Tongji University

Founded in 1907, Tongji University has passed through its first 90 years. The predecessor of Tongji University was Tongji German Medical School, which was renamed National Tongji University in 1927. It was one of the earliest famous China's institutions of higher education and was comprised of a Medical School, Engineering School, Science School, Liberal Arts School and Law School. Since the nationwide regulation of colleges and universities and their departments in 1952, and after more than 40 years developments, especially the reforms and opening to the outside world unfolded in China, Tongji University has been developed rapidly and comprehensively. Its Architecture and Civil Engineering disciplines have a decided superiority over fields of study, and some specialities have entered the world's most advanced ranks. As one of the national key universities directly under the State EducationCommission and joint-built by the State Education Commission and Shanghai Municipal Government, Tongji University has become a multi-disciplinary institution of unique features, incorporating science, engineering, economic management, liberal arts and law, with a major emphasis on engineering.

At present the university has ten colleges, namely, Economics and Management, Archtecture and Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, Liberal Arts and law, Material Science and Engineering, Business, and Life Science & Medical Engineering. In addtion, the Graduate School, the Correspondence and Continuing Education School, the Professional Education School, the College of Technology, and the Sino-Germany College jointly run by both China and Germany have been set up. In the University ,there are 34 departments, 42 undergraduate specialities, 22 doctoral programs, 68 master's programs, 4 national key disciplines and 5 mobile stations for post-doctorate scientific research. The current enrollment for all categories of students is over 23,000. The total number of teaching and administrative staff is more than 5,500, including four academicians of the Chinese Academy of Science, two academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineerings, 150 doctoral mentors, 448 professors, research fellows and professor-level senior engineers, and 905 associate professors, associate research fellows and senior engineers.

Tongji University has 39 research institutes, 17 individual research divisions, 4 state key laboratories, 3 state open laboratories, and 11research centers, among which include the State Engineering Research Center and the Shanghai Engineering and Technological Research Center. Since 1955, the University has been awarded over 430 national and provincial-level prizes for scientific and technological achievements. In addtion, the University also takes an active part in the construction of key projects in Shanghai, Eastern China, Beijing and Guangdong Province.

Extensive International academic exchanges have been one of the major activities of Tongji University. It has now developed close cooperative relations with over 20 universities and 50 industrial enterprises in Germany, the United States, France, Britain, Japan and Australia. Since 1988, it has sponsored the convocation of more than 40 international academic conferences and reached over 50 agreements of cooperative projects in science and technology. It has also organized over 1,000 visits abroad for studying, visiting or attending international symposiums, As the other side of two-way wxchanges, about 2,100 foreign experts and scholars have been invited to Tongji University on long- or short-term bases to deliver lectures and seminars. these include over 40 internationally recognized scholars, such as I.M.Pei, T.Y.Lin,A. Hans and Gehard Pahl.

During its past history, Tongji University has turned out over 100,000 high-level scientific technological personnel.Among its distinguished alumni and teachers, there are more than 70 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineerings, such as Bei Shizhang, Qiu Fazu, Li Guohao, Wang Shouwu, Tang Youqi, Wu Mengchao, Xu Houze, Xia Jianbai, Tong Dizhou and Wang Zhizhuo. Covering a total area of 113 hectares with three campuses and a total building floor area of over 800,000 square metres, Tongji University is situated in the northeastern part of Shanghai.

In the past 90 years since its founding, Tongji University has gradually formed its own unique characteristics as best expressed in the University's motto:"Discipline, Practicality, Unity and Creativity." The University has also received much fame from the Chinese idiom "People in the same boat help each other".

At the crossroads of centuries, all the faculty, staff members and students of the University are exploiting every opportunity to make further progress by incorporating science and engineering, infiltrating science by liberal arts, and coordinating the development of education in science and technology and in the humanities, so as to rank the University among the first-rate modern universities with socialist characteristics.