Nankai University

Nankai University covers 4.5569 million square meters, including 1.2250 million square meters at Balitai Campus, 2.4589 million at Jinnan Campus and 67200 at TEDA College. Total building floor area is 1.9867 million square meters.

It is one of China’s comprehensive research universities with a full range of disciplines. Over its history, it has developed equal emphasis on humanities and sciences, broad and solid foundations, and a focus on applications and innovation. It has 24 specialist schools covering humanities, history, philosophy, economics, management, law, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, education and art. It actively develops a disciplinary system suited to 21st-century economic and social development and talent needs. It has 80 undergraduate programs, including 18 nationally distinctive programs, 29 first-level doctoral degree authorization fields, and 28 postdoctoral research stations. It has 6 national first-level key disciplines covering 35 second-level disciplines, 9 national second-level key disciplines, 2 national key disciplines under cultivation, and 27 Tianjin first-level key disciplines. It has 2 national key laboratories, 1 national engineering research center, 3 2011 collaborative innovation centers, 8 Ministry of Education key laboratories, 1 Ministry of Education international joint laboratory, 1 Ministry of Science and Technology key laboratory, 1 former State Environmental Protection Administration key laboratory, 3 Ministry of Education engineering centers, 13 Tianjin key laboratories, 3 Tianjin engineering centers, 9 national bases for talent training and research in basic disciplines, 1 university student cultural quality education base, 7 State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs 111 innovation and international expertise introduction bases, 5 National Natural Science Foundation innovative research groups, 7 national university key research bases in the humanities and social sciences, 7 Project 985 philosophy and social sciences innovation bases, and 4 Project 985 science and technology innovation platforms.

At the end of 2016, its library held 3.0574 million books and provided access to 338 database systems. Database resources covered almost all disciplines and included academic journals, e-books, dissertations, patent literature and other document types.

Its faculty combines public spirit, professional ability, expertise, initiative and vitality. It has 2022 full-time teachers, including 729 doctoral supervisors, 850 master’s supervisors, 734 professors and 824 associate professors. It has 11 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 2 chief scientists of the 863 Program, 13 chief scientists of the 973 Program with 14 selections, 6 members of The World Academy of Sciences, 13 national Thousand Talents Program recipients, 25 national Young Thousand Talents Program recipients, 15 State Council Academic Degrees Committee discipline appraisal group members, 14 national experts with outstanding contributions, 40 Chang Jiang distinguished professors, 16 Chang Jiang chair professors, and 6 Chang Jiang young scholars. It has 11 chief experts and 29 principal members of the Marxist Theory Research and Development Project; 10 innovation team leaders under the Ministry of Education Chang Jiang Scholars and Innovation Team Development Program; 8 leading and 7 top young talents under the national Ten Thousand Talents Plan; 39 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars recipients; 22 national Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project recipients; 170 Ministry of Education New Century Excellent Talent Support Program recipients; 20 Ministry of Education Trans-Century Talent Fund recipients; 8 Ministry of Education Distinguished Teacher Award recipients; 30 Tianjin Distinguished Teacher Award recipients; 9 national teaching teams; 9 Ministry of Education University Young Teacher Award recipients; and 22 National Natural Science Foundation Excellent Young Scientists Fund recipients. It has 134 Tianjin Thousand Talents Program recipients, including 15 in long-term innovative talent projects, 3 leading and 6 top young talents under Tianjin’s Special Support Plan for Talent Development, and 50 first-tier recipients under Tianjin’s 131 Innovative Talent Training Project.

It has a complete education system spanning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees and postdoctoral research. It has 25647 full-time students, including 14068 undergraduates, 8231 master’s students and 3348 doctoral students. It also has 260 adult education students and 46323 distance education students.

