KIZ offers training at both the masters and doctoral level. As of 2014, KIZ had 175 M.Sc. students and 155 D.N.Sc. students, the latter group including researchers from Africa, Asia and North America.

Though research work and study takes place at KIZ, all postgraduate students at the institute are managed by and awarded their degrees from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Founded in 1978, UCAS was the first accredited graduate school in China, and graduated the first doctoral degree in science, the first doctoral student in engineering, the first female doctoral student, and first student with double doctoral degrees in China. Since its inception, UCAS has granted nearly 25,000 doctoral degrees, and currently has an annual enrollment of nearly 10,000 students. UCAS is also ranked among the finest graduate school in all of China, while the CAS itself is considered the 6th most highly ranked research institution world-wide and the top publisher of scientific research in Asia.

Students applying to study at KIZ must first contact the head of the research group they are interested in working with and then the administrative personnel at KIZ who will guide them through the relevant admissions procedures and criteria for UCAS. UCAS admission criteria stipulates that students must be healthy, with no criminal record in their home country, under 45 years of age, and currently have a masters’ degree or its equivalency from their home country or an accredit institution abroad. For detailed guidelines and criteria, please see the application procedures and criteria on the UCAS website.