Jiangnan University is situated in the beautiful city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, which is one of China’s national key “211 Project” universities and functions directly under China’s Ministry of Education. The newly completed university campus covers 208 hectares with floor space of 1 million M2. It is located by Lake Tai, a national scenic resort in the south of Wuxi.
The campus of Jiangnan University was designed and built to demonstrate the concept of an “Eco-campus”, landscaped with beautiful greens, elegant gardens, unique bridges and tranquil streams. This picturesque campus, with its state-of-the-art facilities, provides the perfect setting for scholarship, research, innovation, and academic achievement.
Reputed as the “Pearl of China’s Light Industry Higher Education”, Jiangnan University’s roots stretch back to 1902 when its predecessor, San Jiang Normal School, began its first term. More than a hundred years of development and fifty years of independent education, has brought Jiangnan University recognition in scientific research, teaching quality and social service from all levels of society. It is a comprehensive university, recognized and highly respected both at home and abroad.
Jiangnan University consists of 17 schools and 63 undergraduate programs with disciplines including engineering, science, literature, economics, management, law, medicine, agriculture and education. It has about 20,000 full-time undergraduates and over 9,000 part-time students receiving continuing education. In July 2000, China’s Ministry of Education gave approval for Jiangnan University to start a pilot project for modern distance education. Now the School of Online Education has over 16,000 students. In addition, Jiangnan University is engaging in Chinese-foreign cooperation by hosting the School of International Education and Lambton College.
Jiangnan University has 4 Post-doctoral Research Stations in the fields of Light Industry Technology and Engineering, Food Science and Technology, Control Science and Engineering, and Textile Engineering. It is entitled to confer master degrees in 60 programs, and doctoral degrees in 21 programs. Currently there are 5,500 doctoral and master candidates studying on campus. Jiangnan University boasts 1 National First-Level Key Discipline, 4 National Second-Level Key Disciplines, 1 Provincial First-Level Key Discipline and 8 Provincial Second-Level Key Disciplines. Food Science and Engineering, and Light Industry Technology and Engineering at Jiangnan University ranked first, and Textile Science and Engineering ranked second according to the 2009 National First-level Discipline Assessment carried out by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Centre in the Ministry of Education.
In recent years, Jiangnan University has won 7 National Outstanding Teaching Achievement Awards, 25 Provincial Outstanding Teaching Achievement Awards and has had 4 Provincial Teaching Masters and 1 Provincial Outstanding Teaching Team. It has also established 5 Characteristic Specialties, 7 National Quality Courses, 23 Provincial Quality Courses, and developed 5 National Quality Textbooks, 9 Provincial Quality Textbooks, and 3 National Bilingual Model Courses. It was approved to establish 4 Innovative Trial Pilots for Personnel Training，1 Provincial Innovation Experimental Base of Personnel Training, and 5 Provincial Demonstration Centers of Experiment Teaching. It also has the National Base for Training Qualified Personnel in Life Science and the National Cultural Quality Education Base for University Students. In 2008, one of its doctorial dissertations was ranked among China’s 100 Excellent Doctorial Dissertations.
The faculty team consists of 1,582 members including 1 academician of the China Academy of Engineering, 6 Cheung Kong Scholars, 1 National Outstanding Youth Foundation Winner, 3 state-level candidates for the One Hundred plus One Thousand plus Ten Thousand Talents Project of the New Century, 3 National Young and Middle-aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions, 23 candidates for the New Century Excellent Researcher Award Program from the Ministry of Education of China and over 850 professors and associate professors. There are also two National Innovation Teams, and Four Jiangsu Provincial Innovation Teams. The academic research group, represented by over 550 Master and PhD supervisors, has laid a solid foundation for scientific innovation and the training of high-level personnel.
