Landscape Architecture
(Discipline Code: 0862)
Brief Introductionto Discipline
Southeast University (formerly known as State Central University, Nanjing Institute of Technology) initiated its landscape architecture research in the 1930s. It is one of the earlier engineering institutions in China to offer specialized education in landscape architecture. Currently, the discipline is recognized as a national-level first-class discipline, a national-level “Double First-Class” construction discipline, and a key discipline in Jiangsu Province，ranking second in the national discipline evaluation in 2012 and 2016. It has achieved an “A”rating in 2020 national discipline evaluation. Under the leadership of Professor Cheng Yuning, the discipline has aligned its development with national strategies such as ecological civilization, digitalization, and high-quality development in China. The discipline has a first-class teaching and scientific research team on the logic, structure, method, and application of digital landscape. The discipline focuses on securing the ecological landscape foundation for urban and rural habitation, advocating and practicing the integration of blue and green space, researching and developing key technology for smart ecological landscape, and meeting the practical demands of park city, people's city, cultural landscape, rural landscape, and more.The discipline has made national influence in talent cultivation, scientific research, practical applications, platform construction, publication of specialized works, and the transformation of invention patents.
Objectives
The Master of Landscape Architecture professional degree is designed to cultivate high-level, compound, and applied professionals with strong professional capabilities, vocational qualifications, and innovative thinking. These professionals will engage in landscape architecture planning and design, landscape engineering and technology, landscape plant application, territorial landscape protection and ecological restoration, landscape history and theory, landscape operation and management, and other related fields.
The degree program adheres to the principle of cultivating individuals with moral integrity, patriotism, compliance with the law, and upright conduct. It aims to foster professionals with a firm and correct political orientation, craftsmanship spirit, and innovative capabilities, who possess both humanistic and scientific spirits, a cross-disciplinary perspective, comprehensive innovation capabilities, and familiarity with international rules. These individuals will work in core positions in landscape architecture, urban and rural construction, ecological protection, natural resources, cultural tourism, and other related fields, serving as international, compound, and well-rounded builders and successors in the landscape architecture profession.
The program aims to train first-class talents who are equipped with a solid professional foundation, research and development capabilities, and a cross-disciplinary perspective, serving landscape architecture and related industry authorities, enterprises, design institutions, and research institutes. These talents will engage in engineering design, technological research and development, talent training, and management in landscape architecture and related professions.
Research Directions
(1) Landscape Planning and Design
(2) History and Theory of Landscape Architecture
(3) Digital Landscape Theory and Method
(4) Landscape Planning and Ecological Restoration of National Land
(5) Engineering and Technology of Landscape Architecture
(6) Architectural Design and its Theory in Landscape
Duration
3 years usually, and no more than 4 years.
Credit Requirements and Curricula (refer to the Appendix)
Mentorship System
Based on the specific circumstances such as the professional qualifications of master's supervisors and the needs of project cooperation, a "dual-mentor" system, consisting of both on-campus and enterprise mentors, is adopted for the cultivation of postgraduate students. The on-campus mentor takes the lead in guidance, while the enterprise mentor participates in the guidance of enterprise practice-oriented courses, the selection of dissertation topics, and the defense process. Relevant matters are jointly decided by the dual mentors.
Professional Practice (Enterprise Internship)
The college will uniformly contact and identify design enterprises (bases) for postgraduate internships and establish a standardized enterprise training plan. The enterprises (bases) undertaking the internships must possess certain qualifications and enjoy a good reputation in the industry. Individuals serving as enterprise mentors should hold senior professional titles in the field of landscape architecture.
If on-campus mentors possess professional qualifications in the design units or engineering centers of the university, the professional practice of master's students can also be mainly guided by on-campus mentors, but still requires the assistance of enterprise mentors.
Master's students must, after completing all degree courses, seek opinions from departments, mentors, and joint-training enterprises, and choose an appropriate period within the third to fifth semesters to complete an enterprise internship of no less than six months.
Participation in Academic Activities
Participate in at least two academic seminars within the field of this major or attend one academic conference at home or abroad. The requirements for achievements shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant regulations of Southeast University and the Department of Landscape Architecture. One credit will be awarded upon passing the assessment.
Thesis Proposal
Master's students must commence their degree thesis work after completing the required course credits in the third semester. The thesis proposal should adhere to the "Principles and Requirements for Thesis Topic Selection and Proposal Reporting for Graduate Students at Southeast University." The topic direction shall be jointly determined by the dual mentors, addressing practical problems with certain application prospects and innovative value in line with national economic construction, discipline development needs, or the mentors' research directions. The proposal report must be discussed and approved by the corresponding expert committee and then submitted to the department for review and confirmation.
Mid-term Assessment
The mid-term assessment shall be conducted in accordance with the "Mid-term Assessment and Screening Measures for Master's Students at Southeast University" and the relevant regulations of the School of Architecture.
Professional Degree Dissertation
The master's dissertation for the professional degree in landscape architecture serves as a crucial basis for degree evaluation. It should demonstrate the postgraduate's ability to comprehensively apply scientific theories, methods, and techniques to solve practical problems. The topic selection should reflect real-world issues and theoretical explorations in the professional development, addressing major problems in landscape architecture construction or serving as a planning and design project with a certain scale and functional requirements, thus possessing both theoretical significance and practical value.
