Hunan University is situated at the foot of the picturesque Yuelu Mountain and on the west bank of the Xiang River in Changsha, Hunan. It is one of the key universities affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is a time-honored key university in China, originating from Yuelu Academy and is now included in China’s “211 Project” and “985 Project” for priority investment and construction.
Hunan University traces its origin to Yuelu Academy which was founded in 976 A.D, and regarded as one of the four most prestigious academies of the Song Dynasty. From 1963, the university was affiliated with the Ministry of Mechanical Industry. In 1978, it was listed as a key university of China. In 1998, it was included in the state’s “211 Project” and became a university affiliated with the Ministry of Education. In April 2000, in the readjustment of the management and structure of institutions of higher education of China, Hunan University and Hunan College of Finance and Economics merged to form a new Hunan University.
The university now has 29 colleges and departments and a graduate school, offering 57 undergraduate programs, 104 master programs, 7 first-order disciplines authorized to confer Ph.D. degrees, 39 second-order disciplines authorized to confer Ph.D. degrees and 12 post-doctoral research centers. It has 6 academic degree authorizations, 1 national research center for engineering technology, 1 state key laboratory, 2 key laboratories of the Ministry of Education and 1 center for environmental technology funded through international cooperation.
Hunan University has a staff of over 4,700, of which are more than 950 full and associate professors, 2 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 6 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Engineering working part-time for the university, 8 members of the state’s “Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project”, 5 national-level members of the state’s “Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project for the New Century”, 5 Cheongkong Professors and 1 chair professor.
The student body totals nearly 30,000, of which are more than 6,000 graduate students. It covers a total area of 1,600, 000 square meters with a construction area of over 1,030,000 square meters. The university library has a collection of 2,700,000 volumes and has realized automatic management with on-line information retrieval and literature transmission services.
Hunan University carries forward and develops the tradition of “Emphasizing foundation, quality and management” and has won large numbers of national awards for its teaching and research. The university has set up a Basic Engineering Course Teaching Base (Chemistry), the Training Center for Orienteering of College Students of China, the Expert Testimony Center of the Ministry of Justice, the State Training Center for Foreign Trade Personnel of Mechatronic Products, the Training Base of the People’s Bank of China and the International Actuarial Testing Center. Moreover, the university has successively undertaken the construction of the Base for the Cultural Quality Education of College Students of China, Hunan Provincial Research Base for Huxiang Culture, WTO Research Base and the Education Base for Deng Xiaoping Theories.
Hunan University lays great emphasis on international cooperation and exchanges and has established cooperative ties with more than 50 universities from over 20 countries and regions.
The university has made great efforts to deepen the reform of its education system and to promote joint education. In recent years, Hunan University has set up more than 10 second-grade colleges in collaboration with local governments and industrial enterprises. The joint undertakings have extended from education to fields like research, development and logistics. The university has for many times been rewarded as an advanced university in the country for Party construction and a model unit in Hunan Province.