Nanchang Hangkong University

Nanchang Hangkong University is a multidisciplinary university centered on engineering, with coordinated development in engineering, science, literature, management, economics, law, education and arts. It follows the philosophy of “putting education first, building on quality, strengthening through talent, flourishing through openness and developing distinctive strengths.” It steadily strengthens its foundations and improves teaching quality, and received an excellent rating in the Ministry of Education’s undergraduate teaching evaluation. In 2009, it was designated a prospective institution for doctoral degree authorization development.

1. History: Founded in 1952, Nanchang Hangkong University was among the first institutions in China authorized to award bachelor’s degrees. It began training master’s students in 1985 and received master’s degree authorization in 1990. It was successively administered by the Ministry of Aviation Industry, Ministry of Aerospace Industry and Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Since 1999, it has operated under joint central-local development with local government taking the principal management role. It is jointly developed by the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Government and State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

2. Educational characteristics: The university upholds its motto of “Renew Daily and Strive for Self-Improvement, Unite Knowledge and Action,” its ethos of “Diligence, Civility, Practicality and Innovation,” and the Changhang spirit of “Unity and Self-Improvement, Hard Work and Progress.” Its service orientation is “rooted in Jiangxi, reaching across China, serving the local community and national defense.” Guided by aviation and defense needs, it actively serves China’s aviation industry and Jiangxi’s economic and social development. It has 25 aviation, defense and related programs, accounting for 39.7% of its programs. Distinctive aviation offerings include aircraft design and engineering, aircraft propulsion engineering, aircraft manufacturing engineering, flight technology and performance with a cabin service specialization. It has initially developed into an undergraduate university with clear engineering strengths and a distinctive aviation identity.

3. Facilities: The university is located in Nanchang, the heroic city described as a place of “natural treasures and outstanding people.” Its attractive campuses—Qianhu, Shanghai Road and Gongqingcheng—cover over 3500 mu, with 1.04 million square meters of buildings. It has over 38000 sets of teaching and research equipment valued at approximately RMB 430 million. It holds over 2 million printed books and reference materials, over 2.5 million e-books and 348 Chinese and foreign-language periodicals. Sports grounds cover 155000 square meters.

4. Organization: It has 16 specialized schools: Materials Science and Engineering, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Aeronautical Manufacturing Engineering, Information Engineering, Foreign Languages, Aircraft Engineering (Aero-Engine School), Mathematics and Information Science, Testing and Optoelectronic Engineering, Economics and Management, Physical Education, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Art and Design, Marxism, Humanities and Law, Music, and Software. It also has 3 management-oriented schools—International Education, Continuing Education and National Defense Student Education—and 1 independent College of Science and Technology. It has a postdoctoral research workstation at the Jiangxi Research Center for Testing Technology and Control Engineering and a postdoctoral innovation practice base at the Jiangxi Engineering Technology Research Center for Aviation Materials. It has 1 national engineering laboratory and 24 provincial or ministerial key laboratories, research centers and provincial key bases, including 2 Jiangxi “2011 Collaborative Innovation” centers. It has 2 national and 9 provincial experimental teaching demonstration centers.

5. Disciplines and programs: It has 13 first-level master’s degree authorizations covering 69 second-level disciplines, as well as 13 Master of Engineering fields and 3 professional degree categories: Master of Public Administration, Master of Fine Arts and Master of Translation and Interpreting. It has 63 undergraduate programs, including 5 national and 8 provincial distinctive programs, 1 national and 6 provincial comprehensive reform pilot programs, 3 Jiangxi first-class disciplines and 5 distinctive national defense disciplines. It was selected in the Ministry of Education’s second group of institutions implementing the Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program, with 6 nationally approved pilot programs and 6 Jiangxi provincial pilot programs.

6. Talent cultivation: The university may recommend outstanding graduating undergraduates for examination-exempt master’s admission. It jointly trains doctoral students with universities and research institutions including Beihang University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Hunan University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Beijing Normal University. It has 1 national teaching team, 1 national quality course and 1 national bilingual teaching demonstration course. It has received 4 national and 75 provincial teaching achievement awards, with 8 nationally planned textbooks and 40 provincially or ministerially recognized outstanding textbooks. It has 3 national engineering practice education centers jointly developed with enterprises and 216 off-campus practical training or internship bases. The engineering practice education center jointly proposed with China South Aviation Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. was approved as a national off-campus practical education base for university students. It trains national defense students for the Navy. Its “Changhang Model” for training them was approved as a national experimental zone for innovative talent training models, and the Ministry of Education and the General Political Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army jointly issued a document promoting its experience nationwide.

Students’ scientific and technological innovation abilities continue to grow. Over the past five years, students have won over 2800 science and technology competition awards at provincial or ministerial level and above. They have filed 525 patent applications, received 420 patent authorizations and published over 640 papers, and have obtained a cumulative 190 projects under national and provincial undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship training programs. Honors include a first prize in the final of the “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition; a special prize in the international 2015 CORE Renewable Energy Technology Top Design Competition; 2 silver awards in the “Internet+” College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition; the national overall championship in the ground challenge at the 16th National College Students’ Robot Competition; a first prize in the 5th China Educational Robot Competition; a gold medal at the 30th International Invention Exhibition in Pittsburgh, United States; and a gold award in the 5th National University Business Elite Challenge. Its proposed “Tiangong Kaiwu” project won an Emerging Creative Award in the national “Youth Red Dream-Building Journey” practical activity and received a letter of encouragement from General Secretary Xi Jinping. The student “Environmental Photocatalysis and Resource Recycling Team” received the title of “Xiaoping Science and Technology Innovation Team.” Its undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship base was named a development unit in Jiangxi’s third group of university student business incubators and designated a national “University Student KAB Entrepreneurship Education Base.” In the evaluation of innovative talent cultivation and subject competitions in Chinese universities, it consistently ranks among Jiangxi’s top three and 119th nationally.

