Guangzhou University


Guangzhou University is a state university in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, China.
The university is made up of two campuses. The major campus is located in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, covering a total area of 131.7 hectares, with a building space of 596,000 square meters. The other campus is located in downtown of Guangzhou, covering 20 hectares.
The university is dually affiliated to Guangzhou Municipal Government and Guangdong Provincial Government. The funding for the university is subject to Guangzhou Municipal Government.

General introduction

Guangzhou University was reestablished in July 2000 by the Chinese Ministry of Education. It was a merger of five tertiary institutions previously known as Guangzhou Normal University , South China Institute of Construction , Guangzhou University , Guangzhou Junior Teachers' College , and Guangzhou Institute of Education .
The university is fully committed to consolidating and expanding its undergraduate program, graduate programs and international students program. The university comprises 27 schools. It offers 87 undergraduate programs with coverage of ten disciplinary fields, including philosophy, history, literature, law, pedagogy, art, science, engineering, management and economics. Currently, the university is authorized to run 3 PhD programs with 25 grade-2 subjects, 26 graduate programs with 95 grade-2 subjects. In addition, the university offers 9 professional graduate programs in 36 fields, including pedagogy, engineering, physical education, art and international Chinese language teaching.
The university has a teaching and research staff of 1475, including two academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 290 full-time professors and 604 full-time associate professors. The number of the full-time graduates and undergraduates is over 23,000.
The university is actively undertaking the national and provincial research programs, such as national “973”and “863” projects. It has established more than 30 research institutes or centers specializing in a wide range of subjects, including Interdisciplinary Research Center, Earthquake Engineering Research Test Center, Human Right Research Center, Research Institute for Computer Science & Software etc.
International exchange and cooperation have always been a priority work of the university. Up to 2011, the university has established the partnership with more than 100 overseas institutions. The university is available for international students to study Chinese and apply for degree study. It also enrolls students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well.
In the new age, the university is engaged in making a contribution to the development of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province as well as that of China. The goal of the university is to mold itself as a comprehensive university with a unique characteristic and ranks in a leading position among the universities of similar type.

Campus

As a manifestation of GU's core spirit, the Campus Culture of GU guarantees a good academic and cultural atmosphere on campus. To promote the construction of quality education, cultural activities on campus are organized on the basis of perfect combinations between science and humanity, between high taste cultural activities and students’ comprehensive quality cultivation.
Based on the principles of Students Art Troupe, GU carries on various cultural activities, including Culture and Art Festivals on Campus, Chinese Classics Reading, Classic Movies Appreciation, and Elegant Art Appreciation. In addition, the university organizes various contests including Debate, Image Design, Career Design, Singing and Dancing, Hosting, etc., and builds a series of school cultural activity brands.
There are now eighty student associations with more than 12,000 members at GU. These associations cover a range of subjects including humanities, technology, public service, arts, and P.E. etc. Each year, there is a cultural month reserved for activities of the associations in which student associations play an important role in moral education, science enlightenment, career guidance, and volunteer service.

Academic reputation and goal

The new Guangzhou University is named after the third biggest city in China and was established in July 2000. It is actively undertaking the national and provincial research programs in recent years, such as national “973”and “863” projects. The University Ranking on Academic Performance publications, authored by scholars from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey and co-contributed by European scholars from France, Netherlands and the United Kingdom ranked Guangzhou University at#153 out of the 183 nationally China and #1516 in ranking globally out of all the places of higher institutions in that category. In the new age, the university is engaged in making a contribution to the community. The goal of the university is to mold itself as a comprehensive university with a characteristic and ranks in a leading position among the universities of similar type.

Courses

While the undergraduate programs remain the dominant focus of its operation, GU also runs postgraduate programs. The university run 42 postgraduate programs and 62 undergraduate programs in eight fields of study including Literature, Science, Engineering, Economics, Management, Law, Education and History.

Departments and schools

School of Architecture and Urban Planning
School of Civil Engineering
School of Business
School of Law
School of Public Administration
School of Education
School of Humanities
School of Journalism and Communication
School of Foreign Studies
School of Music and Dance
School of Fine Art and Artistic Design
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
School of Mathematics and Information Sciences
School of Physics and Electronic Engineering
School of Geographic Sciences
School of Electro-Mechanical Engineering
School of Computer Science & Education Software
School of Life Science
School of Environmental Engineering
School of Tourism
School of Physical Education
School of Politics and Civic Education
School of Economic and Statistics
School of International Education
School of Teacher Training
School of Basic Education
School of Modern Industry
CIBT International College
Wesleyan College

Staff and students

GU has a staff of 2,588 including one academic scholar from the Chinese Academy of Science, one academic scholar from the China Institute of Engineering, four academic scholars employed on a part-time basis, 20 supervisors of doctoral students, 130 full-time professors, 567 associate professors; of whom all 100 are Ph.D holders, 32 who have been awarded the state Council Special Allowances, 14 provincial and municipal level experts. The University's current full-time postgraduates, undergraduates and diploma students number 17,000. The University enrolls students mainly from Guangdong Province and Guangzhou, but also admits students from 11 other provinces, Hong Kong, Macao and also from overseas.

Research centres and other partnerships

The University has 57 research institutes and centers specializing in wide range of fields including the Institute of Educational Software, the Earthquake Engineering Research and TestCenter, the Institute of Educational Sciences, and the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
GU has also established a number of cooperative educational establishments including the College of Textile and Garment, the College of Urban Construction Engineering, the College of Technology and Trade, Sontian College, Hua Ruan Software College, the School of Municipal Works and Construction. GU has established partnerships in a wide range of disciplines with universities and academic institutions of the United States, Australia, France, Russia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, and the Chinese-speaking region including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Prospects

With a history of over 10 years, and graduate programs since 2000, Guangzhou University has produced a large number of qualified talent for China and for Guangdong Province's social, economic, and technological development. The construction of the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center on Xiaoguwei Island is in progress.