Biology is the scientific study of the phenomena and principles of life and its activities. Its progress and development are constantly revealing the enigmas of life and will essentially address many challenges that humanity encounters. Biology is also the foundation of various disciplines, such as agriculture, forestry, medicine and environmental science. Any fundamental breakthrough in biology will exert a profound impact on the development of world and humanity. The Department of Biology will encompass multiple research directions, such as plant biology, ecology and evolution, cell homeostasis, food science and agriculture. Facilitated by several well-established research platforms such as SUSTech-Peking University Institute of Plant and Food Sciences and the Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, the Department will endeavor to make new growth of biological disciplines and cultivate interdisciplinary directions, and to pursue in-depth research on the nature and laws behind life. In the next five to ten years, the Department of Biology will build an innovative, collaborative and aspiring consortium with 20-25 principal investigators at various levels. We aim to educate and train students and young scientists capable of creative and critical thinking and interdisciplinary cooperation. By conducting state-of-the-art research with emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration, the Department of Biology will keep enhancing its national and international impact in life science.

Immunology and Microbiology are foundational disciplines in life sciences that are thriving in the new era of interdisciplinary crosstalk. Research in these areas provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of major human diseases, essential for safeguarding public health and national security amidst ever-growing globalization. The Department of Immunology and Microbiology (IMMB) at SUSTech explores diverse research directions, ranging from developmental and cellular biology of immune systems to pathological mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, immunoregulation in neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, cancer, as well as pathogenic and drug resistance mechanisms of microorganisms. By integrating multiple research disciplines and cutting-edge technologies such as single-cell profiling and AI tools with traditional methodologies, including animal models, genetics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and structural biology, we aim to identify exciting interdisciplinary synergies and push back the scientific frontier to the next level. Through gaining mechanistic insights into the basic biology of immune systems and microorganisms, the pathogenic processes of immune disorders and the molecular basis of bacterial drug resistance, our department endeavors to identify novel therapeutic targets for infectious and immune diseases, aspiring to advance the transfer of academic knowledge into clinical treatments. In the next five to ten years, the Department of Immunology and Microbiology expects to expand into a multi-disciplinary research team comprising 20-25 principal investigators with expertise ranging from immunology, microbiology to biophysics and genetics.

The Department of Systems Biology is a dynamic and interdisciplinary research unit dedicated to advancing our understanding of complicated biological systems. We apply multidisciplinary technologies to integrate biological big data, such as genomics and epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and interactomics, to study biological systems. We aim to construct integrated models to explain complex processes in life and apply those models to addressing challenges in human health. The Department of Systems Biology seeks to establish an integrated research platform for bioinformatics and systems biology research. Our objective is to understand the genetic basis of sophisticated pathological and pathological processes, such as development, neurological disorders, cancer and infectious diseases. We study the underlying regulatory networks and their evolutionary mechanisms in humans and model animals. We develop new techniques to assess, dig out, analyse and manage various biological big data, including genomes, epigenomes, single-cell-omes spatial-omes, proteomes and metabolomes. In addition, by using deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies, we establish multi-dimensional models of regulatory networks to generate prediction systems for complex life processes, enabling comprehensive and accurate interpretation of biomedical big data. This will promote the development of various fields in life sciences and provide a theoretical basis for the practice of precision medicine.  In the next five to ten years, the Department of Systems Biology will establish a core scientific research team comprising 20-25 principal investigators. With further strengthening the research platforms, we are creating a collaborative environment to encourage the true innovation with international impact.

Chemical biology is an emerging interdisciplinary field where life processes are studied with chemical means. Its core research interest is to use chemical and other methods to intervene and detect endogenous biological processes, as well as to develop new molecules and chemical tools to study life phenomena and develop new drugs. The Department of Chemical Biology bases on the research capacity of the School of Life Sciences and works closely with the School of Science and the School of Engineering to conduct research in multiple interrelated areas such as organic chemistry, chemical biology, structural biology and quantitative biology. The main research direction of the department is to perform high-level basic research, conduct international cutting-edge and forward-thinking research in key areas, and accomplish a series of internationally leading achievements with significant visibility and influence. In the future, the Department of Chemical Biology will achieve the integrated development of the discipline of chemical biology, actively promoting the transformation of basic research findings related to major human diseases (especially neurological diseases, cancer and major infectious diseases) into clinical research，and applications and developing modern chemical biology with unique characteristics of Southern University of Science and Technology. In the next five to ten years, the Department of Chemical Biology will recruit innovative talents and establish a core research team with about 15-20 principal investigators. It will effectively recruit and train high-level talents, make full use of existing scientific research platforms, and build a world-class scientific research team.

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary research field aspired to understand how animal brains include our own development, function and age, what governs brain physiological functions such as memory, behavior and cognition and why brains succumb to numerous diseases and disorders. Neuroscience is one of the key research directions for the School of Life Sciences. The Department of Neuroscience will conduct multi-faceted research covering developmental neuroscience, neurostructural biology, sensory neuroscience, neural physiology and pathology, neural cell homeostasis, as well as cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Meanwhile, the department will collaborate with multiple fields such as molecular biology, cell biology, structural biology, biophysics and computational biology, so as to promote the development of brain science and other related disciplines. The department is also making efforts to explore an innovative mode of inter-school or inter-department research cooperations, by working together with top neuroscience research institutes at home and abroad, encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers with science, engineering, and medicine backgrounds. In the next five to ten years, the Department of Neuroscience will establish a core faculty comprising 20-25 principal investigators, build a brain science research team with unique features and strengths, promote fundamental research in brain science, and provide supports for translational research aiming at treating brain diseases and interfacing human brain and artificial intelligence.