It is both a teaching and research center and has produced excellent research recognized in China and abroad. Since 2007, it has received 3 second prizes in the National Natural Science Awards, 1 second prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1 second prize in the National Technological Invention Awards, 7 National Teaching Achievement Awards, 35 national quality course designations and 15 quality open video course designations, and 2 China Youth Science and Technology Awards. A cumulative 20 dissertations have been selected for the National 100 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertations. Ten achievements received Tianjin Science and Technology Awards for 2015. In 2013, it had 28 SSCI-indexed papers and 1432 CSSCI-indexed papers. In 2014, it had 1432 SCI-indexed papers, 822 EI-indexed papers and 98 CPCI-S-indexed conference papers; 661 papers were rated as performing well, accounting for 46.16% of SCI-indexed papers. In 2015, it had 1463 SCI-indexed publications, 31 more than the previous year, a 2.16% increase, ranking 36th among Chinese universities; and 922 EI-indexed papers, 100 more than the previous year, an 11.22% increase, ranking 54th. Over the past ten years, average citations per SCI-indexed paper were 14.84, remaining first among Chinese universities with substantial cumulative numbers of cited papers and exceeding the world average.

Upholding its tradition of “Know China, Serve China,” it actively uses disciplinary, talent and technological strengths to serve national and local economic and social development, particularly the comprehensive development and opening-up of Tianjin Binhai New Area. Research institutions including the China APEC Institute, Institute of Economic and Social Development, Institute of Binhai Development, Center for Education, Industry and Regional Development, Human Rights Research Center, Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies, WTO Research Center, Institute of National Economic Strategy, Jinnan Research Institute, Institute of Statistics and Institute of Ecological Civilization serve as think tanks and talent pools for national ministries and local governments. Following the principle of meeting urgent national needs and achieving world-class standards, it aligns with the innovation-driven development strategy, promotes collaborative innovation centers and has close partnerships with universities, enterprises, research institutes and government departments. In 2014, its Collaborative Innovation Center for Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics passed the second national 2011 Plan selection, becoming China’s first approved collaborative innovation center in economics.

It continually strengthens students’ overall qualities and innovative ability, valuing the philosophy of “Humanities to Govern the Nation, Sciences to Strengthen It, Business to Enrich It.” Its teaching principles emphasize overall quality, capability, strong foundations, broader professional study, rigorous management and guaranteed quality. It uses flexible study durations, credits, major-minor systems and dual degrees. It integrates classroom teaching, campus culture and social practice as the basic educational process and takes distinguished alumnus Zhou Enlai as a model for developing sound character, noble values, innovative spirit and practical ability. It advances innovation and entrepreneurship education, operates Entrepreneurship Classes and develops Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practice Bases as physical platforms for entrepreneurship services and project pre-incubation. It formulated and implemented the Nankai University Quality Education Implementation Outline (2011-2015), issued undergraduate development supplementary learning guidance, and established a Public Spirit and Capability Development support system. Together, these form its distinctive quality education system centered on public spirit and ability and promote all-round student development.

It is known for its fine university ethos and values students’ moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development, creating a rich, refined, lively and positive campus cultural environment for healthy growth. Graduates are welcomed across society for solid foundations, comprehensive qualities, pioneering spirit and practical abilities.

It has broad international influence and partnerships with more than 320 renowned universities and international academic institutions. It has developed 9 overseas Confucius Institutes, including one at the University of Maryland, and was named an Outstanding Chinese Partner Institution for Confucius Institutes in both 2012 and 2015. It undertakes national training tasks in international Chinese education, offers high-level overseas study opportunities such as the Oxford Program, participates in the Global University Leaders Forum in Davos, prepared the first Tianjin Forum, and serves as secretariat of the International Forum of Public Universities (IFPU). It was among the first institutions in Hanban’s New Sinology International Study Program and jointly established the Nankai University–University of Glasgow Joint Graduate School, continually improving internationalization.

It has awarded honorary doctorates to 10 internationally renowned figures, including mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern, physicist Wu Ta-you, economist Yang Myrdal, former Taiwan Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung, World Economic Forum chairman Klaus Schwab, Singapore President Tony Tan, and French Constitutional Council president Laurent Fabius. Nobel laureates Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, Samuel C. C. Ting, Robert Mundell, Peter Doherty and K. Barry Sharpless; former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger; former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung; former European Commission president and former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi; World Economic Forum chairman Klaus Schwab; and renowned writer Jin Yong have been appointed honorary professors. Numerous distinguished scholars, political leaders and entrepreneurs from China and abroad serve as visiting and adjunct professors.

It will continue on the Nankai path, uphold its character and spirit, prioritize education, strengthen quality and distinctive strengths, and vigorously implement six strategies: talent-based university development, strong disciplines, educational quality improvement, research innovation, service to Binhai and internationalization, advancing toward becoming a world-class university.