7. Research: Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, it has published nearly 7948 papers in domestic and international journals, including over 2640 indexed by SCI, EI or ISTP and over 280 by CSSCI. It has received 1181 national patent authorizations, including 556 invention patents, and published 116 scholarly works and 274 textbooks. It has obtained 1 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars project, 2 National Excellent Young Scientists Fund projects, 335 other National Natural Science Foundation projects and 23 National Social Science Fund projects. It has received 2 National Education Science Planning projects and over 20 Ministry of Education major philosophy and social science tender projects, general humanities projects, education science and technology projects and outstanding talent projects. It has undertaken or participated in nearly 20 major national science and technology projects and sub-projects, including “973” and “863” sub-projects. It has undertaken over 100 national defense research projects and over 900 provincial or ministerial projects, including major Jiangxi science and technology projects. It participated in work receiving 1 National Science and Technology Progress Award and won 1 third prize in the Outstanding Humanities and Social Science Research Achievement Awards for Chinese Universities. It has received 74 provincial or ministerial scientific achievement awards. Professor Luo Shenglian received the 2012 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Innovation Award.

8. Faculty: It has over 2000 faculty and staff, including 1274 full-time teachers. Among teachers, 430 hold doctorates and 735 master’s degrees, together representing approximately 91% of full-time teachers. It has 30 doctoral supervisors and over 630 master’s supervisors, and 5 dual-position or jointly appointed academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering. Its personnel include 2 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars recipients, 1 national “Thousand Talents Plan” member, 2 leading scientific innovation talents under the national “Ten Thousand Talents Plan,” 2 National Excellent Young Scientists Fund recipients, 1 national “Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project” selectee, 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences “Hundred Talents Program” member and 5 National Outstanding Teachers. It has 2 Ministry of Science and Technology young and middle-aged leading scientific innovation talents and 2 members of the Ministry of Education’s “New Century Excellent Talent Support Program”; 40 first- or second-tier selectees of Jiangxi’s New Century Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project and 36 recipients of special government allowances; 14 selectees of Jiangxi’s “Ganpo Talent 555 Project,” 2 Jinggang distinguished professors, 5 leading Jiangxi academic and disciplinary figures, 17 Jiangxi distinguished teachers, 26 people in Jiangxi’s young scientist and distinguished young researcher development programs, and 1 renowned Jiangxi cultural figure. It has 48 provincial or ministerial disciplinary leaders and 72 provincial or ministerial young and middle-aged core teachers.

9. Admissions and employment: The university admits students from 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, with first-batch undergraduate admissions in 14 provinces. It has over 23000 full-time students, including over 20000 undergraduates and 1955 postgraduate students. Since its founding, it has trained over 130000 graduates of various kinds. It has long-term partnerships with enterprises and institutions in aviation, aerospace, civil aviation and general aviation, as well as human resources departments of nearly 30 local governments. Each year, at least 30% of graduates work in defense industry enterprises and institutions or major civil and general aviation companies. It has repeatedly received Jiangxi honors such as “Advanced Collective in Graduate Employment at Regular Higher Education Institutions” and “Excellent Rating in Graduate Employment Evaluation at Regular Higher Education Institutions.”

10. International cooperation: The university actively advances international cooperation and exchanges. It has stable institutional partnerships with over 60 universities in 20 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Ukraine. In the past five years, over 800 students have studied through exchanges or visits at universities in countries including the United Kingdom, United States, France, Australia and Japan. It has operated cooperative undergraduate programs with universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and other countries, with current enrollment in Sino-foreign programs exceeding 1200. It actively develops international student education and is qualified to host Chinese Government Scholarship students. As of December 2017, it had admitted 38 recipients of that scholarship. It also accepts students funded by scholarships such as the “Chinese Government Special Scholarship—Scholarship Supporting Local Government Degree Students,” “Central and Eastern Europe Credit Student Scholarship” and “Jiangxi Provincial Government Scholarship for International Students.” It offers four fully English-taught subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels: aeronautical engineering, computer science and culture, business administration, and civil engineering. It has 212 international students of various types, including 205 degree students and 7 short-term language students. It has received the national title of Advanced Collective in International Student Education in China.

11. Welfare: The university emphasizes welfare and runs a staff “Health Project.” It has established a financial aid system of “help from others, self-help and helping others,” based on scholarships, work-study, grants, loans and subsidies. Supporters and companies have established nearly 20 social scholarships and grants. It was named an “Outstanding Unit in Jiangxi Communist Youth League Work in 2015” and has received national and provincial “May Fourth Red Flag Youth League Committee” titles. Its student union was named a provincial “Five-Star Student Union.”

12. Public reputation: The university has received honors including National Model Home for Staff, National Advanced Unit in Military Training, National Advanced Collective in University Student Mental Health Education, Jiangxi Civilized Unit, Jiangxi Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization, Jiangxi Advanced Unit in Campus Construction, Jiangxi Advanced Unit in Party Building and Ideological and Political Work, Provincial Advanced Unit in National Defense Science and Technology Industry News and Publicity, and National Defense Science and Technology Industry Military Industrial Culture Education Base.