The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

, China. It is affiliated with the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

, and co-funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the

Ministry of Education of China The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is a constituent department of the State Council, responsible for basic education, vocational education, higher education, and other educational affairs throughout the country. The ...

, and the Anhui Provincial Government. It is part of

Project 211 Project 211 ( zh, c=, links=no, s=211工程) was a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the government of China for "preparing approximately 100 universities for the 21st century", initiated in November 1995. There were 115 ...

Project 985 Project 985 () was a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government for creating world-class higher education institutions, initiated in May 1998. There were 39 universities selected to be part of this ...

, and the

Double First-Class Construction The World First-Class Universities and First-Class Academic Disciplines Construction (), together known as Double First-Class Construction (), is a higher education development and sponsorship scheme of the Chinese central government, initiated ...

. The university was founded in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in September 1958. In the beginning of 1970, the university moved to Hefei during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. The university has 13 schools, 11 national research platforms, 8 science-education integration colleges, and 5 joint cooperative institutes with local governments. The university is a member of the

C9 League The C9 League is an inter-university seminar composed of nine public universities in China. It was established on May 4, 1998, at the 100th anniversary of Peking University. These elite universities are associated with academic excellence and ...

History

The university was founded in Beijing by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in September 1958. The director of CAS,

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang, was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or ...

was appointed the first president of USTC. USTC's founding mission was to develop a high-level science and technology workforce, as deemed critical for development of China's economy, defense, and science and technology education. The establishment was hailed as "A Major Event in the History of Chinese Education and Science." CAS has supported USTC by combining most of its institutes with the departments of the university. In 1959, USTC was listed in the top 16

national key universities National Key Universities () is a term previously used to refer to universities recognized as prestigious and which received a high level of support from the central government of the People's Republic of China. The term is no longer in official u ...

, becoming the youngest national key university. In the beginning of 1970, the university moved to Hefei during the Cultural Revolution. In 2012, USTC and the

National University of Defense Technology The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT; ) is a national public research university headquartered in Kaifu, Changsha, Hunan, China. It is affiliated with the Central Military Commission. The university is part of Project 211, ...

signed a strategic agreement to cooperate on

quantum computing A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of wave-particle duality, both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using s ...

research at a ceremony attended by

Pan Jianwei Pan Jianwei (; born 11 March 1970) is a Chinese academic administrator and quantum physicist. He is a university administrator and professor of physics at the University of Science and Technology of China. Pan is known for his work in the field ...

and

Yang Xuejun Yang Xuejun (; born April 1963) is a Chinese educator and computer scientist currently serving as president of the PLA Academy of Military Science. Previously he served as president of the National University of Defense Technology. He was promo ...

Administration

* Chang Jin (), President * Shu Gequn (), Party Secretary *

Bai Chunli Bai Chunli ForMemRS HonFRSC HonFRSE (; born September 26, 1953) is a Chinese physical chemist, nanotechnology scientist, and academic administrator. He is a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Chemistry. In academia, ...

(), Honorary President Presidents: *

, September 1958 – June 1978 *

Yan Jici Yan Jici (; 23 January 1901 – 2 November 1996), also commonly known as Ny Tsi-ze, was a Chinese physicist and politician who is considered a founder of modern physics in China. He was a founding member of Academia Sinica in 1948 and of the Chi ...

, February 1980 – September 1984 *

Guan Weiyan Guan Weiyan (; August 18, 1928 – March 20, 2003) was a Chinese physicist. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for ...

, April 1985 – January 1987 *

Teng Teng Teng may refer to: *Teng (surname) (滕), a Chinese surname *Teng (state), an ancient Chinese state * Teng (mythology), a flying dragon in Chinese mythology * Teng County, a county in Guangxi, China * Triboelectric nanogenerator, a method of power ...

, January 1987 – February 1988 *

Gu Chaohao Gu Chaohao (; May 15, 1926 – June 24, 2012) was a Chinese mathematician. He graduated from National Chekiang University (Zhejiang University) in 1948, and received a doctorate in physics and mathematical science from Moscow University in 1959. ...

