Brief Introduction
Northwest University, located in Xi'an city, Shaanxi Province, is one of the nation's leading comprehensive universities. Founded in 1902, it is one of the oldest institutions of learning in Northwest China.
1. History
Northwest University (NWU) can trace its origins back to Shaanxi Imperial College and Peking Imperial College in 1902. The University received its current name in 1912, and was renamed Northwest National University in 1923. With institutions such as Peking National University, Peking National Normal University and Beiyang National Engineering College, which moved inland to Shaanxi province when the War of Resistance against Japan broke out in 1937, the University merged to form Xi’an National Provisional University. It was then renamed Northwest Associated University in 1938 and regained the name Northwest National University in 1939.
In the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Northwest University was a comprehensive university under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. In 1958, Northwestern University came to the administration of Shaanxi province. In 1978, Northwestern University was designated as one of the national key universities. Currently, Northwestern University is under the joint administration of the Ministry of Education and Shaanxi province. It has been selected as one of the leading universities sponsored by the national “211 Project”. It also enjoys national support from the “One University for One Province Initiative”.
2. Discipline and programs
Northwestern University is one of the first institutions empowered to set up Doctoral and Master’s programs to enroll graduates and grant Master Degree and Doctoral Degree. To date the University has established 10 doctoral programs of the first-category disciplines, 107 doctoral programs of the second-category disciplines, 189 Master’s programs of the second-category disciplines, 15 academic programs.
Northwestern University has 2 pilot programs at national level and 8 ones at provincial level for training mode innovation and 13 national specialties including Geology, Chemistry, Economics, Resources Exploration Engineering, History, Science of Chinese Pharmacology, Physics, Chinese Language and Literature, Archeology, Resources, Environment and Urban Planning, Optical Information Science and Technology, Process Equipment and Control as well as Administration. It also has 19 specialties that are famous in Shaanxi province including Geology, Chemistry, Economics, History, Resources Exploration Engineering, Archeology, Biotechnology, Biological Sciences, Chinese Language and Literature, Geographic Information System, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Technology, Resources, Environment and Urban Planning, Biological Engineering, Information Science and Technology, Chemical Engineering and Technology, Conservation Technology and Administration. Energy Chemical Engineering and the Internet of Things project are 2 specialties related to strategic emerging industries approved by the state. In addition, it houses 7 national bases for the following specialties: Economics, History, Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Life Science and Technology as well as Biology. In May 1999, Northwestern University entered an agreement with the PLA General Political Department and began to train reserve officers for the latter as the first pilot universities the third after Peking University and Tsinghua University.
3. Academic facilities and Scientific research
Northwestern University has 3 campuses: the Taibai Campus, the Taoyuan Campus and the Chang’an Campus. They cover a total area of approximately 400 acres, and comprise 24 schools and departments, plus a graduate school. The library of Northwestern University has a grand total collections of more than 3 million, in which 2.8 million are general collections, 130 000 are ancient books. There are 30 library databases of Chinese and foreign languages in service: CNKI, VIP, CA, Elsevier, etc. Northwestern University has also built 3 database featured its own collections. It becomes a multi-discipline collection system featured with the material documentation and electronic resources, which effectively guarantees documentation resources for teaching and researches. Moreover, Northwestern University houses 1 national key laboratory, 1 national research center for engineering & technology, 1 national base for international scientific & technological cooperation, 29 provincial (ministerial) key labs, research centers for engineering & technology, and key research bases for the humanities & social sciences, 5 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 7 national bases for talent cultivation, and 1 national base for the cultural quality education of college students.
Northwestern University has about 2,500 members of faculty and staff, including 2 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5 distinguished (or chair) professors of “the Cheung Kong Scholars Program”, and 5 winners of China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists. Northwestern University also boasts 41 National and Provincial Experts with Outstanding Contributions, 6 Innovation Teams of the Ministry of Education, 4 Nationally Distinguished Teachers, and 5 Nationally Distinguished Teaching Teams.
4. Great achievements
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Northwestern University has educated over 200,000 professional talents across different disciplines. Most of them have developed into the professional, academic and administrative backbone of the nation, fulfilling leading roles in different regions and sectors. Northwestern University has been honored as “the Mother of Chinese Petroleum Engineering,” “the Cradle of Economists” and “the Cradle of Writers.” NWU is among the first group of pilot universities entitled to train officer candidates for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Each year Northwestern University undertakes over 100 research projects of national importance, including “the 973 Project,” “the 863 Project,” national major scientific and technological projects, and the projects of the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China. To date, Northwestern University has won a number of major scientific research awards, including the National Natural Sciences Awards (the first and second prizes), the National Technological Invention Awards (the second prize), the National Scientific & Technological Progress Awards (the second prize), and the Cheung Kong Scholars Achievement Awards (first prize).
5. Communication and international cooperation
Northwestern University attaches great importance to international exchange and cooperation, and has established collaborative relations with more than 100 institutions of higher learning and research in more than 20 foreign countries, including USA, UK, France, Germany and Japan, as well as regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. To its credit, Northwestern University is listed as one of the leading universities in the world by the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The final information is subject to the University If there is any discrepancy!