School of Safety Engineering and School of Continuing Education
The School of Safety Engineering and the School of Continuing Education follow the educational philosophy of “rooted in Beijing and serving the safe operation of the metropolis and work safety emergency management.” Following a path of distinctive development, the school has become a successful model for the reform and transformation in the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology. The school leads the establishment of the postdoctoral research station in Safety Science and Engineering, holds the professional master’s degree program in Safety Engineering, and has jointly applied for the first-level master’s degree program in Environmental Science and Engineering. It offers the undergraduate major in Safety Engineering and comprises the Department of Safety Engineering, the Safety Engineering Teaching and Experimental Center, the Education and Training Division and the General Office. The School is responsible for the construction and management of the Beijing Institute of Safety Production Engineering Technology, and holds CNAS accreditation and CMA metrological certification for inspection and testing, as well as qualifications for level-2 work safety standardization assessment of industrial enterprises in Beijing, level-2 work safety standardization assessment of hazardous chemical business entities in Beijing, and consulting services for safe community development in Beijing.
The School of Safety Engineering traces its origins to the School of Chemical Engineering in Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology. In 1982, the then Department of Chemical Engineering launched the “Industrial Analysis” program. In 1995, this was adjusted to the undergraduate program in Applied Chemistry with two tracks in Fine Chemicals and Industrial Analysis. In 2012, the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the former Beijing Administration of Work Safety and applied for the Safety Engineering program by leveraging the strengths of the School of Chemical Engineering. In 2013, the first cohort of undergraduate students in Safety Engineering was admitted. In 2015, the Beijing Institute of Safety Production Engineering Technology, an independent public institution, was established and a postdoctoral research station was approved. In 2016, the School of Safety Engineering was formally founded. In 2018, the school obtained the professional master’s degree program in Safety Engineering. In 2019, the Safety Engineering major was approved as a key first-class undergraduate program in Beijing universities. In 2021, the school jointly applied for and was granted the first-level master’s degree program in Environmental Science and Engineering and the professional master’s degree program in Safety Engineering under the category of Resources and Environment. In April 2020, in accordance with the resolution adopted at the 172nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the university’s third Party Committee, the School of Safety Engineering and the School of Continuing Education were placed under joint administration, the nameplate of the Beijing Institute of Safety Production Engineering Technology was added, and the Party organization structure was adjusted accordingly.
The school currently has more than 500 full-time undergraduate students, over 100 master’s students and 4 postdoctoral researchers. It has a vibrant academic team with active scholarly thinking, a relatively high overall level and a well-balanced age structure. There are more than 40 faculty and staff members, including 26 full-time teachers. Among the faculty, 88% hold doctoral degrees, there are 2 doctoral supervisors and 22 master’s supervisors, and nearly half of the teachers have been honored with titles such as Young Academic Leader in Work Safety in Beijing, Beijing Work Safety Expert, Young Talent under Supporting Programs, Beijing Advanced Individual in Work Safety and Excellent Young Engineer in Beijing. Mainstream media outlets such as China Education Daily, Beijing TV and China Emergency Management News have reported on the school’s outstanding contributions in serving the capital’s work safety and emergency management.
In scientific research, the school is rooted in Beijing and closely addresses the needs for scientific research and technical services in work safety and emergency management in a mega city. It has established three research directions: chemical safety technology, dust and gas safety technology, and urban risk and emergency management. In recent years, the school has undertaken more than 30 national and provincial or ministerial research projects, including National Key R&D Program projects, National Natural Science Foundation projects, major technology implementation projects of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and Beijing Natural Science Foundation projects. More than 500 academic papers have been published, including over 200 papers indexed by SCI or EI. Five academic monographs have been published, more than 30 science and technology achievement awards have been received, a number of Beijing local standards and technical documents have been formulated and implemented, and multiple high-level academic conferences on work safety and emergency management have been organized or co-organized.
In undergraduate teaching, the school adheres to the principle of giving equal emphasis to theoretical and practical teaching. It has jointly established the national “Petrochemical Safety Training Base” with Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company, the “Beijing Key Unit for Innovative Talent Training in Work Safety” and the “Beijing Key Unit for Work Safety Emergency Rescue Training” with the Beijing Emergency Management Bureau, the “Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Aases for Safety and Emergency” with the Emergency Management Bureau of Daxing District and the Urban Operation Bureau of Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, and the “Urban Chemical Safety Modern Industry College” with Beijing Chemical Industry Group. The school has received three national-level teaching achievement awards from industry associations, compiled and published more than ten professional textbooks and published more than twenty papers on teaching reform.
In recent years, through a series of educational initiatives such as the Undergraduate Research and Training (URT) Program, the academic advisor system, overseas study visits, summer internships and academic salons, and by relying on discipline competitions such as the “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the National College Students’ Mathematical Contest in Modeling and the Zhiyuan Cup Competition, the school has actively promoted students’ participation in various research-method training and practical internship activities. The participation rate of undergraduate students exceeds 90%. The school has won the Special Prize twice in the “Challenge Cup” Capital University Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, as well as second and third prizes in the National “Challenge Cup” College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition.
The employment rate of graduates from the Safety Engineering major has remained above 98%, with more than 80% of graduates working in the safety field. In recent years, many students have been admitted to master’s programs at universities in China and abroad, such as Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, University of Illinois at Chicago, Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Capital University of Economics and Business, and Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology.
In terms of international exchange and cooperation, the school has established stable partnerships with universities such as VSB-Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, University of Washington in the United States, Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Malaysia and University of Western Australia, and has achieved fruitful results in international collaborative education.