, February 1988 – July 1993 * Tang Honggao, July 1993 – June 1998 * Zhu Qingshi, June 1998 – September 2008 * Hou Jianguo, September 2008 – January 2015 * Wan Lijun, March 2015 – June 2017 * Bao Xinhe, June 2017 – October 2024 * Chang Jin, October 2024 – present Honorary President: * Zhou Guangzhao, August 1998 - August 2024

Present

Since its participation in the CAS Experimental Program of Knowledge Innovation, USTC has achieved a batch of important and innovative results in the basic research of nano science and technology,

quantum information science Quantum information science is a field that combines the principles of quantum mechanics with information theory to study the processing, analysis, and transmission of information. It covers both theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum phys ...

, life science research, fire science, and fire protection technology, polar scientific investigation and research, bio-mass clean energy research.

Rankings and reputation

General Rankings

USTC is generally considered one of the most competitive universities in the country, and consistently ranked among the top universities in Asia according to several major international university rankings. The joint '' THE-QS World University Rankings'' 2005 ranked USTC 4th in China (after

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

, Tsinghua and

Fudan Fudan University (FDU) is a national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal Government. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, ...

), 13th in Asia and 93rd in the world. The ''

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

'' 2011 placed USTC 49th in the world, 7th in Asia and 2nd in China after Peking. It ranked 10th in Asia and 4th in Emerging countries & Mainland China in 2020 by

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

. the

ranked USTC 6th in China, 11th in Asia and 53th in the world. The

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

(ARWU), also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed USTC 42nd in the world, 6th in Asia, and 5th in China. The 2022

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

ranked USTC 93rd overall in the world. The 2024 US News Best Global Universities ranked USTC 82nd overall in the world, 13th in Asia and 6th in mainland China. USTC is regarded as one of the most reputable Chinese universities by the '' Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings'' where they ranked 51–60th globally. USTC was ranked # 6 in China, # 13 in Asia and #61 worldwide in 2024 in terms of aggregate performance from the three most widely observed university rankings (

THE ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

ARWU The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

+ QS) as reported by the ''Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities''.

Research Strength and Subject Rankings

The

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-sci ...

Research Leaders 2025, which measures the largest groups of papers published in 145 leading high-quality science journals, ranked USTC the No.1 university in China and the Asia-Pacific region, and 2nd in the world among the global universities (after Harvard). In 2024, USTC is ranked 44th globally by the

Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities The Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities (NTU Rankings) is a ranking of world universities compiled by National Taiwan University annually since 2012. This publication ranks world universities by a certain criteria of s ...

with "Engineering" & "Natural Science" related-fields ranked in the global top 10. In the 2024

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the USTC had seven disciplines in the world's top 20, 17 disciplines in the world's top 50 and 21 disciplines in the world's top 100.

Times Higher Education (THE)

Nature Index

Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles and presents research outputs by institution and country on monthly basis.

Laboratories

Only the National Laboratories, State Key Laboratories, and Key Laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are listed below, among which the National Laboratories have the highest qualification. USTC is the only university in mainland China which possess two National Laboratories at the same time. National Laboratories (2) * The National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory * Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (under construction). State Key Laboratories and Ministerial Level Units * The State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) * National High Performance Computing Center (Hefei) * National Engineering Laboratory of Speech and Language Information Processing * The State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics (Under Construction) * Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory * Microsoft Key Laboratory of Multimedia Computing and Communications, Ministry of Education Key Laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences * The Key Laboratory of Bond Selective Chemistry,

* The Key Laboratory of Wu Wenjun Mathematics,

* The Key Laboratory of Quantum Information,

* The Engineering & Technology Research Center for Thermal Safety,

* The Key Laboratory of Material Mechanical Behavior and Material Design,

* The Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis,

* The Key Laboratory of Structural Biology,

* The Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment,

* Strong Magnetic Field Research Center,

* The Key Laboratory of Basic Plasma Physics,

* The Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion Materials,

* The Key Laboratory of Galaxies and Cosmology,

* The Network Communication System and Control Laboratory,

(training building) * The Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry,

