About

Nanchang University (NCU) is a comprehensive university listed among the “World First-class Disciplines” in China’s “Double First-Class” Initiative. NCU, as a whole, falls into the category of the First-Class Universities Construction Project of Jiangxi Province. Located in Nanchang, the City of Heroes, NCU consists of three campuses: the Qian-Hu main campus, the Qingshan-Hu campus and the Dong-Hu campus.The Qian-Hu main campus alone covers an area of over 284 hectares, with a building area of 1.49 million square meters. In total, the university spans more than 365 hectares, with a total building area exceeding 2 million square meters.

The history of NCU dates back to Jiangxi Medical College, Jiangxi University and Jiangxi Industrial University which originated from Jiangxi Public Medical College, National Chung-cheng University and Jiangxi Industrial College founded in 1921, 1940 and 1958 respectively. In 1993, Jiangxi University merged with Jiangxi Industrial University to form Nanchang University, a decision made by the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government. In 1997, the Ministry of Education included Nanchang University in the national ‘211 Project’ as a key construction university. In 2004, it became a university jointly constructed by the Ministry of Education and the People’s Government of Jiangxi Province. In 2005, NCU and Jiangxi Medical College merged to form the new NCU. Over the years, the leadership of Central Party Committee and the Central Government, the Ministry of Education, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and the People’s Government of Jiangxi Province have attached great importance to the construction and development of NCU. In 1960, Comrade Mao Zedong replied to Xia Yongxin, a teacher at Jiangxi Medical College, encouraging him to work hard and strengthen his medical studies. In March 1995, Comrade Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inscribed a message for Nanchang University: “Build Nanchang University well to make a greater contribution to the economic takeoff and social progress of Jiangxi.” In May 1994, Comrade Li Peng, then Premier of the State Council, encouraged Nanchang University to further develop and inscribed : “Improve the level of education and revitalize Jiangxi's economy.” “Nanchang University has unlimited prospects”, President Xi Jinping said when he first visited NCU in October 2008. In February 2016, President Xi visited Nanchang University again and delivered an important speech on the roles of universities played in scientific research innovation and talent cultivation. President Xi encouraged NCU to take a development path of innovation and motivated the students to cherish time and fulfill their dreams.

In 2017, the university entered the ranks of the national “Double First-Class” universities, with world-class disciplines. In 2018, the university became a high-level institution jointly constructed by the Ministry of Education and the People’s Government of Jiangxi Province. In February 2021, the “14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and Long-Term Goals for 2035 of Jiangxi Province” explicitly stated the goal of “mobilizing the entire province to run Nanchang University well and strive to make it enter the ranks of world-class universities.”

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  State Key Laboratory

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  Subject categories

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  National first-class undergraduate major construction centers

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  National Engineering Technology Research Center

The university currently has 42 teaching institutions and 92 undergraduate majors, covering 13 disciplinary categories. NCU is home to 18 postdoctoral scientific research stations and a total of 27 disciplines have been authorized by the state to grant doctoral degrees, 4 disciplines to grant professional doctoral degrees, 50 disciplines to grant master’s degrees and 36 disciplines to grant master’s professional degrees. NCU has 5 affiliated hospitals, and 16 national clinical key specialist disciplines. The subject of Materials and Engineering was selected as a national “Double-First-Class” construction subject. Six disciplines were selected as provincial first-class disciplines. 17 subjects rank among the top 1% of ESI in the world, with the subject of Food Science and Engineering ranking in the top 0.299‰. The food science discipline ranks 8th in the “US News- Best Global Universities Rankings”.

The main campus of NCU has 4,214 staff members, including three academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It boasts two members of the discipline review group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, two national-level teaching teams, and four pilot construction sites for virtual teaching and research. In recent years, a batch of advanced groups and models with professional ethics and dedication to the fostering of virtue through education have sprung up at NCU. For example, the National Silicon-Based LED Engineering Technology Research Center has been recognized as an Advanced Collective in the National Education System, with the Engineering Mechanics Experiment Center recognized as the Pioneer of National Workers, and the team of teachers from the Department of Food Science and Engineering acknowledged as the Advanced Collective of the Huang Danian-style Teachers' Team in National Colleges and Universities. Additionally, three people have been recognized as national outstanding members of the Communist Party of China, two were awarded the title of “National Advanced Individuals in Fighting Against the COVID-19 Pandemic”, one was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal (the highest honor award in the international nursing field) and one was awarded the title of “National Model Teacher”; Our university has produced a group of exemplary individuals represented by Jiang Fengyi, Xie Mingyong, Zhang Wei, Zhu Xingen, Zou Defeng and Hong Yijiang, who embody dedication to their work and the cultivation of moral character and Wang Yu, Model Teacher in Jiangxi Province, and Shi Qiujie as the “motherly doctoral supervisor”, who represents the “four loves” spirit of NCU teachers (love for CPC and the People’s Republic of Chins, love for one’s career, love for the University as one’s own family, and love students as one’s own children).

