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Tianjin University , located on the coast of Bohai Sea, is one of the national key universities directly under the administration of Ministry of Education of China . It is famous both at home and abroad for its motto of “Seeking Truth from Facts”, and its spirit of being “Precise in Learning, Strict in Teaching”. In 1959, the University became one of the first 16 national key universities accredited by the State Council. In 1995, it was listed among the first group of the national “211 Project” of higher learning, to which priority is given for construction. In the year of 2000, the Ministry of Education and Tianjin Municipal Government signed an agreement that they would make joint efforts to build Tianjin University into a high level university famous at home and abroad, which symbolizes that Tianjin University is included into the national “985 Project” which will play a vital role in the development of higher education in China.

Tianjin University , grown out of Peiyang University , the first institution of higher learning in modern Chinese education, was founded on October 2, 1895. At that time, the late Qing Dynasty government was defeated in the Jiawu Sino-Japanese War, and the whole country was shaken up with great indignation. Patriots from all walks of life began to strive for every way to save the country.

(In 1894, China was defeated in the Jiawu Sino-Japanese War, which greatly shocked the government. Everyone was thinking over why China , such a big country, could be defeated by a small one like Japan . Some patriots realized that China was lack of qualified personnel, who knew well about the modern science and technology. Then Rong Hong, one of the first Chinese overseas students from US, suggested to Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai, the Intendant of Tianjin Customs, that a modern institute of higher leaning should be established. Therefore, Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai asked the Peiyang Minister Wang Wenshao to hand over a memorial to the throne, to open a higher learning institution offering education mixed with both eastern and western knowledge. Later the suggestion got approved by Emperor Kuangshu on October 2nd, 1895 which became the anniversary of the founding of Tianjin University . )

(At the beginning, Peiyang University was co-founded by Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai, and Mr. Charles Daniel Tenney, the vice-consul of the American Consulate General in Tianjin , who was also an American educator. Therefore, the University was run according to Mr. Tenney's educational layout, which was actually molded after American universities.)

Therefore, from the very beginning of its founding, aiming to save China by industry and rejuvenate China through science and education, the University modeled itself after the famous European and American institutions of higher learning to train qualified personnel with new scientific education and technological knowledge. The University overturned the entire stereotyped educational mode including eight-part essays, and focused on Science, Engineering, Arts and Law, with a four- year educational system, which made it the first comprehensive university in China .

(The first 30 students were originally from Tianjin , Shanghai and Hong Kong . Mr. Wang Chonghui, the former Foreign Minister for Sun Yat-sen and the former Judge of the Den Haag International court of Justice, was from Hong Kong. He was the graduate who had been conferred the first bachelor's diploma in Chinese history.

J. Prof. Yang, Does it mean University Diploma?

P. Yes, it is the first university diploma in China , with the serial number 001, and was conferred by the Peiyang Zhili General Governor of Business Affairs, which meant it was conferred by the government. It shows that the university had a prestigious status in the society. This diploma recorded every course Wang had taken, from which we can see that it absolutely accorded with the standard of modern undergraduate education.

With the school spirit of being “Precise in Learning, Strict in Teaching”, Peiyang University had a qualified educational system which was comparable to that of the famous universities, such as Harvard, and Yale. It enjoyed a high reputation at home and abroad with the name of “Oriental Cornell”. The graduates were directly admitted to top universities for their post-graduate studies in Europe and America without entrance examination.

Mr. Zhao Tianlin, the third President of Peiyang University, summarized the first 20 years' university running experiences and put forward the school motto of “Seeking Truth from Facts”, which has been kept intact by faculty, staff and students till now. The Revolutionary Forerunner Zhang Tailei, Economist Ma Yinchu, Poet Xu Zhimo, Bridge Building Expert Mao Yisheng and Hydraulic Expert Zhang Hanying were all the honorary examples to practise the University motto.

After the founding of New China, Hebei Institute of Technology was merged into Peiyang University and the University was renamed into Tianjin University . After the discipline adjustment of the national higher learning in the 1950s, Tianjin University became one of the largest multidisciplinary engineering universities in China . Main leaders from the central government, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zeming, Li Peng, Li Ruihuan,Hu Jintao and Li Lanqing, have visited the university successively and have given great support and favorable consideration for its construction and development.

Since the mid 1980s, Tianjin University has put forward a clear mode of building a “Comprehensive, Research-Oriented and Open” university. After 20 years' of reform and development, especially since the Ninth Five-Year Plan, through the national “211 Project” and “985 Project”, the University has made great progress in every aspect.

Tianjin University, currently occupying an area of 139 hectares, has a built-up area of 1000 ， 000 ㎡ .There are two modern libraries, covering a total floor space of 26,000 ㎡ , with a collection of 2 million volumes of books. A lot of modernized teaching buildings, research buildings, students' dormitories and staff residential apartments have been built. Advanced teaching and research facilities, the sports field, gym and a complete living and service establishment have given great support to teaching and research of the University.

