Shandong Agricultural University (SDAU), situated at the foot of the magnificent Mount Tai, was founded in Jinan in 1906 with the original name of Shandong Higher Agricultural School. Later in 1952, it was renamed Shandong Agricultural College during the national integration and adjustment of departments and colleges. The college was moved to Tai’an in 1958 and renamed Shandong Agricultural University in 1983. In July 1999, the former Shandong Agricultural University incorporated two schools, Shandong Water Conservancy College and Shandong Forestry School, to form the current Shandong Agricultural University. At present, SDAU is a multi-disciplinary university with agricultural science as its strength and life science as a distinctive feature, covering many areas of both natural sciences and social sciences.

It is jointly built by National Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas and People’s Government of Shandong Province, as well as by National Bureau of Forestry and Grassland and People’s Government of Shandong Province. It is among the earliest reform pilot universities of excellent agriculture and forestry talent education and cultivation plan jointly initiated by National Education Ministry, National Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas and National Bureau of Forestry and Grassland, the earliest 5 characteristic famous universities of application and the earliest national civilized campuses. It was chosen as Shandong Province's high level university for first-class building. In recent years, the employment quality of its graduates has always been ranked the front row among provincial colleges and universities. 39% undergraduates choose to pursue master study. It is among the top 50 universities in terms of typical experience of graduate employment as well as innovation and entrepreneurship.

Currently, SDAU has an enrollment of 37189 full-time students, including 29317 undergraduate students and 7872 master and doctoral students. In addition, there are 18558 students of continuing education. It has a total of 2658 faculty and staff members, among whom there are 1247 professors and associate professors. SDAU has 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and 2 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering,more than 50 national level talents, such as distinguished professors of Changjiang Scholars and winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and more than 160 provincial and ministerial level talents, such as Mount Taishan scholar climbing experts and winners of the Shandong Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

SDAU boasts 12 postdoctoral research stations, 11 first-level discipline doctoral programs, 25 first-level discipline master’s programs, 2 professional degree doctoral programs, and 16 professional degree master’s programs. It houses 2 national key disciplines, 2 key disciplines under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and 21 provincial key disciplines. Two disciplines are included in the provincial 811 Project for world-class discipline construction, with one provincial peak discipline, four advantageous and characteristic disciplines, and one cultivated discipline. Its agriculture and forestry disciplines rank 82nd globally in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, while 8 disciplines feature in the top 1% of ESI global rankings, with Plant & Animal Science and Agricultural Science in the top 1‰.

The research infrastructure encompasses 1 National Key Laboratory, 3 National Engineering Research Centers, 2 National Engineering Technology Research Centers, and 1 National Technology Innovation Center. Additional facilities include 1 comprehensive key laboratory under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 6 specialized (regional) key laboratories, 2 agricultural science observation stations, 1 national professional center for agricultural product processing technology development, 1 national wheat improvement sub-center, and 1 agricultural product quality and safety supervision and testing center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Further assets comprise a New Rural Development Research Institute jointly established by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education, a national wheat breeding and cultivation technology innovation base, a Huang-Huai-Hai regional maize technology innovation center, 1 positioning observation research station and 1 key laboratory under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 7 training bases under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Education, 1 national intellectual property information public service outlet, and a comprehensive array of provincial-level platforms including one provincial technology innovation center, 8 collaborative innovation centers, 8 key laboratories, 17 university-level key laboratories, 6 engineering research centers, 13 engineering technology research centers, 9 international science and technology cooperation bases, 1 regional (country) research center, 1 new-type think tank, 1 provincial social science theory research base, 2 liberal arts laboratories in higher education institutions, 1 foreign affairs research and development think tank, 1 provincial science and education base, 5 provincial training bases, 1 provincial training demonstration base, 1 provincial social science popularization education base, and 1 science popularization education base under the provincial association for science and technology.

The university offers 92 undergraduate majors, including nine national characteristic specialties, 16 national-level first-class undergraduate programs, and 26 provincial-level first-class undergraduate programs. Its educational resources feature 5 national premium courses, 30 national-level first-class undergraduate courses, 78 provincial-level first-class undergraduate courses, 2 national bilingual demonstration courses, and 5 national premium resource-sharing courses. Hosts 2 national innovation experiment zones for talent cultivation models, 3 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 1 national virtual simulation experimental teaching demonstration center, 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching projects, 1 national off-campus practice education base for university students, 1 national practice-based innovation and entrepreneurship education base, 1 national innovation and entrepreneurship education practice base, 1 provincial undergraduate entrepreneurship incubation demonstration base, and 1 provincial mass entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration base.

The university’s campus spans 5,340.13 mu (approximately 356 hectares), with a total construction area of 1.2065 million square meters. The value of teaching and research instruments and equipment reaches 1.405 billion yuan. The library holds 3.122 million physical volumes and 1.9974 million electronic books.

The university comprises 22 colleges, including the Future Technology College (Qilu Academy), College of Agronomy, College of Plant Protection, College of Resources and Environment, College of Forestry, College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, College of Economics and Management, College of Food Science and Engineering, College of Life Sciences, College of Foreign Languages, College of Public Administration, College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, College of Information Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, College of International Exchange, College of Physical Education, College of Arts, College of Marxism, and College of Continuing Education (Rural Revitalization College).

Since the national reform and opening up, SDAU has obtained 42 national science and technology achievement awards, including the First Award of National Technology Invention, and more than 400 science and technology achievement awards above provincial and ministerial level. It has gained 9 national teaching achievement awards, among which there is 1 special prize and 2 first prizes of national teaching achievement, and 103 teaching achievement awards above provincial level. Since its establishment, Since its establishment, the university has cultivated more than 400000 outstanding talents of all kinds, with Li Zhensheng, Yinxiangchu, Zhu Zhaoliang, Gao Shaorong, academicians of the CAS Member, and Shu Huairui, Shan Lun, Yu Zhenwen, Li Yu, Zhao Chunjiang, Li Peiwu, academicians of the CAE Member as outstanding representatives.

SDAU sticks to inheriting and carrying forward its precious cultural traditions and noble spiritual qualities. It set forth the education concept of “integrate learning with doing, take practice as priority, put talent cultivation first, and worship academy”, the motto of “To climb higher, you must start from the bottom.”, the culture with cores of “talent cultivation, truth seeking, inclusiveness, and openness” , as well as the spirit with “love China and SDAU, plain and noble, truth seeking and innovation, pragmatic and diligent” as its core elements.

SDAU has established the China-CEEC Modern Agricultural Science and Education Innovation Alliance, uniting 65 scientific, industrial, and educational institutions from China and Central and Eastern European countries. Over the years, it has established interschool cooperation with over 90 overseas universities and research institutions, including University of California, Davis, Royal Agricultural College, FOM University, Radboud University, University of Liège, Perm State University, University of São Paulo, Agricultural University of Athens, University of Novi Sad, University of Ljubljana, Slovak University of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Macquarie University, Plant & Food Research, University of Cape Coast, University of Lomé, Nazarbayev University, Jeju National University, Chiba University, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) etc.