In accordance with the "Basic Requirements for the Master's Dissertation in Landscape Architecture (2023)" issued by the National Steering Committee for Graduate Education in Landscape Architecture, master's dissertations in landscape architecture are categorized into two types: planning and design-oriented dissertations and thematic research-oriented dissertations.
Planning and design-oriented dissertations should align with the needs of socio-economic development, exhibiting a certain degree of advancement, innovation, and practical effectiveness, along with clear application value. Based on theoretical research and the application of professional planning and design capabilities, these dissertations should propose planning and design strategies through rigorous logical reasoning and complete a planning and design scheme. They should emphasize innovation in planning, design, or technical methods and the refinement of their application significance, ensuring that the research findings hold practical significance and application value for the practice of the landscape architecture industry.
Thematic research-oriented dissertations fall under the category of applied research-based degree dissertations. The research outcomes should serve foundational or cutting-edge applied research addressing practical issues in landscape architecture and related fields, exploring solutions to problems or the underlying laws governing their occurrence. These dissertations should be grounded in the professional domain, targeting practical issues, and systematically applying professional knowledge and relevant theories. They are encouraged to utilize interdisciplinary analytical tools. Besides theoretical significance, the research findings should emphasize the refinement of their application significance, thereby possessing research significance and guiding value for the development of the landscape architecture industry.
Literature Reading
Read at least 50 pieces of literature, including Chinese and foreign journals, representative monographs, and conference papers, within the scope of the thesis topic and research direction, among which 20 should be foreign-language documents, and write and complete one literature review.
Requirements for Professional Degree Dissertation
Planning and Design-Oriented Professional Degree Dissertations
These dissertations should originate from actual engineering projects with research value and practical significance, reflecting the cutting-edge developments in the landscape architecture industry or the real needs of urban and rural human settlement ecological landscape environment construction in national strategies and regional development. They should possess clear practical significance and application value in landscape architecture. Such dissertations should entail a certain level of technical difficulty and a necessary workload, with main contents including research reviews, case analyses, and planning and design schemes. The length should generally be no less than 40,000 words.
Thematic Research-Oriented Professional Degree Dissertations
These dissertations should stem from fundamental and cutting-edge practical issues or future trends faced in the development of landscape architecture and related fields, possessing clear research necessity and theoretical guiding significance, and effectively serving practical applications in landscape architecture. They should exhibit a certain research depth and a necessary workload, encouraging the integration of knowledge across interdisciplinary fields. These dissertations should also entail a certain level of technical difficulty and a necessary workload, with main contents including research reviews, research plans, research contents, and research conclusions. The length should generally be no less than 40,000 words.
The standards for degree dissertations should adhere to the "Detailed Rules for the Awarding of Master's and Doctoral Degrees at Southeast University," the "Basic Requirements for the Master's Dissertation in Landscape Architecture (2023)," the "Format Regulations for Graduate Degree Dissertations at Southeast University," and relevant documents on degree management. The format of the dissertation should strictly follow the template for master's degree dissertations at Southeast University. The writing period for the dissertation should generally be no less than one year.
Degree dissertations should feature distinct viewpoints, correct arguments, sufficient empirical evidence, rigorous discussions, concise and fluent writing, and be richly illustrated with both text and images. Annotations and citations should conform to academic norms. Additionally, the text and diagrams in planning and design-oriented professional degree dissertations should emphasize "engineering and professionalism," ensuring reasonable layout design, complete and clear diagrams, comprehensive technical documentation, accurate data, and content and depth that conform to corresponding industry norms and drafting standards. Thematic research-oriented professional degree dissertations should emphasize "discussion and research," achieving development and innovation in theoretical research, methodological innovation, or technological development, possessing a certain level of advancement and practical transformation value.
Defense
Students must earn the required credits as per the training program, complete all training components and degree dissertation work, pass the blind review conducted by the college, and then proceed to the Graduate School to handle paper plagiarism checks and off-campus blind review procedures. Only those who pass the random inspection are eligible to participate in the thesis defense. The defense is organized uniformly by the department and takes place within the specified time frame set by the degree-granting unit.
Among the reviewers of the degree dissertation and members of the defense committee, there should be at least one off-campus expert with a senior professional and technical position. After passing the defense, students can submit a degree application. Upon approval by the sub-committee for degree evaluation of the department and the university's degree evaluation committee, the master's degree in landscape architecture can be conferred.
Appendix
Note
1.The minimum total credit requirement for master's students in the professional degree program of landscape architecture during their studies is 27 credits, of which the minimum credit requirement for compulsory courses is 18 credits. At least one interdisciplinary course must be taken as an elective. The curriculum and credit requirements for other professional degree categories shall be implemented in accordance with the "Guidance Training Program for Full-time Master's Professional Degree (by Category) Graduate Students" (Degree Office [2009] No. 23).
2.All compulsory courses for master's students in the professional degree program of landscape architecture should generally be completed within one academic year after enrollment.
3.Compulsory courses and public elective courses should be selected based on this table. For professional elective courses, students may choose from the "Postgraduate Course Catalog" with the consent of their supervisors.
4.The landscape practice component should be completed within the second academic year after enrollment. Students are required to submit a summary report of their practical learning experience and participate in centralized assessments on time in accordance with relevant regulations. Those who pass as required will be awarded the corresponding credits.
Approval for Academic Program
