Beihang University

Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (referred to as “BUAA”) was founded in 1952, and it was formed by merging aeronautics departments of eight universities including Tsinghua University, Peiyang University, Xiamen University and Sichuan University, etc., and is New China’s first Aeronautics and Astronautics institution of higher education, and now it is affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Information. The school is divided into the campus on Xueyuan Road and Campus Shahe, covering an area of 3,000mu, with a total construction area of more than 1,500,000m2. Since the school was founded, BUAA has been a university under national key construction. It is one of the first batch of 16 key universities, as well as one of 22 first batch of universities with postgraduate schools set after academic degree system recovery in 1980s, and it is the first batch to enter into “Project 211”, “Project 985” in 2001, and in 2013 it is the first batch of “2011 Plan” national center for collaborative innovation. After 60 years’ construction and development, the school basically forms the core competitiveness of research-oriented university, its internal cohesion and influence in domestic and overseas have an obvious improvement, which ascends in the first phalanx of domestic high-level universities.

The school provides various disciplines, and characterized by teaching feature. The school now includes 27 colleges covering 10 disciplines: engineering, science, management, literature, law, economics, philosophy, education, medicine and arts. It has eight first-level discipline national key disciplines (tied for seventh national universities) 28 second-level discipline national key disciplines, 9 Beijing key disciplines, 28 defense characteristics key disciplines, and the disciplines ranking the nationwide top ten of total 13. It has 59 undergraduate program, 21 doctor degree authorization first-level disciplines, 38 master degree authorization first-level disciplines, 17 centers for post-doctoral studies. The university has formed comprehensive development and interactive high-level discipline development situation of “Preponderant Engineering, Solid Science, Fine Liberal Arts”, and it has obvious comparative advantages in disciplines such as aeronautics, astronautics, dynamic, information, material, instrument, manufacturing and management, etc., its main discipline of defense science and technology reaches national first-class level, four disciplines of engineering, material science, physics and chemistry enter into ESI, the fusion of aeronautics, astronautics and information is gradually becoming new features and core competitiveness of BUAA.

The school employs famous teachers and becomes outstanding because of these teachers. 3,759 faculties and staffs are on the job, including 2,102 full-time teachers, 1,668 professors and associate professors, 73.0% of teachers have doctorate degree. There are 17 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 16 hired experts of “Thousands of People Plan” from the Organization Department of the of the CPC Central Committee, 23 chief scientists of “973” plan, 41 professors of “Changjiang Scholars Program”, 31 obtainers of “National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars”, high-level talented persons represented by three national level teaching masters, etc.. There emerged lots of national first prize winners, domain experts and model chief engineers, as well as a large batch of young and promising experts and scholars with outstanding accomplishments.

The school cultivates talents and focuses on moral quality cultivation. There are 27,811 full-time school students including 14,428 undergraduate students, 8,700 postgraduate students, 4,015 doctoral candidates, 668 international students who are studying for a degree at school. BUAA was approved as the first batch of pilot unit for national professional engineering doctoral degree education in 2011. There emerged a large batch of science and technology innovation work from students represented by sounding rockets of “BUAA No.1”, “BUAA No.2” and “BUAA No.3”, the number of signed students who won national award of science and technology achievement is up to 51. There are 3 national level talent cultivation mode innovation experimental areas, 4 experimental teaching demonstration centers, 5 teaching teams, 11 featured program construction and 17 excellent courses, the educational pattern of “Talent Cultivation, Quality-Oriented, Cross-Disciplines, Science and Education Interaction” has basically formed.

The school has 7 national level key laboratories, 3 national level engineering research centers, 42 provincial and ministerial level key laboratories. Also has 4 Innovative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 11 Innovation Teams of Ministry of Education, 6 Defense-Related Science and Technology Innovation Teams. It is always in the leading domestic universities in the field of cutting-edge technology research, a variety of types of aircraft researched and successfully launched (test flight) fill several domestic blanks, such as China’s first light passenger aircraft “Beijing No.1”, Asian first sounding rocket “Beijing No.2”, China’s first pilotless aircraft “Beijing No.5”, “Bees” series of aircrafts and coaxial double rotor pilotless helicopter, etc.. Since “Tenth Five-year Plan”, BUAA has obtained 55 items of national three major science and technology awards, especially in recent years, has won eight awards of first prize of nation level science and technology within nine years.

The school is international-oriented and open for communication. Vigorously promote “Student Internationally Experience Program”, actively carries out the students exchange and mutual and united degree granting with the famous universities in the countries and regions such as Europe, North America, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, etc.. It has established long-term and stable cooperative relationship with nearly 200 famous institutions of higher education, first-class research institutions and well-known multinational companies, establishing a batch of high-end international cooperation platforms including “Sino-German Joint Software Research Institute”, “Sino-British Space Science And Technology Joint Laboratory”, “Sino-French Material Joint Laboratory” and “French Research Center”, etc.. It joined International Astronautical Federation, “Sino-European Elite Universities Alliance”, “Sino-Spain Universities Alliance”, “Sino-Russian Engineering Universities Alliance” and other international alliance and academic organizations. Sino-French Engineer School of BUAA has been a successful model for nationwide universities carrying out Sino-foreign cooperative education. In 2011, the school is approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information to establish independent authority to examine and approve foreign affairs.