* The Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Brain Disease,

* The Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic, Space, and Information,

* The Research Center of Solar Thermal Conversion,

* The Quantum Technology and Application Research Center,

Schools and Departments

Highlights: USTC set up the first graduate school in China in 1978 to effectively cultivate its postgraduate students. * School for the Gifted Young * School of Mathematical Sciences * School of Physical Sciences ** Department of Modern Physics ** Department of Astronomy ** Department of Physics ** Department of Optics and Optical Engineering ** Physics Experiment Teaching Center * School of Chemistry and Materials Science ** Department of Chemistry ** Department of Chemical Physics ** Department of Materials Science and Engineering ** Department of Polymer Science and Engineering ** Chemical Experimental Teaching Center * School of Nuclear Science and Technology * School of Life Sciences and Medicine ** Molecular Biology and Cell Biology ** Neurobiology and Biophysics ** Systems Biology ** Biomedicine and Biotechnology * School of Engineering Science ** Modern Mechanics ** Thermal Science and Energy Engineering ** Precision Machinery and Instrumentation * School of Information Science and Technology ** Electronic Science and Technology ** Automation ** Electrical Engineering and Information Science ** Information Security * School of Computer Science and Technology ** Computer Science and Technology * School of Earth and Space Science ** Earth and Space Science ** Faculty of Geochemistry and Environmental Science * School of Software Engineering * School of Management ** Statistics and Finance ** Management Science ** Business Management (Information Management and Decision Science) * Humanities and Social Science ** Sci-tech Communication and Sci-tech Policy ** The Teaching and Research Division of Marxism ** Scientific History and Archaeometry ** Center for Modern Art * School of Environment Science and Electrooptical Technology * School of Material Science and Engineering * Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, USTC * Shanghai Institute for Advanced Studies, USTC * Institute of Advanced Technology, USTC * Continuing Education

Notable people

Alumni

Notable faculty members

* Zhou Guangzhao (1929–2024) – Famous theoretical physicist, Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Honorary President of USTC at present. *

(1901–1996) – Pioneer of Modern physics research and education in China, former Vice-president, President and Honorary President of USTC. *

Qian Linzhao Qian Linzhao (; 28 August 1906 – 26 July 1999), also known as Tsien Ling-Chao, was a Chinese optical physicist and historian. He was a founding member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and served as Vice President of the University of Scien ...

(1906–1999) – Famous physicist and educator, pioneer of scientific history and education in China, former Vice-president of USTC. *

Hua Luogeng Hua Luogeng or Hua Loo-Keng (; 12 November 1910 – 12 June 1985) was a Chinese mathematician and politician famous for his important contributions to number theory and for his role as the leader of mathematics research and education in the Peop ...

(1910–1985) – Pioneer of modern mathematics research and education in China, former Chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Vice-president of USTC. *

(1892–1978) – A Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, the first president of USTC. * Meng Xuenong (1948–) – Former Mayor of Beijing, and former Governor of Shanxi Province *

Qian Xuesen Qian Xuesen ( zh, s=钱学森; December 11, 1911October 31, 2009; also spelled as Tsien Hsue-shen) was a Chinese aerospace engineer and cyberneticist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering ...

(1911–2009) – Father of missiles of China, former Chairman of the Department of Mechanics with USTC. * Zhao Zhongyao (1902–1998) – Pioneer of modern particle physics research and education in China, one of the first in the world to find positrons, former Chairman of the Department of Modern Physics with USTC.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:University of Science and Technology of China 1958 establishments in China C9 League Chinese Academy of Sciences Universities and colleges established in 1958 Project 211 Project 985 Plan 111 Universities and colleges in Anhui Universities and colleges in Hefei Vice-ministerial universities in China 1958 in Hefei