Hunan University

Hunan University is a national key university directly administered by the Ministry of Education and included in Projects 211 and 985 and the World-Class University initiative. Its educational origins date to Yuelu Academy, founded in 976 AD. In 1903, Yuelu Academy merged with Hunan Higher School, which had been reorganized from the School of Current Affairs founded in 1897. It was named Hunan University in 1926 and became one of China’s 16 national universities in 1937. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Li Da, one of the Communist Party of China’s principal founders and early leaders, became its first president, and Mao Zedong personally inscribed its name. In 2000, Hunan University merged with Hunan Institute of Finance and Economics to form the new Hunan University. On September 17, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the university, praised its talent training and cultural inheritance, and stated that Yuelu Academy was a source of the Party’s ideological line of seeking truth from facts.

Over its long history, it has formed educational traditions of transmitting knowledge to benefit the people, patriotism and practicality, applying learning to public affairs, and inclusiveness. Its university spirit centers on the motto “Seek Truth from Facts, Dare to Lead” and the ethos “Broad Learning, Insightful Thinking, Diligence and Pursuit of Knowledge.” It has educated and influenced outstanding historical figures including Wang Fuzhi, Tao Shu, Wei Yuan, He Changling, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Guo Songtao, Tan Sitong, Huang Xing, Cai E, Yang Changji, Mao Zedong, He Shuheng, Cai Hesen, Deng Zhongxia and Li Da. Fifty academic division members and members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering have emerged among faculty and students. The phrase “Only Chu has talent, and here it flourishes” vividly describes its many distinguished people.

It has 40 teaching and research institutions. Its disciplines and programs cover 13 categories: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, management, medicine, agriculture, art and interdisciplinary studies. It has 88 undergraduate programs, 40 first-level master’s degree authorization fields, 36 first-level doctoral degree authorization fields, and 30 postdoctoral research stations. It is approved to independently review degree authorization. Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering are included in world-class discipline development. Its School of Marxism was selected as a National Key School of Marxism. Five disciplines rank in the ESI global top one-thousandth, and Engineering ranks in the top one ten-thousandth.

It aims to develop leaders who apply learning to public affairs in the new era. It has over 40000 full-time students, including more than 23000 undergraduates and 17000 postgraduate students. It has 2 bases under the Ministry of Education Top Students in Basic Disciplines Training Program 2.0 and 4 national experimental teaching demonstration centers. It received 16 National Teaching Achievement Awards in 2022, tied for fifth nationwide. It received 4 awards in the first National Textbook Development Awards, joined the 101 Plan in Chemistry, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, and was selected for a Ministry of Education team developing the higher education textbook system in strategic emerging fields under the 14th Five-Year Plan. It is approved as a Strong Foundation Plan admissions reform pilot and a university developing a National School of Outstanding Engineers. It has been selected for the National Excellent Primary and Secondary School Teacher Training Program and approved to establish a national distinctive demonstration software school and a national first-class cyberspace security school. It has 54 national first-class undergraduate program development sites and 94 national first-class undergraduate courses. It was among the first institutions selected to develop national innovation and entrepreneurship schools and the first demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform. Over the past five years, it has won 16 national gold awards in innovation and entrepreneurship competitions including the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition and Challenge Cup. It has partnerships with more than 200 overseas universities and institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley and Nanyang Technological University.

It has 4270 faculty and staff, including 2403 full-time teachers, with 403 national high-level talent selections and 298 selections under the four young talent programs. These include 6 full-time members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering and 5 nationally distinguished teachers. It has 7 National Natural Science Foundation innovative research group projects, 1 team in the Ministry of Education’s first group of philosophy and social sciences innovation teams, 1 State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense innovation team, 14 national teaching teams, and 4 National Huang Danian-style University Faculty Teams.

It has 7 national key laboratories, including jointly established laboratories, 2 national engineering technology research centers, 1 national engineering research center, 1 national energy research and development innovation platform, 2 national international cooperation bases, 1 national defense key discipline laboratory, 1 Ministry of Education integrated research platform, 1 Ministry of Education philosophy and social sciences laboratory, 13 Ministry of Education key laboratories and engineering research centers, 7 Ministry of Education university disciplinary innovation and international expertise introduction bases, and 1 Ministry of Culture and Tourism key laboratory. Since 2019, it has led achievements receiving 14 national science and technology awards, including 1 first prize in the National Technological Invention Awards, and 32 awards in the ninth and tenth Ministry of Education humanities and social sciences awards, including 1 first prize. It has developed first-of-their-kind technologies and equipment including ultra-low-frequency underwater acoustic radar, eddy-current dampers, gas dynamic-pressure bearing technology, large permanent-magnet wind generators, and three-dimensional five-axis laser processing equipment. It has a national university science park and was approved among the Ministry of Education’s first university bases for commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and technology transfer and as a National Intellectual Property Demonstration University. The National Supercomputing Center in Changsha, operated and managed by the university, is China’s third national supercomputing center. Its new-generation Tianhe supercomputer system has internationally advanced and domestically leading computing power.

It has 3 campuses: Main, Finance and Economics, and Science and Technology Innovation Harbour, covering 2.61 million square meters (3915 mu). The Innovation Harbour campus entered service in September 2026 and was the first completed and operational new campus of a Double First-Class university supported by the national Two Major Initiatives.

Inheriting a millennium of scholarship and shouldering the mission of strengthening the nation, Hunan University upholds Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It strives to write a new chapter as a world-class university with Chinese characteristics and a rich historical and cultural heritage, contributing its substantial strength to building a strong nation in education, science and technology, and talent.

(Data as of September 2026)