Lanzhou University (LZU)
兰州大学

China

Lanzhou University：The buzz from China’s west

There is a buzz about the ‘Lanzhou University phenomenon’, among China’s higher education community. Situated in the hinterland of northwest China, where economic development lags behind the rest of the country, Lanzhou University (LZU) shines as an outlier in several university rankings for research output. How has it thrived so markedly, without all the advantages of its national counterparts?

“We have cultivated a healthy academic spirit,” says Yan Chunhua, the LZU president. “LZU faculty and students are diligent, pragmatic and enterprising,” he continues. “Also, we have found our niche areas for growing in the west.”

Rooted in the Gansu Law and Politics School established in the late Qing Dynasty in 1909, LZU is a national key university under direct administration of the Chinese Ministry of Education. With a mission to boost economic and cultural development and cultivate talents and skills to meet regional needs, the university has become pivotal in China’s blueprint for its development in the country’s west. It was selected to be part of Project 211 and Project 985, the two national initiatives dedicated to elevating research and talent cultivation capacity of high-level Chinese universities. In 2017, LZU moved into the national ‘double first-class’ initiative, beginning a new chapter in its growth.

To become a world-class university, LZU will follow its motto to “constantly improve and blaze its own trail.” The ‘LZU phenomenon’ will grow.

LZU at a glance

Out of more than 1,500 universities in China, LZU is consistently ranked among the top 30 in output, and has a strong tradition in fundamental science
12 disciplines ranked among the global top 1%, according to the latest Essential Science Indicators (ESI) subject area rankings, of which, the chemistry programme is ranked among the global top 0.1%
Comprehensive academic programmes, covering 12 disciplines, offering 103 undergraduate programmes
Currently enrols 20,030 undergraduates, 11,285 master’s students, and 2,773 doctoral students
Among LZU’s faculty members, there are 18 CAS or CAE members, 19 ‘Cheung Kong Scholars’, 24 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars
Houses 2 State Key Laboratories, 4 Creative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China , 6 national-level talent training bases, 7 national teaching demonstration centres, 2 national talent training model innovation pilot sites
Has established ties with 206 universities and research institutions from 44 countries and regions

Lanzhou University's Custom Publishing on Nature journal: You can find more information on The buzz from China’s west.

1 August 2019 - 31 July 2020

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Lanzhou University (LZU) published between 1 August 2019 - 31 July 2020 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

Count	Share
296	121.82

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Chemistry	158	76.31
Physical Sciences	91	24.28
Life Sciences	22	4.51
Earth & Environmental Sciences	53	19.45

Highlight of the month

Alfalfa genome assembled

Researchers have assembled the genome of alfalfa and established a protocol for editing it with the CRISPR-Cas9 system, providing key resources for research into and molecular breeding of this important crop.

The complexity of the alfalfa genome coupled with the plant’s self-incompatibility has made it a difficult crop to breed.

To assemble its genome, a team led by researchers at Lanzhou University in China exploited a new sequencing approach known as consensus circular sequencing. Together with a method called chromosome conformation capture, this enabled them to generate a high-quality assembly that included the allelic variation throughout the genome.

The team then used this to guide the construction of a CRISPR-Cas9 system to knock down a specific target gene. As a proof-of-concept, they disabled the PDS gene and showed that the mutation was inherited in the following generation. These tools will be valuable in efforts to improve this important crop.

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