Beijing Normal University

Beijing Normal University is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education. It is a famous university with teacher education, educational science and basic liberal arts and science disciplines as its main features. The predecessor of the school was the Normal School of the Imperial University of Peking founded in 1902. In 1908, it was renamed the Imperial Normal School and established independently. In 1912, it was renamed Beijing Higher Normal School. In 1923, the school was renamed Beijing Normal University, becoming the first normal university in Chinese history. In 1931 and 1952, Peking Women's Normal University and Fu Jen Catholic University were successively merged into Beijing Normal University.

Over the past 100 years, Beijing Normal University has always shared the same fate with the Chinese nation in its struggle for independence, freedom, democracy and prosperity, and played an important role in patriotic movements such as the May 4th Movement and the December 9th Movement. A large number of famous teachers and sages, represented by Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Liang Qichao, Qian Xuantong, Wu Chengshi, Li Jinxi, Chen Yuan, Fan Wenlan, Hou Wailu, Bai Shouyi, Zhong Jingwen, Qi Gong, Hu Xianqiong, Wang Kunren, and Zhou Tingru, have promoted literature and education here. After more than a hundred years of development, the school has adhered to the fine traditions of "patriotism and progress, honesty and simplicity, truth-seeking and innovation, and being a model for others" and the school motto of "learning to be a teacher and behaving as a model for the world", and has formed the educational concept of "studying and cultivating oneself, and benefiting the world".

During the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" and "Eighth Five-Year Plan", Beijing Normal University was identified as one of the first ten universities to be built by the state. During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan", it was included in the first batch of the "211 Project" construction plan. On the occasion of the centenary celebration in 2002, the Ministry of Education and Beijing decided to focus on the joint construction of Beijing Normal University. The Ninth Party Congress of Beijing listed Beijing Normal University among the world-class universities to be supported. During the "15th Five-Year Plan", the school entered the national "985 Project" construction plan. In 2017, the school entered the national "World-Class University" construction A-class list, and 11 disciplines entered the national "World-Class Discipline" construction list.

Beijing Normal University consists of two campuses (including four campuses): Beijing Campus and Zhuhai Campus. There are more than 24,000 full-time students in the Beijing Campus. The Zhuhai Campus was officially approved by the Ministry of Education for construction in April 2019, and there are more than 3,600 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The school has 3 faculties, 27 colleges, 2 departments, 11 research institutes (institutes), and 4 colleges. The library has more than 4.9 million books and more than 9.7 million electronic books.

The comprehensive strength of Beijing Normal University's disciplines ranks among the top universities in the country. In 2002, it became one of the first six universities with the right to independently set up undergraduate majors, and in 2018, it became one of the first 20 universities that could conduct independent degree authorization review. There are currently 77 undergraduate majors, 38 first-level disciplines authorized to grant master's degrees, 32 first-level disciplines authorized to grant doctoral degrees, and 28 postdoctoral research mobile stations. The current 38 disciplines cover 10 disciplines, forming a comprehensive discipline layout. According to the results of the 2016 first-level discipline evaluation (fourth round) released by the Degree and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education, our school's 6 first-level disciplines of education, psychology, Chinese language and literature, Chinese history, drama and film, and geography were rated A+, 2 first-level disciplines were rated A, and 7 first-level disciplines were rated A-. The number of disciplines rated A+ ranks sixth among universities in the country.

Beijing Normal University is an important force in national humanities and social science research and technological innovation. The school has 1 national high-end think tank pilot unit, 4 national key laboratories, 1 national engineering laboratory, 1 national field science observation and research station, 1 national collaborative innovation center, 2 national key research bases for textbook construction, and 1 national international science and technology cooperation base. There are 9 key laboratories of the Ministry of Education, 6 engineering research centers of the Ministry of Education, 2 field science observation and research stations of the Ministry of Education, 7 key research bases of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education, 4 country and regional research bases of the Ministry of Education, 1 base for the inheritance of excellent traditional Chinese culture of the Ministry of Education, 1 base for education legislation research of the Ministry of Education, and 1 base for the construction of teachers' ethics and style of the Ministry of Education. There is one strategic research base of the Ministry of Education, nine discipline innovation and intelligence introduction bases of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, one high-end innovation center of Beijing higher education institutions, 12 key laboratories of Beijing, four engineering technology research centers of Beijing, two key research bases of philosophy and social sciences of Beijing, one new high-end think tank of the capital, one research base of Beijing Language and Writing Committee, one collaborative innovation center of Beijing universities, one research base of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Beijing, one research base of Beijing Education and Rule of Law, one base for the construction of teachers' ethics and style in primary and secondary schools in Beijing, and 15 other important provincial and ministerial platforms. 35 professional journals are published regularly.

Beijing Normal University is rich in educational resources and is an important base for the cultivation of high-quality innovative talents in the country. There are 2 national talent training and scientific research bases for basic liberal arts disciplines, 5 national talent training bases for basic science research and teaching, 5 experimental zones for talent training mode innovation of the Ministry of Education, 1 national pilot college, 10 bases selected for the National Basic Discipline Outstanding Student Training Program 2.0, and 36 national first-class undergraduate professional construction sites; it is a national college student cultural quality education base, a national talent training base for teaching Chinese as a foreign language, a national talent training base for life sciences and technology, a national outstanding legal talent education and training base, and a base for the inheritance of excellent traditional Chinese culture of the Ministry of Education (Chinese drama); it has 4 national experimental teaching demonstration centers and 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching centers.

Beijing Normal University has a reasonable structure of teachers and excellent quality. There are 3,437 faculty members, including 2,313 full-time teachers, 93% of whom have doctoral degrees and 19% have overseas academic qualifications. There are 22 academicians of the two academies (including dual appointments), 6 senior professors, 40 distinguished professors of the "Yangtze River Scholars Program", 54 recipients of the National Outstanding Youth Fund, 27 leading talents of the Ten Thousand Talents Program, 1 high-level talent introduced from overseas, 5 national-level higher education teachers, and 8 innovative research groups of the National Natural Science Foundation; 19 young top talents of the Ten Thousand Talents Program, 42 recipients of the National Excellent Youth Science Fund, 14 young scholars of the "Yangtze River Scholars Program", and 42 high-level young talents introduced from overseas.

Beijing Normal University actively integrates into the national opening-up strategy and has extensive international exchanges and cooperation. In 2020, the school issued the "Global Development Strategic Plan", which established a strategic vision to help build a global academic community of excellence, an educational innovation community, a youth development community, and a community of social responsibility for universities. It has established cooperative relations with nearly 500 universities and research institutions in more than 40 countries and regions. We continue to promote cooperation with world-class universities and first-class disciplines such as Oxford University, Stanford University, and the University of Helsinki, actively expand exchanges with countries along the "Belt and Road", and build a number of brand projects and activities with international influence, providing a broad platform for experts, scholars, and students at home and abroad to conduct academic exchanges, further studies, and cultural exchanges and mutual learning.

The 13th Party Congress of Beijing Normal University further clarified the school-running positioning of building a "comprehensive, research-oriented, and world-class university with Chinese characteristics leading in teacher education", and put forward the strategic concept of "three steps", clearly stating that it will enter the forefront of world-class universities by the middle of this century. At present, the school is focusing on building a discipline development system of "plateau support and peak leadership" and an integrated school-running pattern with Beijing Campus and Zhuhai Campus as the two wings, continuously deepening comprehensive reforms, and promoting the development of various undertakings. Beijing Normal University is steadily moving towards the goal of building a world-class university.