Northwest University

Northwest University originated in the Shaanxi University School and the accelerated official studies division of the Imperial University of Peking in 1902. It first adopted the name Northwest University in 1912 and became National Northwest University in 1923. In 1937, National Peking University, Peking Normal University, Peiyang Institute of Technology, the Peking Academy and other institutions that had moved west to Shaanxi formed National Xi’an Temporary University. In 1938, it became National Northwest Associated University, and in 1939 it again became National Northwest University. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it was a comprehensive university directly administered by the Ministry of Education. It reverted to the name Northwest University in 1950 and came under Shaanxi provincial administration in 1958. It was designated a national key university in 1978. It is now a national “Double First-Class” university and “211 Project” institution, jointly developed by the Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Province.

Over its long development, Northwest University has formed an educational philosophy of “promoting the national spirit, integrating ideas from around the world and shouldering responsibility for developing the Northwest.” It has brought together many eminent teachers and scholars, produced high-level scholarship and trained many outstanding people capable of serving the world. It enjoys a strong academic and public reputation and is known as “the mother of China’s petroleum talent,” “the cradle of economists” and “the cradle of writers.”

It has three campuses—Taibai, Taoyuan and Chang’an—covering over 2360 mu. It has 26 schools or departments and a graduate school, 1 Sino-foreign cooperative institution, 1 directly affiliated hospital and 12 other affiliated hospitals. It offers 81 undergraduate programs, including 37 national first-class undergraduate program development sites. It has 29 doctoral degree authorizations, comprising 25 first-level disciplines and 4 professional degree categories; 59 master’s degree authorizations, comprising 38 first-level disciplines and 21 professional degree categories; and 24 postdoctoral research stations. Geology and archaeology are its 2 national “Double First-Class” disciplines. It has 1 national key first-level discipline covering 5 second-level disciplines, 4 national key second-level disciplines and 1 national key discipline under cultivation. It has 3 Ministry of Education Top Students in Basic Disciplines Training Program 2.0 bases, 7 national talent training bases and a National University Student Cultural Quality Education Base, 7 national experimental teaching demonstration centers and 1 national virtual simulation experimental teaching center. It has 137 research platforms at provincial or ministerial level and above. These include 1 state key laboratory, 1 national engineering technology research center, 1 national Belt and Road joint laboratory, 1 national innovative talent training demonstration base, 1 Ministry of Science and Technology international science and technology cooperation base, 3 joint national-local engineering research centers, 4 university discipline innovation and talent introduction bases, 1 provincial-ministerial jointly developed state key laboratory in preparation, and 1 National Natural Science Foundation research center. It also has 1 national Silk Road archaeology collaborative research center; 1 research base for fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation jointly supported by the United Front Work Department and Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Ministry of Education and National Ethnic Affairs Commission; 1 Ministry of Education key humanities and social science research base; 1 national collaborative research center for revolutionary cultural relics; 3 Ministry of Education registered country and regional studies centers; and 1 National Ethnic Affairs Commission Belt and Road country and regional studies center.

The university has over 3000 faculty and staff, including 4 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 member of the International Academy of the History of Science, 1 member of The World Academy of Sciences, 14 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars recipients, 16 National Excellent Young Scientists Fund recipients, 18 national “Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Project” selectees, 4 nationally distinguished teachers, 26 members of the Ministry of Education’s “New Century Excellent Talent Support Program” and 6 Ministry of Science and Technology young and middle-aged leading scientific innovation talents. It has over 30000 students, including over 14000 undergraduates, over 15400 postgraduate students and over 600 international students.

It has received major awards including first and second prizes in the National Natural Science Awards, second prizes in the National Technological Invention Awards and National Science and Technology Progress Awards, first and second prizes in the National Teaching Achievement Awards, China Patent Gold Awards, and first prizes in the Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Awards for Higher Education Institutions in humanities and social sciences.

The university places great importance on international scientific and cultural exchanges. It has friendly partnerships with over 130 universities and research institutions in more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. Encyclopaedia Britannica once listed Northwest University among the world’s renowned universities.