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About Sichuan University

Sichuan University (SCU) is one of China’s top universities, attached to the Ministry of Education. The Chairman of the University Council of Sichuan University is Wang Jianguo, and the President is Li Yanrong.

Sichuan University is located in Chengdu, a famous historical and cultural capital city of Sichuan Province, known as the land of abundance. It consists of three campuses:Wangjiang, Huaxi and Jiang’an, covering an area of 470 hectares and boasting 2.515 million square meters of floor space. The university campuses, with their favorable environment and beautiful landscape, make a wonderful place for learning and research.

Sichuan University is an institution that comprises three former national universities: the former Sichuan University, the former Chengdu University of Science and Technology, and the former West China University of Medical Sciences. The history of Sichuan University dates back to the Sichuan Chinese and Western School founded by Lu Chuanlin, Governor of Sichuan in 1896 on the orders of Emperor Guangxu. It is the earliest modern institute of higher education in Southwest China. The former Chengdu University of Science and Technology was one of the earliest multi-disciplinary engineering universities established through a restructuring program of colleges and universities. The former West China University of Medical Sciences, original West China Union University, was established by western Christian missionaries in Chengdu in 1910. It was not only one of the first universities in the western tradition, but also one of the pioneering universities to offer postgraduate programs in China.

Sichuan University has a comprehensive range of disciplines covering 12 categories: humanities, science, engineering, medicine, economy, management, law, history, philosophy, agriculture, education and art. It consists of 34 colleges, including a postgraduate college and an overseas education college. A total of 45 disciplines have been authorized by the state to grant doctoral degrees. Altogether, the university offers 354 doctoral programs, 438 master programs, 32 professional master’s programs, 138 undergraduate programs, and 37 post-doctoral research stations. It also has 46 national key disciplines and 4 national key cultivated disciplines.

Sichuan University takes pride in its large pool of prominent scholars and professors. By the end of 2016, there were 5,324 full-time teachers. Among them, there were 1,767 professors, 14 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 6 Outstanding Professors, 80 experts recruited through the thousand Talents Plan(including 46 through thousand Youth Talents Program and 2 through the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, 41 distinguished professors and 14 Chair professors of the Changjiang Scholars Program, 45 winners of The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 9 Chief Scientists of 973 Project who led 12 National Basic Research projects, 30 winners of The Key Project of The National Social Sciences Program Fund, 12 winners of the National Award for Distinguished Teachers, 11 winners of the National Innovation Talents Promotion Plan the Youth Scientific and Technological Innovation Leading Talents　and 123 experts recruited from the thousand Talents Plan of Sichuan Province.

In its long history as an institution of education, Sichuan University has formed a rich cultural heritage and laid a solid foundation in education. The university’s motto is “Sea, all water, receives all rivers; Utmost wit listens to all sides”, and its spirit is embodied in the following four words: preciseness, diligence, truth-seeking and innovation.To achieve the goal of being a first-class comprehensive research-oriented university, Sichuan University has shaped, in recent years, its own concept of higher education that promotes individualism, scholarship and excellence. It has developed a new management mechanism, in which teachers conduct education activities, students function as the center of education, and colleges and departments exercise management responsibilities. The university is dedicated to providing high-quality education through an integrated multi-disciplinary approach to research and teaching　which will help cultivate elite members of the society who have a profound humanity background, trustworthy expertise, a strong sense of innovation and a broad international horizon. The current student body includes approximately 37,000 undergraduate students, over 20,000 master and PhD candidates and more than 3,400 international students and students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Since 2003, the university has been honored with 31 National Teaching Achievement Awards, 33 National Excellent Courses, 12 National Video Open Courses, 31 Collectible Resources Sharing Classes and 23 doctoral dissertations that are included in the Top 100 Excellent Doctoral Dissertations.

Sichuan University has exhibited great strength in research and made remarkable achievements over the years. It has 13 key national laboratories and engineering centers, 4 state-level international scientific and technological cooperation bases, 11 key laboratories and 6 engineering research centers under the supervision of Ministry of Education, and 3 key laboratories under the supervision of Ministry of Health. It also has 9 national centers for talent training, research and teaching, 8 National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Centers, 19 National Engineering Practice Education Centers, 3 National Experimental Teaching Center Of Virtual Simulation, 1 National Teacher Teaching Development Demonstration Center, 1 National Base of Culture-Oriented Quality Education for College Students, 9 National Off-campus Practice Education Bases for College Students, 4 key National Research Bases for Philosophy and Social Sciences, 3 National Drug Clinical Trial Institutes. Since 2005, the university has won 41 awards in three major national award categories for science and technology. In 2016, the research funding of the university increased to 1.86 billion RMB, the number of papers published ranked the 5th and the number of SCI papers ranked the 6th in China. In the field of humanities and social sciences, experts of the university compiled, edited and published several extensive collections and anthologies, including a Chinese Dictionary, The Complete Works of Song Dynasty, A History of Chinese Taoism, and Ru Zang(Collected Works of Confucianism).

Sichuan University has established contacts and cooperative relationships with over 250 renowned colleges and universities as well as research institutes from 34 countries and regions. It has established well-rounded joint education programs of at different levels and in various forms with 214 famous universities from over 33 countries, including United States, Australia and some European countries. The University has established five Confucius Institutes in collaboration with five universities in South Korea, the US and Belgium. It has set up the Jiuzhaigou International Research Center for Ecology, Environment and Sustainability in a joint effort with the University of California and the University of Washington, Sino-US Institute for University Design with Arizona State University, Sino-German Joint Center for Energy Research with Clausthal University of Technology, Western China Poverty-Reduction Research Center with the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, State Council Leading Group Office of Western China Development, UNDP and the World Bank, Sichuan Post-Disaster Reconstruction Support and Research Center with Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute with University of Pittsburgh.

The university libraries have a collection of over 6.65 million books and the Humanities Museum houses over 85,000 objects, the Natural Museum, over 870,000 animal and plant specimens, and the Archives and History Exhibition Center, over 280,000 volumes of historical archives (including over 9000 valuable historical archives). The university also has gymnasiums equipped with complete and advanced facilities, and other facilities and services including Campus Network, Analytical and Testing Center, Modern Education Technology Center, Intensive Language Training Center, Adult Education College and Distance Learning College.