中南大学岩土工程系由原长沙铁道学院土力学地基基础教研室、工程地质教研室、土力学实验室、工程地质实验室以及原中南工业大学地基基础教研室等合并组成。岩土工程系师资力量雄厚，现有教学科研人员28名，其中: 中国工程院院士1名，教授8名，副教授和高级工程师6名，22人具有博士学位。岩土工程学科于1981年获国家首批硕士学位授予权；2000年获博士学位授予权；2002年被评为湖南省重点学科，2007年被评为国家重点学科，同年促成了我校土木工程学科被评为一级学科国家重点学科。
岩土工程实验室是“高速铁路建造技术国家工程研究中心”、“重载铁路工程结构教育部重点实验室”、“轨道交通安全教育部重点实验室”和“土木工程安全科学湖南省高校重点实验室”的重要组成部分。同时，依托学校985、211建设平台，岩土工程试验设备和条件得到了前所未有的加强，为学科的科研实验和人才培养提供了坚实支撑。
经过50多年的建设与发展，岩土工程学科在国内具有一定的优势, 已经形成了“路基工程静动力性能及加固强化”、“边坡工程与新型支挡结构”、“地基处理与地下水防治”、“桩基础承载机理与变形分析”、“特殊土与非饱和土理论”及“随机介质理论及工程应用”等稳定的具有明显特色和优势的研究方向。尤其是刘宝琛院士引领的随机介质理论成果，在国外同行中享有较高的声誉。
岩土工程系历来重视教学和科研相结合，近十年来承担并完成国家973、863、自然科学基金和省部级科研项目60余项，获国家、省部级科研成果奖10余项。承担了“土木工程导论”、“土力学”、“基础工程”、“工程地质”、“路基与支挡结构”、“地基加固与处理”、“岩土工程学”等本科生课程和每年近50人本科毕业设计；“高等土力学”、“土动力学”、“岩土工程数值分析”、“岩土工程进展”、“高等基础工程学”、“随机介质理论”、“冻土力学”等研究生课程，每年培养博士和硕士研究生30余人。
Department of Geotechnical Engineering
The Department of Geotechnical Engineering at the Central South University (CSU) was formed by consolidation of that in the former Changsha Railway University (founded in 1953) and that in the former Central South University of Mining and Technology (founded in 1952), when both amalgamated with the former Hunan Medical University (founded in 1914) into the current CSU. The Department now has 28 faculty members, of which one is a senior member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), one is brought in by the Recruitment Program of Global Experts (known as “the Thousand Talents Plan”), eight are full professors, and six are associate professors/senior engineers. Twenty-two faculty members hold their Ph.D. degrees obtained either domestically or internationally. The Master degree program in Geotechnical Engineering was first accredited in 1981, whereas the Ph.D. degree program in Geotechnical Engineering was accredited in 2000. The Geotechnical Engineering program was ranked as key provincial in 2002 and as key national in 2007, which contributed to the discipline of Civil Engineering ranked as key national in 2007.
The Geotechnical Research and Engineering Laboratory is an indispensable constituent part of the National Engineering Laboratory for High-speed Railway Construction, the Key Laboratory for Heavy-haul Railway Construction (accredited by the Ministry of Education or MOE), the Key Laboratory for Rail Transportation Safety (MOE-accredited), and the Key Provincial Laboratory for Civil Engineering Safety (accredited by Hunan Province). Supported by the nation’s competitive “Project 211” and “Project 985”, the Geotechnical Engineering program at CSU has been reinforced unprecedentedly as one of the nation’s best-equipped programs with a broad range of facilities for education and research.
Over half a century building and growth, the Department earned an outstanding reputation for excellence in education and research. Five flagship research areas have been developed, i.e., the static/dynamic behavior and treatment/reinforcement of geotechnical foundations, the slope stability and innovative retaining structures, the foundation and groundwater treatment, the bearing capacity and deformation analysis of pile foundations, and problematic soils and unsaturated soil mechanics. Led by Prof. Baochen Liu, a senior CAE member, the research areas of stochastic medium theory have advanced to gain international reputation.
The Department holds longstanding reputation of integrating education with research. In the recent ten years, the Department has undertaken over sixty national- and provincial-level research projects, among which are those funded by the national “Project 973” and “Project 863” foundations, the national science foundation of China (NSFC), and the national science foundation of Hunan Province, etc. The Department has also attained over 10 national- and provincial-level awards for excellence in research. The Department now offers undergraduate-level courses including Introduction to Civil Engineering, Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, Engineering Geology, Subgrade and Retaining Structures, Foundation Treatment & Reinforcement, Geotechnical Engineering. Each year the Department is also responsible for supervising the senior design projects of about 50 undergraduate students. The graduate-level courses offered in the Department include Advanced Soil Mechanics, Soil Dynamics, Computational Geotechnical Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering Seminars, Advanced Foundation Engineering, Stochastic Medium Theory, and Frozen Soil Mechanics, etc. Each year the Department grants over 30 Master of Science (Ms.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Geotechnical Engineering.
