In November, the Ministry of Education issued a notice approving the cooperation between NWAFU and University of Nebraska–Lincoln in USA to run an undergraduate program for plant protection.

This is NWAFU’s third Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run program with dual degree, after the undergraduate program for food science and engineering cooperating with University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2015 and the undergraduate program for environmental science in cooperation with University of Arizona in 2020. It is also the first undergraduate program for plant protection in China as well as the first Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run program in the field of agronomy in Shaanxi Province.

This program follows a "3+1" mode with a 4-year length of schooling, and a total of 60 students will be enrolled according to the national enrolment plan. Students will be registered and be conferred degrees by both universities. They will study in the College of Plant Protection of NWAFU for the first three years, and continue their study in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for the fourth year. Students will be conferred bachelor's degrees of both Universities when they meet the requirements for graduation and degree granting. During students' study at NWAFU, University of Nebraska–Lincoln will assign teachers on campus of NWAFU to deliver lectures in English.

College of Plant Protection, Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Office of Teaching Affairs, Office of Planning and Finance and other relevant offices have held a number of meetings with University of Nebraska–Lincoln, discussing core issues including training program, financial budget and teaching material introduction.

In recent years, College of Plant Protection has actively promoted the internationalization strategy, introduced overseas high-quality educational resources, and opened up a variety of ways to train talents internationally. The approval of this program acts as a breakthrough in the international training of talents, which is conducive to promoting the sharing of high-quality educational resources with foreign countries, giving full play to the advantages and proficiency of both sides. This program will further promote the extension of cooperation in research innovation, platform cooperation, industrial services, teacher training and other fields, driving the development of high-quality construction of “first-class” plant protection discipline and enhancing the vitality of NWAFU.

Translated by Deng Yawen

Proofread by Yan Xianhui