Tianjin University currently has over 4400 working members. Among 1600 faculty members, there are 441 professors, 718 associate professors, 5 Academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5 Academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 7 Members of the National Academic Degree Appraisal Committee, 11 National Experts with Outstanding Contribution to the Country, including 256 doctoral degree program supervisors and more than 700 master degree program supervisors. The total student population is 30,000, among whom 15,000 are full-time undergraduates and more than 9000 are full-time postgraduates for Doctoral and Master's Degrees. There are also over 1000 overseas students from more than 30 countries and regions.

Tianjin University now consists of 15 academic schools, offering 51 undergraduate programs, 111 second-level discipline master programs, 15 first-level discipline and 69 second-level discipline doctoral programs, and 17 postdoctoral scientific research programs. Besides, there are some specialized degree programs, such as MBA, MPA EMBA and 21 programs conferring the Master Degree of Engineering.

A rational distribution of disciplines with stress on engineering has gradually been formed in Tianjin University . Engineering and Science have been well coordinated in development, integrated with economics, management, humanities, education, law etc. There are 13 State Key Disciplines, 9 of which rank top 3 nationwide. At present the University has 3 State Key Laboratories, 8 Ministerial Engineering Research & Development Centers and Open Laboratories, 2 National Engineering Research Centers and 2 State Key Centers for Research and Promotion of Scientific and Technological Achievements.  

At present, Tianjin University is working hard to educate talents at all levels through full-time education combined with continuous education, vocational training and distance learning. By sticking to the Guideline of being “Precise in Learning, Strict in Teaching” and the priority of quality education integrated with comprehensive training, the University reached a high level of education at home and abroad. In 1999, Tianjin University successfully passed the evaluation of outstanding undergraduate program by the Ministry of Education.

In the past ten years, students from Tianjin University have been awarded many prizes in domestic and international competitions. The students from the School of Architecture , in particular, have been the continuous winners of the highest Prizes in the World Architectural Design Competitions for College Students. Graduates from Tianjin University are popular at work for having solid knowledge foundation, practical attitude and innovative ability. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Education, Tianjin University has topped the list of the “employment rate” for 3 continuous years since the reform of the University graduates employment system. To bring “Broad, Deep and new” knowledge to students, the University has vigorously reformed and expanded post-graduate education for training more and higher quality talents.

Tianjin University is a base not only for high-level professional cultivation but also for scientific and technological research and development in China . It has been devoted to the innovation of scientific & technological research system since the founding of Institute of Engineering in 1933. Nowadays, the University has top-ranking R&D ability in the country by combining basic research with application and development.

In the last seven years, Tianjin University totally got 566 projects from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and other important programs supported by the country; 12 national awards and 212 awards at provincial and ministerial level and submitted 435 patents applications ， among which 208 were approved. The University has always been among the top three engineering universities in terms of research funds from NSFC. The total research expenditure of the University has always been among the top universities, rising from ￥ 143 million in 1996 to ￥ 345 million in 2003. Half of the funds came from the projects supported by NSFC, provinces and ministries which manifests the competence and strength of research level of the University.

7454 papers have been published in domestic core journals by the faculty in Tianjin University in the past 7 years, among which 2533 were SCI, EI, and ISTP indexed, which shows the University ranks high in terms of paper per capita in China . In 1999, Tianjin University was one of the first 15 universities to build the National University Science Park , and the Park was accredited by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2001. Being involved into the National Economical Construction, Tianjin University has been following the way of “Integrating Industry, Learning and Research” and devoting to the industrialization of research achievements. At present, based on the research achievements with the self-owned knowledge property right, the University launched a certain number of high-tech enterprises leaded by Tian Da Tian Cai listed Company. With the production covering the areas of intelligent mechanical equipments, chemical products, medicine and medical examining equipments, the enterprises own a large market share with considerable economic benefits domestically and abroad. Since 1997, the scientific technology industrial profit of the University has been ranking top 10 in China, The Tiancai software, with the internationally advanced integrating information system, has a relatively high domestic market share and the annual sales income is over ￥ 1 billion.

Running the University in an open way is an essential approach to integrate social resources and advantages, from different sectors of industry, education and research to bring about improvement in both education and national economy. Since 1980s, Tianjin University has established close ties with the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Construction, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, provincial and municipal governments like Tianjin , Hebei , Jilin , Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Liaoning . Its scientific and technological cooperation achievements can be found all over the country. In terms of international exchange and cooperation, Tianjin University has signed cooperative agreements with more than 80 universities and 20 multi-national corporations in over 30 different countries and regions including America , Japan , UK , France , Germany , Russia , etc. The agreements cover the areas of academic exchange, joint research and post-graduate training programs and so on. The University has hosted 31 international academic conferences, which helped the University build a higher academic reputation internationally.

In the new century, Tianjin University entered an important period to build itself into a world famous university, which will lay solid foundation to attain the long-term goal to be a first-class university worldwide. The University has put forward a strategy of “Three-Step” development to realize its goal of becoming a “Comprehensive, Research-oriented, Open and Internationalized” world famous university.

We firmly believe that Tianjin University will seize the historic opportunity of development by carrying forward the Peiyang spirits of “Seeking Truth from Facts” and “Pioneering Vigorously” to undertake the historic mission of the new century so as to create new glories for the building of a Well-off Society.