"Geological Resources and Geological Engineering" takes the Earth system as its research object and is a discipline that studies the exploration, evaluation, development, and utilization of the solid Earth system and geological bodies. It investigates their formation conditions, distribution patterns, and evolution mechanisms, employs various modern exploration methods to acquire, process, interpret, and apply geological information, and identifies potential geological resources and engineering geological characteristics to serve national energy resource security and major engineering construction. The Geological Resources and Geological Engineering discipline at our university addresses major national demands for energy resources and engineering geology, targets the frontiers of geological resources and geological engineering science and technology, and focuses on coal measure mineral resource exploration and geological assurance for safe development, forming distinctive key research directions including coal resources and strategic mineral geology, unconventional energy geology and development, theory and technology for coal-measure resource exploration and detection, mine geological disasters and environmental protection, and carbon-neutral geological technology.

Our university's Geological Resources and Geological Engineering has a long history and distinctive features. Among its sub-disciplines, Mineral Resource Prospecting and Exploration was one of the first Coal Geology and Exploration majors established in China in 1951, received doctoral degree conferral authority in 1981, was designated among the first batch of national key disciplines in 1988, and was reconfirmed as a national key discipline in 2001, 2006, and 2011. The Earth Exploration and Information Technology discipline was established in 1959, received doctoral degree conferral authority in 1998, and was designated a Jiangsu Provincial Key Discipline in 2006. The Geological Engineering and Groundwater Science and Engineering disciplines were founded in 1980 and received doctoral degree conferral authority in 2000 and 2013, respectively. In 1999, the Mineral Resource Prospecting and Exploration and Earth Exploration and Information Technology disciplines were approved for the Chang Jiang Scholar Distinguished Professor position; in 1999, a postdoctoral research station in Geological Resources and Geological Engineering was approved; in 2000, Geological Resources and Geological Engineering was granted first-level discipline doctoral degree conferral authority; in 2006, it was listed as a construction discipline of the university's "985 Project Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform"; in 2009, it became a Jiangsu Provincial First-Level Key Discipline and a national first-level key discipline cultivation site; from 2011 to present, it has been listed in Jiangsu Provincial Advantageous Discipline Construction Projects; and it was rated A- in the fourth discipline evaluation in 2016.

This discipline boasts a strong faculty and obvious advantages in teaching and research platforms. It currently has 60 full-time teachers, including 26 professors and 24 associate professors. Over the past five years, it has led and undertaken 27 major/key projects at the level of national science and technology plan topics and above, winning 1 first prize and 3 second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, as well as 1 first prize and 2 second prizes of the National Teaching Award. It has also produced 2 nationally outstanding doctoral dissertations and 3 Jiangsu Provincial outstanding doctoral dissertations. Relying on platforms such as the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, State Key Laboratory of Deep Geomechanics and Underground Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Coal Mine Gas Control, Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources and Reservoir Formation Process (Ministry of Education), Engineering Research Center for Deep Zero-Carbon and Negative-Carbon Technologies in Mining Areas (Ministry of Education), National Professional Laboratory for Basic Research on Mine Water Disaster Prevention and Control Technology, and Jiangsu Provincial Geology Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, it possesses advanced experimental facilities and research conditions. This discipline has become one of China's important bases for high-level scientific research and talent cultivation in mineral exploration, geological engineering, geophysical exploration, geoinformatics, unconventional resource/energy exploration, carbon-neutral geology, and related fields.

Hydraulic Engineering

"Hydraulic Engineering" originated from the "Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology" major established by the university in 1980. In 1990, "Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology" was approved as a master's degree authorization point. In 1998, it merged with the Land Hydrology major to establish the undergraduate major of "Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering." In 2003, a master's program in "Hydrology and Water Resources" was approved and included in China University of Mining and Technology's enrollment plan. In 2008, the undergraduate major of "Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering" was approved as a Jiangsu Provincial Brand Major. In 2010, a professional master's degree program in the "Hydraulic Engineering" engineering field was approved. In 2012, a doctoral program in the secondary discipline "Groundwater Science and Engineering" was approved. In 2019, the "Hydraulic Engineering" professional master's program was adjusted to a "Civil and Hydraulic Engineering" professional master's program. In 2021, a first-level discipline master's program in "Hydraulic Engineering" was approved. In 2021, the "Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering" major was selected for the Jiangsu Provincial First-Class Major Construction Program. Through decades of research and accumulation in graduate education, this discipline has achieved numerous high-level research results in mine water disaster prevention and control, groundwater science, hydrology and water resources, and engineering hydrogeology, forming considerable domestic influence and possessing certain advantages and distinctive features compared with similar domestic programs.

This discipline addresses major national demands for the energy, resource, and water conservancy industries, is based on the safe development and efficient utilization of coal resources and water resources, and has undertaken a number of national-level scientific research projects, including the National Key R&D Program "Materials and Technologies for Groundwater Pollution Prevention and Control in Coal Mining Areas," the National 973 Program "Basic Theoretical Research on Mechanism and Prevention of Coal Mine Water Inrush" and "Basic Research on Geological Disaster Prevention and Environmental Protection under High-Intensity Coal Mining in Western China," as well as key projects and programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It has formed multiple research directions with mine water disaster prevention and control as its distinctive feature and groundwater science and engineering, hydrology and water resources as important pillars, achieving a number of landmark results. Relying on national and provincial/ministerial-level research platforms with advanced experimental facilities and research conditions, this discipline has become an important national base for high-level academic research and talent cultivation in the field of mine water disaster prevention and control.