Jiangnan University is the cradle, and one of the major supporting institutions, of China's light industry, food science and biotechnology. The National Key Lab of Food Science and Technology, approved by the Ministry of Science & Technology, is the only one of its kind in China. In addition, it has 6 national, ministerial or provincial engineering research centers, 7 key labs at the ministerial or provincial level, the Food Safety Research Base of Jiangsu Province, the Scientific and Technological Novelty Search Workstation of Ministry of Education, the Industrial Microbial Resources Database Integration and Information Sharing Platform and 2,186,600 books and 11264GB electronic books. Since the implementation of China’s 10th Five-Year Plan, Jiangnan University has undertaken over 1000 national, provincial or ministerial projects including “863 Projects”, “973 Projects”, National Key Special Projects, National Key Scientific and Technological Projects, and the National Natural Science Fund. It has received 200 national, ministerial or provincial awards including 5 National Technology Invention and S & T Progress 2nd Prize Awards. Its faculty members have published over 1000 academic monographs and more than 17,000 high-quality research papers. In 2009, its total research budget reached 222.9 million yuan RMB. Among them 923 were SCI, EI or ISTP indexed. In 2009, research works resulted in 1413 patent applications, including 370 patents for inventions. More than 365 patents were granted, including 114 patents for inventions. The number of patent applications and granted patents is the highest among Chinese institutions of higher learning.
Jiangnan University takes an active part in the construction of national and regional scientific and technological innovation and service systems and promotes the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. It actively participates in China’s large-scale development of the western region and Jiangsu Province’s economic construction along the Yangtze River. This gives full play to its scientific and technological strength in light industry, food science, textiles, environment, chemical industry and biopharmaceuticals. By closely integrating social demands, Jiangnan University carries out overall cooperation with enterprises in research and development, technical services and personnel training and helps the enterprises to improve technology and upgrade products. It has carried out all-round cooperation with over 20 cities in provinces like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Guizhou, Gansu, Henan, making positive contributions to the national economic and social development. The National University Science Park, jointly-funded by Jiangnan University and Wuxi Municipal Government, is an important incubation base for high-tech research programs. Through resource integration and cross-disciplinary research, Jiangnan University has established the first Research Institute for Agriculture Products Processing in a Chinese university.
Jiangnan University has a very close relationship with industry. The Board of Trustees includes representatives of over 100 well-known enterprises, such as, Haier, Moutai Group, Tsingdao Brewery Group, and Wuxi Guolian Development Group, promoting production-study-research cooperation. Schools of Jiangnan University have also established second-level Board of Trustees with over 400 renowned enterprises, including P&G, Donghai Grain & Oil, Seagate, and China Telecom. All of these companies, and noted public figures like Lincoln Yung, have established scholarships for students and teaching and research awards for faculty members.
Jiangnan University was in the first group of institutions of higher learning approved by China’s Ministry of Education to enroll foreign students, and has long been active in international exchange and cooperation. It has accepted and cultivated international students since the 1960s and now has about 550 foreign students studying on campus. It has cooperated in teaching or scientific research with over 50 universities or governmental organizations in more 20 countries and regions. It has had over 100 well-known foreign scholars as honorary professors or visiting professors. Charles Shoemaker, visiting professor at the School of Food Science (JU) and professor of UC Davis, became the National Friendship Award Laureate of 2007. With various international conferences being held on campus each year, Jiangnan University has gradually become one of the most important international exchange centers in the fields of food science & technology, biotechnology, industrial design and textile technology.
The motto of Jiangnan University is “learning and practice to perfection”. Education quality is our touchstone. Jiangnan University cultivates “high-quality innovative specialized personnel” and “serves the national economy and the people's livelihood, with innovative training forming the backbone of industry”. Since beginning its operation as an independent school, Jiangnan University has turned out over 100,000 graduates, many of whom have become members of the technical elite and important leaders in various industries. Its achievements and contributions have been fully recognized by national leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, Vice Premier Li Lanqing and Vice President Rong Yiren.
The Twelfth Five-year Plan Period is a critical time for drawing on the past to develop prospects for the future. Jiangnan University has become a high level university with distinctive features by “making the university flourish with high quality, become stronger with brilliant talents, enlivened with enlightened policies and famous with good service”. But striving for perfection will never end. We are looking forward to ever greater achievements in the years to come.
