Yunnan University

Yunnan University was founded in 1922 and officially opened in 1923. It was then the private Donglu University. In 1934, it was renamed the Provincial Yunnan University. In 1938, it was renamed the National Yunnan University. It is one of the earliest comprehensive universities established in the western frontier of my country. In 1937, the famous mathematician and educator Xiong Qinglai became the president, and a large number of famous scholars were hired to teach at the school, laying a high foundation for the school's development and profound academic heritage, and ushering in the first glorious period in the history of Yunnan University. In the 1940s, Yunnan University had developed into a large-scale and internationally influential Chinese famous university with disciplines including liberal arts, law, science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. In 1946, the Encyclopedia Britannica listed Yunnan University as one of the 15 most influential universities in China in the world.

In the 1950s, the departments of Yunnan University were adjusted, and some important and distinctive departments of Yunnan University, such as aviation, civil engineering, law, and railways, were separated and merged into the then Beijing Institute of Aeronautics, Sichuan University, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Changsha Railway Institute and other universities; engineering, medicine, agriculture, etc. were successively established independently, and gradually developed into today's Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming Medical University, Yunnan Agricultural University, Southwest Forestry University and other universities. In 1958, Yunnan University was transferred from the Central Ministry of Higher Education to the management of Yunnan Province. In 1978, Yunnan University was identified by the State Council as one of the 88 key universities in the country.

After the reform and opening up, Yunnan University has made great progress. In 1996, it was included in the first batch of key universities in the national "211 Project". In 2001, it was included in the key construction colleges of the western development. In 2004, it became a key co-construction university of the Ministry of Education and the Yunnan Provincial People's Government. In 2006, all 19 secondary indicators of the undergraduate teaching work level evaluation were rated A, and it was rated as an excellent undergraduate teaching school by the Ministry of Education. In 2012, it became a national "central and western colleges and universities basic capacity construction project" and "central and western colleges and universities comprehensive strength improvement project" implementation college. In 2017, it became one of the first 42 "first-class universities" construction universities in the country. In 2018, it ranked among the 14 "ministerial-led, ministry-provincial co-construction" universities in the central and western regions. In 2022, it will continue to be selected as a second round of national "double first-class" construction universities.

Yunnan University has 27 colleges, 10 research institutions, 1 affiliated hospital, and a graduate school. Yunnan University currently has more than 3,000 faculty and staff (excluding affiliated hospitals), including more than 2,700 professional and technical positions, nearly 1,300 people with senior professional titles, and nearly 1,500 people with doctoral degrees. The school has nearly 17,000 full-time undergraduates, nearly 12,000 full-time master's students, more than 1,500 doctoral students, and nearly 1,500 international students in academic education. The school covers an area of ​​4,367 acres, with Chenggong Campus and Donglu Campus, a public school building area of ​​more than 1.33 million square meters, a total value of more than 1.5 billion yuan in teaching and scientific research equipment assets, and a library collection of more than 4 million books. The school is the Yunnan main node unit of the China Education and Research Computer Network (CERNET).

The school has 82 undergraduate majors, including 47 national and provincial first-class undergraduate majors. There are 12 national specialty majors, 6 professional "elite classes", 10 professional "excellence classes", and 11 "national first-class undergraduate courses"; there are 22 first-level disciplines authorized to confer doctoral degrees, 1 professional doctoral degree authorized, 42 first-level disciplines authorized to confer master's degrees, and 26 professional master's degrees authorized. In the fourth round of discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education, 2 A-level disciplines (ethnology is A+, ecology is A-), and 14 B-level disciplines were rated, forming a discipline and professional system with ethnology, ecology, biology, characteristic resource development and environmental protection, as well as border issues and international issues in Southeast Asia and South Asia as advantages and characteristics, relatively complete disciplines, and intensive talents.

The school vigorously implements the "talent-strengthening school" strategy, and high-level talents continue to grow. There are 12 academicians (including dual appointments), more than 70 national high-level talents such as Yangtze River, Outstanding Young Scholars, Thousand Talents, and Excellent Young Scholars, 5 chief scientists of the National Key Basic Research and Development Program, 16 selected candidates of the National "Million Talents Project", 13 selected candidates of the "Hundred Talents Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4 members of the subject evaluation group of the State Council Academic Degree Committee, 2 national model teachers, 2 cultural celebrities and "four batches" talents of the Central Propaganda Department, 14 selected candidates of the "New Century Excellent Talent Training Program", "Cross-Century Excellent Talent Training Program" and "Higher Education Backbone Teachers Support Program" of the Ministry of Education, 6 young talents of propaganda, ideology and culture of the Central Propaganda Department, 4 national teaching teams, 1 key field innovation team of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and 1 innovation team of the Ministry of Education.

