline of marine science was established. In March 2019, the doctoral degree in the first-level discipline of marine science was established. Currently School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has five secondary disciplines including physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, biological oceanography, biological oceanography (including marine strategy), geological oceanography, and marine technology (including ocean remote sensing).

 

2. Objectives

Academic Master Program: Aims to train students to acquire professional systematic knowledge of marine science discipline and to understand the development status, dynamics and international academic research frontier of marine science discipline. Students are expected to obtain independent research and innovative abilities, develop strong writing skills, master a foreign language, and have advanced international communication abilities to become an inter-disciplinary senior professional in marine science and marine technology.

Professional Master Program: Aims to train students to acquire professional systematic knowledge of marine science discipline and to understand the development status, dynamics and international academic research frontier of marine science discipline. Students are expected to have strong 3D engineering technology practice ability, obtain independent research and innovative abilities, develop decent writing skills, master a foreign language, and have advanced international communication abilities to become an inter-disciplinary senior professional in marine science and marine technology.

Ph.D. Program: Aims to cultivate talents into an inter-disciplinary senior professional in marine science and technology that is competent for teaching, research, or science and technology management in higher education institutions or research institutes. Candidates are expected to have a solid and broad fundamental knowledge of marine science, gain a deep understanding of the development status, dynamics and international academic research frontier of marine science discipline, have strong scientific and technological research capabilities, achieve theoretical or applied innovations in the marine science subject, obtain advanced writing skill. Candidates are expected to read English materials fluently, and have advanced international academic communications ability.

 

3. Length of Study

Academic Master: 2.5 years

Professional Master: 2.5 years

Ordinary PhD Program: 4 years

Accelerated PhD Program: 5years

Master-doctor Combined Program: 5 years

4. Mid-term assessment

The main contents of the mid-term assessments include: individual work summary, review of course completion status, dissertation/academic paper progress report, tutor evaluation, panel interview, etc.

Graduate students should meet following requests to attend the mid-term assessment: All the courses specified in the development plan should be completed with qualified grades; GPA should be no less than 2.7; the thesis proposal is progressing smoothly.

The mid-term examination of should generally be completed in the third semester. Examination results shall be recorded as “Pass” or ‘Failure”. Those who fail the examination should be given a warning and report corrective measures to the college. Student will be able to attend another mid-term examination during the following semester after ratification. 2 failures of mid-term examination will lead to a drop-out suggestion from the assessment team.

The assessment form is summarized and retained by the College Education Office.

 

5. Process Management

 

	Ordinary PhD	Accelerated PhD	Master-doctor Combined Program	Academic Master	Professional Master
Qualification exam	3rd semester (if fail to pass, another exam will be available at 5th semester. If still fails, student will be transferred into master program, or drop out)	4th semester (if fail to pass, another exam will be available at 5th semester. If still fails, student will be transferred into master program, or drop out)	4th semester (if fail to pass, another exam will be available at 5th semester. If still fails, student will be transferred into master program, or drop out)	None	None
Thesis Proposal	4th semester	6th semester	6th semester	3rd semester	3rd semester
Annual assessment	6th semester	8th semester	8th semester	None	None
Pre-defense	8th semester	10th semester	10th semester	None	None
defense of the thesis	8th semester	10th semester	10th semester	5th semester	5th semester

 

6. Academic paper requirements

Postgraduate students should meet the academic paper publishing requirements set by the school and the college. An academic paper with his/her name as first author should be published (or accepted) in a search journal before graduation thesis defense. The content of the academic paper must be consistent with the content of the dissertation. Minimum requirement for applying for degree: For all academic papers published, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (School of Oceanography/ Institute of Oceanography) should the first publishing unit; the applicant should be the first author. The instructor has the right to formulate the standards for postgraduate publications according to the conditions of each subject.

Master: At least one academic paper published in a Chinese core journal.

PhD: At least one SCI paper with cumulative impact factor ≥3, or impact factor ≥1 when published in the top journal of the subject (category A specified by school). The impact factor is subject to the date the journal is submitted. Obtaining the National Science and Technology Achievement Award can exempt the requirements for publication of the paper.

 

7. Dissertation requirements

The dissertation includes following parts: thesis proposal, mid-term examination of the dissertation, review and defense of the thesis. Dissertation papers should generally be written in Chinese and printed in the format prescribed by the school (see "Shanghai Jiao Tong University Thesis Writing Requirements for Graduate Students"). In case of special circumstances (such as the paper is designated to participate in international expert review, or the graduate student does not have Chinese writing ability) when English writing is needed, the graduate student needs to obtain approval from the Academic Degrees Committee and report to the graduate school for filings.

When the academic paper publication requirements are met and the dissertation paper is completed, it is also necessary to pass the repetition rate test and finish the review of the dissertation paper before the graduate student is able to apply for a defense.