The Department of Environmental Science (ES) of Tongji University consists of hundreds of undergraduates and postgraduates majored in ES and more than 40 teachers engaged in teaching and scientific research of ES.

The ES major of Tongji University was established in 2000 with the approval of the Ministry of Education. In the next year, it officially enrolled undergraduates. Now the major has formed a complete educational system covering bachelor, master, and doctor degrees, as well as postdoctoral training. Tongji University's ES has been ranked the top 50-100 program worldwide by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Word University Rankings since 2018.  In 2020, the ES major was selected into the national first-class undergraduate major cultivation program. The major belongs to the first-level discipline of environmental science and engineering, which is a national "double first-class" discipline and an A+ discipline in the fourth round of discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education.

In 2010, the ES major of Tongji University launched an innovative top-notch talent training experimental program for undergraduate freshmen. In 2019, it was further developed into “the top-notch class for basic disciplines of ES”.

 During the past 20-year development, the major has been focusing on cultivating environmental science professionals with solid basic knowledge, outstanding practical skills, strong motivation of scientific research, and broad global perspectives, in order to meet the strategic needs of the country's ecological civilization. Our graduates have become the backbone in the field of ES, and experts in field of national ecological and environmental protection, environmental pollution control, environmental planning and management.

The ES major has long focused on basic scientific issues in the fields of environmental chemistry, environmental monitoring, and environmental pollution control, with specific emphasis on environmental chemistry and health, environmental ecotoxicology, modern environmental monitoring technology, pollution prevention and control, pollution process and ecological restoration, clean energy and environmental materials, environmental meta-data analysis, environmental planning and management, environmental climate change and sustainable development, etc. The ES major has become one of China's important training centers of top-notch talents and researches in environmental sciences.