The main campus of NCU has 36,700 full-time undergraduates, among whom 1,300 are overseas students or students from Hong Kong, Macao SARs and Taiwan, 19,500 graduates of all categories, among whom 130 are overseas students or students from the above-mentioned regions. NCU actively promotes the reform of talent-cultivation models, namely the model of top-notch talent cultivation which features “three rules, three transformations, and three combinations”, the model of practical talent cultivation which values excellent talents, and the model of inter-disciplinary talent cultivation which is characterized by interdisciplinary integration and fusion. There are four curricula selected for the national ideological politics demonstrative curricula, four distinguished teachers and teams recognized in the national ideological politics demonstrative curricula, one first prize in the National Exhibition of Ideological and Political Theory Courses in Universities, one textbook awarded the First National Textbooks Construction Award for National Excellent Textbooks, one teacher awarded the title of Advanced Individuals in National Textbooks Construction, Six projects were selected for the Ministry of Education's comprehensive reform and quality improvement initiative for ideological and political work in universities, including four projects selected for “Outstanding Ideological and Political Work Projects in Universities”, one office awarded as the “National Model Office for University Counselors”, and one library recognized as the “National Research Library on Ideological and Political Work in Universities”. Additionally, two works were selected for the Ministry of Education's “Excellent Works of Respecting and Promoting China's Outstanding Traditional Culture” in universities. NCU has one “National Advanced Grassroots Party Organization,” two “National Party Building Work Benchmark Faculties”, six “National Party Building Work Model Branches”, two Party branches included in the “Hundred Graduate Model Party Branches in Chinese Colleges and Universities”, and three postgraduate students selected as “ Hundred Graduate Model Party Members in Chinese Colleges and Universities. NCU also has four “Strong Nation Action” Special Teams of National Universities “Dual Leaders” Party Branch Secretary Workshop for Teachers and one National Universities “Dual Leaders” Party Branch Secretary Workshop for Teachers. Since its establishment, NCU has cultivated more than 590,000 full-time students and over 430,000 part-time students, making significant contributions to national and local economic development and social progress.

NCU insists on fostering virtue through education as its foundation, considers talent cultivation as its central task, and maintains teaching as its basis and undergraduate teaching as its priority. NCU adheres to the “Double Ten Thousand” Plan of the Ministry of Education. 59 national first-class undergraduate major construction centers were granted. 53 curricula were selected as national “first-class curriculum”. NCU has won seven second prizes of national teaching accomplishments for three consecutive years. It has obtained approval for five projects under the Ministry of Education’s New Engineering Research and Practice Program, three projects under the Ministry of Education’s New Agricultural Science Research and Reform Practice Program, and five projects under the Ministry of Education’s New Humanities Research and Reform Practice Program. NCU is among the first batch of reform demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education. NCU is the master node university of the China Education and Research Network (CERNET) in Jiangxi Province, and the only university in Jiangxi Province participating in the construction for the China Next Generation Internet (CNGI).From 2019 to 2023, NCU ranked 1st in the "National Undergraduate Student Competition Ranking for Local Colleges and Universities" , and ranked 14th in both the "National Undergraduate Student Competition Ranking for Universities" and the "National Undergraduate Student Competition Ranking for 'Double First Class' Universities" during the same period. In previous sessions of the China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (renamed as the China International College Student Innovation Competition in 2023), NCU has won a total of 30 gold medals. One graduate student won the championship at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and also clinched the title at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, breaking the event record. She also won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, tying the best Olympic performance in this event for the Chinese team.

