The College of Geophysics and Petroleum Resources of Yangtze University, originated from the Advanced Geophysical Exploration Class founded by Academician Weng Wenbo in Shanghai in 1950, is one of the schools of Yangtze University with the longest history and enjoys high reputation and academic status both domestically and internationally. The college is located by the scenic Zhiyin Lake in Caidian District, Wuhan City, which not only has a beautiful natural environment, but also has a strong academic atmosphere and profound cultural heritage.

The college consists of four departments: Solid Earth Geophysics, Well Logging Information Engineering, Geophysical Exploration, and Data Science. It is dedicated to cultivating specialized talents in the fields of geophysics and petroleum resources exploration. It hosts 3 provincial and ministerial laboratories, including Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources (Ministry of Education), the CNPC Key Laboratory of Geophysical Exploration, the CNPC Key Laboratory of Well Logging, and 3 Research Institute (Center), which provide faculty and students with advanced experimental facilities and extensive research platforms.

The college boasts a strong faculty with 95 staff members, including 75 full-time teachers. Among the faculty are 28 professors (including 2 Distinguished Professors), 32 associate professors (including 3 Distinguished Associate Professors), and 73 teachers holding doctoral degrees. There are 17 doctoral supervisors and 55 master’s supervisors. In terms of talent echelon construction, the college has gathered experts including 1 recipient receiving special government allowances from the State Council, 3 provincial-level and ministerial-level trans-century academic leaders, 1 provincial-level and ministerial-level academic backbone teacher, 1 Hubei Master Teacher, 1 young and middle-aged expert with outstanding contributions in Hubei Province, and 5 provincial-level talents in Hubei Province, which has formed a high-caliber teaching and research team.

Regarding talent cultivation, the college offers programs at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Undergraduate programs include Geophysics, Exploration Technology and Engineering, and Data Science and Big Data Technology. Among these, Exploration Technology and Engineering is recognized as a national featured major and a major of the national “Outstanding Engineer Education and Training Program”, which has also passed Engineering Education Professional Accreditation and has been approved as a National First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Site. The Geophysics major has also been approved as a National First-Class Undergraduate Program Construction Site. In terms of postgraduate education, the college offers 2 First-level Discipline Doctor’s Degree Authorizations for Earth Exploration and Information Technology, and Geophysical Well Logging, 1 First-level Discipline Master’s Degree Authorizations for Geophysics (Solid Geophysics and Space Geophysics), and 3 Second-level Discipline Master’s Degree Authorizations for Earth Exploration and Information Technology, Geophysical Well Logging, and Resources and Environment. In addition, the college hosts a Postdoctoral Research Station in Geological Resources and Geological Engineering, providing robust support for high-level talent development.

The college has developed distinct research strengths in multiple areas including geophysical well logging, gravity-magnetic-electrical exploration, rock geophysics, seismic exploration, geophysical instrumentation, and data science & big data applications. It holds particular advantages in borehole geophysics, geo-electromagnetics, engineering geophysics, and computational geophysics. Significant research achievements have been made in production logging, electromagnetic exploration, acoustic logging, comprehensive interpretation of logging and geological application, seismic data processing and interpretation, and unconventional oil-gas exploration. The college possesses over 100 sets of advanced domestic and international equipment, including a Horizontal and Highly Deviated Well Multi-phase Flow Simulation Test Platform, Controlled-Source Electromagnetic Array Acquisition System (CSAEM & V8), Electrical Parameter Scanning System for Rock Samples (AutoScan-II), High-Temperature and High-Pressure Rock Physical Property Multi-Parameter Scanning Test System (AutoLab1000), EILog Logging System, Basic Formation Property Logging System, Enhanced Rotary Sidewall Coring Logging System, and Geoeast Seismic Data Processing and Interpretation System, with total assets exceeding 80 million yuan, providing a solid material foundation for scientific research and teaching.

Taking cultivation of talents as the fundamental task, the college insists on the integration of industry, academia, and research, and actively undertakes teaching and scientific research projects. Over the past five years, the college has presided over and completed more than 430 national, provincial, ministerial and horizontal scientific research projects, with an average annual scientific research fund exceeding 35 million yuan; published 7 monographs and textbooks; authorized more than 70 patents; published more than 500 papers, including a remarkable number of papers indexed by SCI/EI. In addition, the college has built multiple national top-quality resource sharing courses, top-quality video open courses, MOOCs and national online first-class courses, and has won over 10 provincial and ministerial-level awards for scientific technological achievement and teaching achievement. The overall teaching and research achievements have reached the domestic leading level, with some reaching internationally advanced levels.

Over the past seventy years since its establishment, the college has educated more than 10,000 undergraduates, masters and doctoral students, establishing itself as a cradle for cultivating senior specialized talents in petroleum exploration. There are now 1,500 undergraduates, masters and doctoral students in the college. During the process of talent cultivation, numerous exemplary collectives and individuals have emerged, including National Advanced Class, National Merit Students, the recipients of the Sun Yueqi Science and Technology Education Fund “Outstanding Student Award”, and the winners of the Grand Prize of the National English Competition for College Students.

In recent years,over 40% of undergraduate graduates have been directly admitted to master’s programs upon graduation, with the rate reaching as high as 72% in some classes. The employment rate for graduates exceeds 96%. A large number of famous alumni have achieved prominence worldwide as corporate executives, university professors, experts, scholars, recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and National Model Workers. They have not only achieved excellence in their respective fields but also earned widespread acclaim for the college.

The college actively engages in domestic and international exchanges, building cooperative platforms to enhance its educational standards. It has established long-term and close cooperative partnerships with China’s 3 major national oil companies, scientific research institutes, renowned domestic and international universities, and international oil companies like Schlumberger and Atlas, and has established multiple industry-university-research cooperative bases at home and abroad. In recent years, the college has hosted and co-organized a number of international and domestic academic conferences, with increasing number of participants, which further enhanced the international influence of the college.

Looking ahead, the college will continue to uphold the pioneering spirit of exploration, emphasizing diligence, pragmatism, commitment to duty, and a global vision. Guided by its mission to serve national energy security, resource exploration, and the local economy, the college will leverage the location advantages of the Wuhan campus, foster a harmonious and inclusive educational environment that respects students, honors scholars, and esteems academic pursuit, advocating an atmosphere of striving for excellence. Through strengthening intrinsic development, enhancing core competitiveness, and adhering to the principles of “Quality for Building College, Talent for Strengthening College, Openness for Operating College, and Innovation for Prospering College”, the college aims to achieve a more rational disciplinary distribution, more scientific training models, and more obvious competitive advantages. It will build a faculty and talent echelon of superior quality, rational structure, and refined expertise, nurturing a group of discipline leaders and key teaching and research backbones with significant academic influence at home and abroad. The college will further highlight its characteristics in oil-gas and resource exploration, striving to build a domestically first-class, internationally renowned high-level research-oriented college!