The School of Marine Sciences was inaugurated in the Yifu Building at Zhongbei campus on October 16, with Prof. Gao Shu, director of State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research  (SKLEC) appointed its first dean.

Experts and officials present at the inauguration ceremony included famous physician Su Jilan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and senior research fellow of Second Institute of Oceanography of State Oceanic Administration (SOA); Lei Bo, head of the Department of Science & Technology, SOA, and executive vice director and general secretary of the Chinese Society for Oceanography; Deng Xiaoming, vice head of the Department of S&T for Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Ren Jianguo, director of Section of Oceanology of the Department of Earth Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation; Tong Shijun, chairman of ECNU University Council; ECNU President Chen Qun and Vice President Li Zhibin, and representatives from East China Sea Branch of SOA, Second and Third Institutes of Oceanography of SOA, Institute of Oceanology under CAS, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research under CAS, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute under Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, East Sea Fisheries Research Institute under Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Ocean University of China, University of Washington, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Taiwan National Sun Yat-sen University. 

ECNU Vice President Wang Rongming Chaired the ceremony. Su Jilan, Lei Bo, Deng Xiaoming, Ren Jianguo, Tong Shijun and Chen Qun unveiled the plaque of the school at the ceremony. 

In his welcome speech, ECNU President Chen recalled the development of estuarine and coastal research in the university, and clarified the goal and orientation of the newly built school, which he said had no other options but to seek development through characteristics. He urged the school to build its own characteristics and advantages by making full use of the university's strengths in geosciences, eco-environment and estuarine and coastal research, to stand out among its domestic peers, and to become a significant source of support for SKLEC

After the ceremony, the school summoned a consultative conference, inviting professionals and officials to give advices on its future development.

It also held a symposium on marine sciences, at which Prof. Gan Jianping with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Dr. Andrea Ogston with the University of Washington, Prof. James Liu with Taiwan National Sun Yat-sen University, and Prof. Liu Dongyan with ECNU delivered reports.