The university currently has a total of 75 national-level and provincial-level science and technology platforms in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine (excluding affiliated hospitals), among them are one State Key Laboratory, one National Engineering Technology Research Center, two National-Local Joint Engineering Research Centers, one National Demonstration International Science and Technology Cooperation Base, one China-Canada Joint Laboratory of Food Science and Technology (Nanchang), two Innovation Centers co-constructed by the Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Province, one National Demonstration Center for the Application of Gene Detection Technology, two Key Laboratories of the Ministry of Education, five Engineering Research Centers of the Ministry of Education, and one Medical Platform of the Ministry of Education. There are a total of 28 provincial-level and ministerial-level humanities and social science platforms, including one National University Ideological and Political Work Team Training and Study Center and one National Cyberspace Administration Office National Digital Literacy and Skills Training Base, one National Red Tourism and Innovative Development Research Base and 25 provincial key research bases in philosophy and social sciences. NCU has one national-level science and technology zone, one National Intellectual Property Right Information Service Center, one Science and Technology Achievement Transformation and Technology Transfer Base, four national-level engineering practice education centers, two national virtual simulation experimental teaching centers, five national experimental teaching demonstrative centers and two state-level college students’ off-campus practical education bases.

Enhancing the coordinated innovation capability, NCU has obtained a batch of original, marked and characteristic scientific research achievements. The project “silicon substrate high photosynthetic efficiency GaN-based Blue LED” won the first prize for national technological invention in 2015. In 2019, accredited by the China Illuminating Engineering Society, four of the five achievements by NCU in high-efficiency yellow and green LED materials and chip manufacturing technology were recognized as internationally leading, and one was considered internationally advanced. The achievement “Key Technologies and Industrial Application of Fermentation of Fruits and Vegetables with Probiotics” won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2016. The achievement of "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Nutritional and Health Foods Rich in Polysaccharides" was awarded the Second Prize of the 2023 National Science and Technology Progress Award. The achievement of "Ferroelectrochemical Design of Molecular Piezoelectric Materials" won the Second Prize of the 2023 National Natural Science Award and the First Prize of the 2022 Ministry of Education's Excellent Research Achievements in Higher Education Natural Science Award. Additionally, the university’s funding from National Natural Science Foundation projects has exceeded one hundred million yuan for eight consecutive years. In 2024, Nanchang University, as the first completion unit, received five awards in the 9th Excellent Research Achievements in Higher Education Award (Humanities and Social Sciences) from the Ministry of Education, including three Second Prizes, one Third Prize, and one Youth Achievement Award. Since 2017, the university has been approved for 205 projects funded by the National Social Science Fund, including 7 major projects and 13 key projects. The university has also been included in the first batch of national bases for the transformation and transfer of scientific and technological achievements in higher education institutions. In 2019 and 2020, NCU won the “Advanced Group” in the third-party evaluation of the effectiveness of the national targeted poverty alleviation work. The “Rice and Fishery Project” team served the Rural Revitalization Strategy and won the “China Youth May 4th Medal Group”.

The university attaches great importance to going global in education and has established exchange and cooperation relationships with 246 universities and research institutions in 47 countries and regions. NCU has established Sino-German Research Institute, the Sino-Canada Joint Laboratory of Food Science and Technology (Nanchang), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Base on Food Safety, the International Food Innovation Research Institute, the International Materials Innovation Research Institute, and the first Russian Language Center in Jiangxi Province with Russian partners. The effectiveness and social impact of the cooperative project with Queen Mary University of London, UK, are continuously improving. NCU has co-established 4 Confucius Institutes and 2 Confucius Classrooms in France, Spain and Indonesia, and established a Chinese Language Research Center in Russia. NCU has broadened the channels of international exchange for students so much that 2570 students of NCU have joined international exchange programs to study overseas or in Hong Kong, Macao SARs and Taiwan in the past four years .

A new journey will usher in new achievements. Nanchang University will continue to prioritize moral education, deeply implement five key strategies—demand-driven development, distinctive growth, open education, talent-driven growth, and cultural empowerment—and vigorously promote ten major initiatives such as "building world-class disciplines" and "enhancing talent cultivation." NCU will fully embark on the path to building a "world-class university with Jiangxi characteristics," aiming to create three key areas of excellence: distinguished disciplines, technological innovation, and talent aggregation. It strives to become a model in three areas: training top-tier innovative talents, serving regional development, and building a world-class university. Nanchang University is committed to becoming the leading institution among Jiangxi universities and making greater contributions to the national education and science-education strategy.

(Updated on November 2024)