Geophysics

"Geophysics" is a science that applies principles and methods of physics and mathematics, along with specialized instruments and equipment, to observe and study the distribution and variation patterns of physical fields in the Earth and its surrounding space, thereby solving various physical problems related to the Earth and its atmosphere and space and serving the exploration and development of spatial-terrestrial resources and natural disaster prevention and control. Its research content mainly includes geophysical fields, Earth's interior structure, morphology, physical properties, and various physical processes occurring therein. It is a science formed through interdisciplinary intersection and integration of physics, geology, mathematics, mechanics, atmospheric science, ocean science, astronomy, computer science, and materials science. Geophysics includes two disciplinary branches: Solid Earth Geophysics and Space Physics. China University of Mining and Technology began enrolling undergraduates in coalfield geophysical exploration in 1960. In 1993, "Applied Geophysics" was approved as a master's degree authorization point, was adjusted to "Earth Exploration and Information Technology" in 1997, was approved as a doctoral degree authorization point and a key construction discipline of the "211 Project" in 1998, was approved to establish a Chang Jiang Scholar Distinguished Professor position in 1999, and became a core discipline of the "Geological Resources and Geological Engineering" first-level doctoral program in 2000. It was rated a Jiangsu Provincial Key Discipline in 2006 and became a secondary discipline of the national first-level key discipline cultivation site in 2009. In 2003, "Solid Earth Geophysics" was added as a science master's degree authorization point. In 2011, "Geophysics" was established as a first-level science master's degree program. In 2012, the Geophysics undergraduate major was rated a Jiangsu Provincial Brand Major. In 2024, it was approved as a first-level discipline doctoral degree authorization point. After more than 60 years of development, our university's Geophysics discipline possesses internationally advanced teaching and research conditions and has formed a disciplinary system with coal and mine safety geophysics as its distinctive feature and energy exploration geophysics, engineering and environmental geophysics, and marine and airborne geophysics developing comprehensively. The "Professional Committee of Mining Geophysics" and "Key Laboratory of Intelligent Detection and Monitoring for Underground Space" of the Chinese Geophysical Society are affiliated with our university.

Geography

"Geography" comprises two secondary disciplines: Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, and Physical Geography. In 2000, "Cartography and Geographic Information Systems" was approved by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council as a science master's degree authorization point, began enrollment in 2001, and was approved as a university-level key discipline during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period in 2002. In 2006, China University of Mining and Technology established a master's degree authorization point in Physical Geography and began enrollment in 2007. Years of practice have proven that master's students cultivated by China University of Mining and Technology's Geography discipline have abundant employment opportunities and broad employment fields, playing important roles in their respective positions and gaining social recognition. This discipline relies on platforms such as the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, State Key Laboratory of Deep Geomechanics and Underground Engineering, Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources and Reservoir Formation Process (Ministry of Education), Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Engineering, State Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation Key Laboratory of Land Environment and Disaster Monitoring, Jiangsu Provincial Advantageous Discipline Platform, China University of Mining and Technology Analysis and Testing Center, and the teaching experimental centers of the School of Resources and Earth Sciences and the School of Environment and Spatial Informatics. With advanced experimental facilities and research conditions, it has become an important national base for high-level academic research and talent cultivation in the geosciences.

Geology

"Geology" is a first-level national doctoral discipline and a Jiangsu Provincial Key Discipline during the "12th, 13th, and 14th Five-Year Plan" periods. It comprises five secondary doctoral disciplines: Mineralogy, Petrology, and Ore Deposit Geology; Geochemistry; Paleontology and Stratigraphy; Structural Geology; and Quaternary Geology. This discipline developed from the Coal Geology and Exploration major, one of the first batch established in China in 1951. It received doctoral degree conferral authority in the secondary discipline of Geochemistry in 2003, obtained first-level discipline doctoral degree conferral authority in 2006, was approved to establish a postdoctoral research station in 2007, and was approved as a Jiangsu Provincial First-Level Key Discipline in 2011. The discipline has formed 10 research directions with prominent academic standing. In recent years, through construction under the "985 Project," "211 Project," Jiangsu Provincial "12th and 13th Five-Year Plan" key disciplines, and the "Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform," the discipline has made significant progress in energy basin sedimentology and paleogeography, coal and oil-gas geochemistry, environmental geology, structural geology of energy basins, geological guarantee theory for safe and efficient mine production, biological and environmental evolution during critical geological periods, strategic mineral resources, and geological disaster mechanisms and prevention and control.

The discipline has achieved a number of major scientific research results and has entered the top 1% globally in the ESI Earth Science field. In recent years, closely focusing on its distinctive research directions and national energy demands, it has undertaken more than 20 major national scientific research projects, including the National Major Science and Technology Special Projects, National "973" and "863" Programs, and Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It has won more than 20 provincial/ministerial-level science and technology awards, published over 100 high-level papers, and published more than 10 monographs. The discipline relies on first-class academic platforms, mainly including the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, State Key Laboratory of Deep Geomechanics and Underground Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Coal Mine Gas Control, Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources and Reservoir Formation Process (Ministry of Education), Engineering Research Center for Deep Zero-Carbon and Negative-Carbon Technologies in Mining Areas (Ministry of Education), International Research Center of Coal Geology, and the National Professional Laboratory for Basic Research on Mine Water Disaster Prevention and Control Technology. These platforms possess advanced experimental facilities and research conditions and have become important national bases for high-level scientific research and talent cultivation in the geosciences.