As an arts institution, the Shanghai Theatre Academy is a center for both arts education and research. For 50 years, research has been given high priority. The Theatre Research Institute has been set up to concentrate on academic studies on drama and theatre, and a quarterly journal (Theatre Arts) is published.

Among the pioneers of dramatists, Professor Xiong Foxi made great achievements in playwriting, directing and theatre research; Professor Zhu Duanjun taught and trained generations of actors, he was equally well-known for his unique style in directing; Professor Wu Renzhi wrote A Director's Notes, a book which records his whole career as an artist; Theories and Techniques in Playwriting by professor Gu Zhongyi has a great impact on playwrights all over the country; Professor Sun Haoran pioneered and made great contributions to the education of stage design in our country.

During the recent 15 years, the talent and achievements of many young and middle-aged experts at the Shanghai Theatre Academy have also attracted great attention. Professor Yu Qiouyu, a distinguished dramatist and important cultural figure honored by the state, wrote four books within 5 years in the eighties: The History of Theatrical Theory, Aesthetic Psychology in Theatre and Drama, A Survey of Chinese Theatrical Culture, and The Creation of Art. The first two books won the First National Book Award, the First Award of Teaching Materials presented by the Ministry of Culture. In the nineties, his collection of essays, The Arduous Cultural Journey and Sketches, gained wide acclaim at home as well as abroad. Both of them won the Award of Literature and Arts in Shanghai. Due to his achievements, he was named one of the 10 models in the field of Education of Higher Learning in Shanghai. In 1994, Hue Miaosheng, Ye Changhai and Ding Luonan were also selected as all-China Experts with their works: Theatre Space Filled with Signs, Introduction to Semiology of Drama (Hue Miaosheng); Wang Jide (Tunes and Melodies), History of Chinese Traditional Opera (Professor Ye Changhai); and History of Chinese Modern Drama (Professor Ding Luonan).