The school vigorously implements the "academic development" strategy and has made remarkable achievements in scientific research. The school has successively hosted 6 national "973 Program" and "863 Program" projects, 2 major national water projects, 3 national key R&D programs, 2 national science and technology support programs, 22 major bidding projects of the National Social Science Fund, 7 major projects of the National Social Science Fund, 5 major research projects of the Ministry of Education in humanities and social sciences, 2 Marxist theory research and construction projects, 5 National Social Science Fund Achievement Library, 2 "New Engineering" research and practice projects, and 1 major bidding project of the National Natural Science Foundation. It has won many awards, including the first prize of the National Natural Science Award, the second prize of the National Natural Science Award, the first prize of the National College Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award, the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the Whitaker Outstanding Ecologist Award, and the International Young Paleontologist "Hodson Award". It has won 3 Outstanding Contribution Awards and 3 Special Prizes of the Yunnan Science and Technology Award. More than 20 papers have been published in "Nature", "Science" and "Chinese Social Sciences". The school hosts academic journals such as "Thought Front" and "Journal of Yunnan University". "Thought Front" is one of the first 11 journals selected for the "Famous Journal Project" of the Ministry of Education.

The school has 1 provincial and ministerial co-constructed national key laboratory, 1 national international joint research center, 1 national technology transfer center, 2 national makerspaces, 1 Ministry of Education Philosophy and Social Sciences Laboratory, 1 four-ministerial research base for strengthening the consciousness of the Chinese nation, 1 Ministry of Education key research base for humanities and social sciences, 2 provincial and ministerial co-constructed collaborative innovation centers, 1 Ministry of Education International Joint Research Center, 1 Ministry of Education Engineering Research Center, 1 Ministry of Education Field Science Observation Station, 2 provincial and ministerial co-constructed Ministry of Education key laboratories, 1 National Linux Technology Training and Promotion Center, 1 Ministry of Education Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture Inheritance Base, 1 Ministry of Education National Textbook Construction Key Research Base, 1 National College Students Cultural Quality Education Base, and 1 National Scientific Decision-making Consulting Research Center. There are 4 national talent training bases, 4 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 3 national excellent engineer training program projects, 1 national application-oriented and compound excellent legal professional talent education and training base, 4 national talent training model innovation experimental zones and national demonstration software colleges. It has a large number of first-class important scientific research facilities and platforms such as the Experimental Animal Center, Advanced Computing Center, Electron Microscope Center, 1.6-meter multi-channel photometry survey telescope, etc. The school is the first batch of demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform of the Ministry of Education.

The school takes advantage of its location adjacent to South Asia and Southeast Asia, actively integrates into the construction of the "Belt and Road" and China's radiation center facing South Asia and Southeast Asia, and builds a multi-faceted, multi-field and multi-level international cooperation and exchange pattern. The school has carried out cooperation and exchanges with more than 100 universities and institutions in the world, including 29 first-class universities and international academic organizations such as Cambridge University, European Southern Observatory, and Yale University to carry out scientific research, and 33 foreign high-level universities such as Tokyo University and Windsor University have carried out joint training projects. It has a relatively complete regional country research system covering Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Africa and countries along the Belt and Road, and a database of countries along the Belt and Road. It has 8 regional country research centers registered with the Ministry of Education. As a permanent secretary-general unit, it initiated the establishment of the "South Asia and Southeast Asia University Alliance" covering more than 120 universities in 16 South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. The school is one of the first batch of "International Organization Talent Training Innovation and Practice Project" implementing institutions of the Ministry of Education. The number of source countries for international students has reached 70, basically achieving full coverage of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, and it is an important training base for international students in China facing South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The school actively serves the national and regional economic and social development. The cooperation undertook the translation, publication and promotion of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" (Volumes 1, 2 and 3) in five languages ​​including Burma and Laos; the achievements such as "China-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipeline and China's Energy Security" and "Southern Silk Road Economic Corridor" have been elevated to major national decisions, and the scientific research directions and achievements such as "Yangzonghai Arsenic Pollution Control", "Cross-border Ecological Security and International River Research", "Highland Lake Management Research", "Forging a Strong Sense of Community of the Chinese Nation", "China's Neighboring Diplomacy Research", "Political Science and Border Ethnic Issues Research", "Paleontology and Origin of Life Research", "Conservation and Utilization of Biodiversity Resources", "Compact Celestial Bodies and High-energy Phenomena", "The Milky Way and the Nearby Universe", "Root-knot Nematode Biological Control Technology", and "Perennial Rice Technology" directly serve to solve major practical problems, create good benefits, have an important impact, and make important contributions to national strategies and local economic and social development.

In the new historical period, the university will be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party's education policy, uphold the Yunnan University spirit of "gathering hundreds of schools of thought and serving the world with justice", take first-class party building as the guide, take first-class university construction as the center, take moral education as the fundamental task, take high-quality development as the main line, and take reform and innovation as the driving force to comprehensively improve the school's management level and comprehensive strength, accelerate the construction of a comprehensive, international, research-oriented world-class university based in the southwest border of the motherland and facing South Asia and Southeast Asia, and embark on a distinctive development path for the construction of world-class universities in border ethnic areas, and contribute to the construction of a higher education power and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

(Relevant data as of March 2022)