Hunan University

Hunan University is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education, and a university under the construction of the "211 Project", "985 Project", and "World Class University". The school originated from the establishment of Yuelu Academy in 976 AD. In 1903, Yuelu Academy merged with Hunan Higher Education, which was restructured from Shiwu Academy founded in 1897. In 1926, it was named Hunan University and in 1937, it became one of the 16 national universities in China. After the founding of New China, Li Da, one of the main founders and early leaders of the CPC, served as the first president, and Comrade Mao Zedong wrote the name of "Hunan University". In 2000, Hunan University merged with Hunan University of Finance and Economics to form the new Hunan University. On September 17, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the school for inspection and research, and highly praised the school's talent cultivation and cultural inheritance, pointing out that Yuelu Academy is the source of the Party's pragmatic ideological line.

In the long-term process of running the school, the school has formed an educational tradition of "preaching and helping the people, patriotism and pragmatism, practical application, and inclusiveness", and has accumulated the spirit of Hunan University with the school motto "seeking truth from facts, daring to be the first" and the school spirit "erudition, wisdom, diligence, and knowledge" as the core; We have cultivated and nurtured a large number of outstanding talents, represented by Wang Fuzhi, Tao Shu, Wei Yuan, He Changling, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Guo Songtao, Tan Sitong, Huang Xing, Cai E, Yang Changji, Mao Zedong, He Shuheng, Cai Hesen, Deng Zhongxia, Li Da, and others, who will go down in history. 47 members of the academic department and academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering have emerged among the teachers and students, and the vivid portrayal of the school's talent is that "only Chu has talents, and Yu Si is the most prosperous".

The school currently has 37 teaching and research institutions, covering 13 major disciplines including philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, management, medicine, agriculture, art, and interdisciplinary studies. We have 87 undergraduate majors, 40 master's degree granting points, and 36 doctoral degree granting points. The school has been approved as a degree granting independent review unit. The disciplines of chemistry, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering have entered the ranks of "world-class disciplines" construction. The College of Marxism has been selected as a national key Marxist college. Five disciplines have entered the top 1 ‰ globally in ESI, and engineering has entered the top 1 ‱ globally. Ranked 41st globally in the 2025 Nature Index.

The school aims to cultivate leading talents for practical application in the new era. There are currently over 41000 full-time students, including more than 23000 undergraduate students and over 17000 graduate students. There are two Education Ministry Top notch Students Training Program 2.0 bases and four national level experimental teaching demonstration centers. Received 16 national level teaching achievement awards in 2022, tied for 5th place nationwide. Won 4 awards for the first national textbook construction, selected for the "101" plan in the fields of chemistry, computer science, and artificial intelligence, and selected for the "14th Five Year Plan" higher education textbook system construction team in the strategic emerging fields of the Ministry of Education. Approved as a pilot for enrollment reform under the "Strong Foundation Plan", designated as a university for the construction of the National Excellent Engineering College, selected for the "National Excellent Plan", and approved as a national level characteristic demonstration software college and a national level first-class network space security college. 54 national first-class undergraduate major construction sites and 94 national first-class undergraduate courses have been selected. Selected as one of the first national level innovation and entrepreneurship college construction units, one of the first national demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform, and won 16 national level gold awards in innovation and entrepreneurship competitions such as the "China International College Student Innovation Competition" and "Challenge Cup" in the past five years. The school has established cooperative relationships with over 200 overseas universities and institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley and Nanyang Technological University.

There are currently 4270 faculty members in the school, including 2393 full-time teachers, 372 national high-level talents, 275 young talents, including 6 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering (full-time), and 5 national level teaching masters. We have 7 National Natural Science Foundation "Innovative Research Groups" projects, 1 first batch of philosophy and social science innovation team from the Ministry of Education, 1 innovation team from the National Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau, 14 national level teaching teams, and 4 Huang Danian style teacher teams from universities across the country.

The university has 7 national key laboratories (including co construction), 2 national engineering technology research centers, 1 National Engineering Research Center, 1 national energy R&D and innovation platform, 2 national level international cooperation bases, 1 national defense key discipline laboratory, 1 integrated research platform of the Ministry of Education, 1 philosophy and social science laboratory of the Ministry of Education, 13 key laboratories and engineering research centers of the Ministry of Education, 6 discipline innovation and talent introduction bases of colleges and universities of the Ministry of Education, and 1 key laboratory of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Since 2019, we have led the way in winning 12 National Science and Technology Awards (including 4 National Science and Technology Awards in 2024, including 1 first prize for technological invention, ranking 7th among first-class university construction universities), and 23 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards from the Ministry of Education (including 1 first prize). We have developed the first set of technologies including ultra-low frequency underwater acoustic radar technology and equipment, eddy current dampers, gas dynamic pressure bearing technology, large-scale permanent magnet wind turbines, and three-dimensional five axis linkage laser processing equipment. There is a national level university science and technology park, which has been approved as one of the first batch of science and technology transfer bases for higher education institutions by the Ministry of Education, and a national intellectual property demonstration university. The National Supercomputing Changsha Center for School Operation and Management is the third national supercomputing center, and the computing power level of Tianhe's new generation supercomputer system is internationally advanced and domestically leading.

The school currently has two campuses, the South Campus and the Finance College Campus, covering an area of 1.5433 million square meters (2315 acres). The Science and Technology Innovation Port campus, currently under construction, covers an area of approximately 1.067 million square meters (1600 acres). The first phase of construction will be put into use on the occasion of Hunan University's 100th anniversary in 2026, providing strong momentum for the high-quality development of the university.

(As of January 2026)