Jiangsu University

Jiangsu University is a key comprehensive university established in August 2001 with Ministry of Education approval through the merger of the former Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang Medical College and Zhenjiang Teachers College. It is jointly developed by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. It is among the first institutions in Jiangsu’s High-Level University Development initiative; a university rated excellent in national undergraduate teaching evaluation; one of the first 50 national universities with exemplary graduate employment practices; a national university with exemplary innovation and entrepreneurship practices; one of the first universities nationally accredited for the quality of international student education in China; and a national pilot university for comprehensive reform in “all-person, whole-process and all-round education.”

The university has a century-long educational history and rich cultural heritage. Zhenjiang Institute of Agricultural Machinery, the predecessor of the former Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, was established independently from Nanjing Institute of Technology, now Southeast University, in 1960 to implement Mao Zedong’s important instruction that “the fundamental way forward for agriculture lies in mechanization.” Its history can be traced to Sanjiang Normal School, founded in 1902 by Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong and others. As one of China’s earliest universities to establish agricultural machinery programs and systematically teach the subject, it has remained rooted in Jiangsu and served the industry, with a constant mission to advance China’s agricultural mechanization and modernization. It trained China’s first cohort of agricultural machinery undergraduates and master’s students, and its first doctoral graduate and postdoctoral researcher in the field. It has contributed to agricultural equipment talent cultivation and technological innovation, increased farmers’ incomes, agricultural development and rural stability, forming a distinctive educational approach and cultural commitment of “agriculture within engineering, and strengthening agriculture through engineering.”

The university began from a strong foundation, and its overall strength has consistently ranked among China’s top 100 universities. As early as 1978, the State Council designated it one of 88 national key universities. In 1981, it was among the first universities authorized to award doctoral and master’s degrees. In recent years, it has focused on substantive, high-quality development and striven to build a high-level university with distinctive strengths. Its influence at home and abroad continues to grow, and its positions in authoritative international university rankings have steadily improved.

The university is large and has excellent educational facilities. Its disciplines cover engineering, agriculture, science, medicine, management, economics, law, literature, education, arts, philosophy and interdisciplinary studies. It offers 98 undergraduate programs. It has over 2700 full-time teachers, 43% of whom have at least one year of overseas experience, and has gathered a substantial group of high-level talents. It has over 45000 students, including over 14000 postgraduate students and over 2200 international degree students, of whom 55% are postgraduate students. Jingjiang College of Jiangsu University has over 11000 full-time students. The campus covers over 3000 mu, with over 1.2 million square meters of buildings. Teaching and research equipment is valued at RMB 1.53 billion. Its library covers 51000 square meters, holds 3.3 million books, subscribes to 118 databases and has developed 11 distinctive databases. It includes a Ministry of Education science and technology novelty search station, an Agricultural Equipment Literature Resource Center and an International Pearl S. Buck Literature Resource Center. It has a Grade III Class A affiliated hospital integrating medical care, education, research and prevention. It has Jiangsu University Press and a journal publishing office, has published over 3000 book titles and publishes 12 international and domestic academic journals. The Journal of Jiangsu University (Natural Science Edition) and Journal of Drainage and Irrigation Machinery Engineering are national Chinese core journals. Journal of Higher Education Management is a CSSCI source journal, a national Chinese core journal and an important source journal for reprinting in Renmin University’s Reprinted Materials from Newspapers and Periodicals.

The university has high educational standards and several high-level disciplines. Sixteen disciplines rank in the global ESI top 1%: engineering, materials science, clinical medicine, chemistry, agricultural sciences, pharmacology and toxicology, biology and biochemistry, environment and ecology, molecular biology and genetics, computer science, plant and animal science, general social sciences, physics, immunology, microbiology and mathematics. Agricultural sciences, engineering, chemistry and materials science rank in the top 1‰. It has 2 national key disciplines, 1 national key discipline under cultivation and 11 priority disciplines of Jiangsu universities. It has 16 first-level doctoral degree authorizations, 2 professional doctoral degree categories, 46 first-level master’s degree authorizations, 26 professional master’s degree categories and 14 postdoctoral research stations.

The university remains learning-centered and gives priority to undergraduate education. It regards fostering virtue and educating people as its fundamental task, promotes students’ all-round moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and practical development, and continually improves the quality of its talent cultivation. In recent years it has received 11 National Teaching Achievement Awards. Its high-quality teaching resources include 40 national first-class programs, national distinctive programs, national first-class undergraduate courses, national modern industry colleges, national experimental teaching demonstration centers, national outstanding teaching teams and national virtual teaching and research offices. Graduate employment has remained consistently high. Students perform well in major national events such as the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition. They have won the “Winning Cup” in the “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition for 9 consecutive editions and double gold awards in the National College Students’ Entrepreneurship Plan Competition for 4 consecutive editions. The men’s volleyball team has repeatedly won national championships, and the women’s football team placed third at the World University Futsal Championship.

The university follows the “four orientations,” strengthens organized research and continually improves its contribution to high-level scientific and technological self-reliance. It has received 16 national science and technology achievement awards, 3 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Innovation Awards, 7 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars projects and 3 China Patent Gold Awards. Its national science and technology innovation platforms include the National Research Center of Pumps and Systems Engineering and Technology, the National-Local Joint Engineering Center for Hybrid Vehicles and the National Innovation Sub-Center for Digital Agricultural Equipment. It jointly develops the Zhenjiang National University Science Park with Zhenjiang Municipality and has a National Intellectual Property Training Base in Jiangsu. The Collaborative Innovation Center of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, established under its leadership, has been recognized as a jointly developed provincial-ministerial collaborative innovation center.

The university emphasizes quality and effectiveness and continually improves educational openness in the new era. It has established long-term partnerships with 256 universities and research institutions in 66 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Australia and Japan. It has established the Jiangsu University-Cranfield University Joint Graduate School of Future Technology, a Sino-foreign cooperative institution, and a cooperative program in mathematics and applied mathematics. It jointly operates a Confucius Institute with the University of Niš in Serbia and has established 26 joint training programs with partners such as the University of Queensland and Macquarie University in Australia and Northern Arizona University in the United States. International research cooperation platforms include the International Joint Research Center for Structural Health Management of Critical Structures in High-End Equipment, the International Joint Research Center for Energy-Saving Technology in Fluid Engineering Equipment, the World Food Preservation Center, and the Discipline Innovation and Talent Introduction Base for High-End Fluid Machinery Equipment and Technology. It has received approval to establish the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s Global Education and Training Center for Agricultural Modernization and Food Safety.

The university puts teachers and students first and actively develops a harmonious campus, democracy and the rule of law, and campus culture, while continually strengthening innovation in Party building. Its Party committee was commended by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee as a National Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization in the Campaign for Excellence and was twice named an “Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization in Universities” in Jiangsu. The university has received honors including National Healthy School, Jiangsu Civilized Unit, Harmonious Campus, Safe Campus, Green School and Model School for Law-Based Governance.

A new era, new goals and a new journey. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Jiangsu University studies and implements General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions to the university. Focusing on the fundamental task of fostering virtue and educating people, it upholds its motto “Broad Learning, Truth-Seeking and Virtue” and its spirit of “Self-Improvement and Virtue, Practical Work and Truth-Seeking.” It strives to write a new chapter in its pursuit of “Double First-Class” status and development into a high-level university with distinctive strengths, making greater contributions to building a modern socialist country and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!