Nanjing Normal University
Nanjing Normal University is a provincial public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Jiangsu, and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the provincial government. The university is part of the Double First-Class Construction and Project 211.
As of 2020, NNU has three campuses in Nanjing, namely Xianlin, Suiyuan, and Zijin. It consists of 28 colleges and schools with an enrollment of 18,369 undergraduates and 12,564 graduate students, including 1,525 doctoral candidates.
History
The history of Nanjing Normal University can be traced to 1902 with the establishment of Sanjiang Normal School. Sanjiang refers to a historical province in Qing dynasty that roughly covers three provinces in contemporary China: Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Anhui. The college evolved into Liangjiang Advanced Normal School, National Nanjing Higher Normal School, National Southeastern University, National 4th Sun Yat-sen University, National Jiangsu University, National Central University, and Nanjing University in the following decades.The other origin of Nanjing Normal University is the University of Nanking which was established in 1888 as Nanking Academy and developed into Private University of Nanking in 1910. It was the first institution in China officially named "university" in English and was registered with the New York State Education Department. In 1951, Private University of Nanking and Private Ginling College, were integrated into the National University of Nanking.
In 1952, as a result of the nationwide reorganization of higher education, some schools and departments of Nanjing University and University of Nanking were separated and merged to establish Nanjing Normal College, which was set up on the former site of Ginling College. The college then exchanged several academic faculties and departments with Soochow University in Jiangsu Province, establishing a more robust discipline system for both institutions. In 1984, Nanjing Normal College was renamed Nanjing Normal University. In 1996, it became one of the first group of universities designated by the Ministry of Education of China in the list of former Project 211 for National Key Universities. In 2000, Nanjing Polytechnic of Power Engineering, a national polytechnic institute governed by the Ministry of Chemical Industry at the time, was incorporated into the university. It is included in the Double First-Class Construction.
Campus
Nanjing Normal University has three campuses throughout the urban and suburban areas of Nanjing, China. Nanjing was named among the best student cities in the world for studying abroad by Quacquarelli Symonds in 2019. It is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China and the current capital of Jiangsu Province.Suiyuan (original campus)
Suiyuan Campus is the historical site of the former Ginling College and has been designated as a "Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level" of China. It is home to a number of classical Chinese buildings.Xianlin (Main Campus)
Xianlin Campus , located in Xianlin University City, is the main campus of Nanjing Normal University. Established in 2001, it is the newest and largest campus. It occupies an area of 346.7 hectares and is divided into four parts, east, west, north and south, having the majority of undergraduate students study here. The main library in the center of the campus, subsidized by Zhu Jingwen, is the largest single building library in Jiangsu Province.Zijin (Polytechinical Campus)
Zijin Campus is the site of the former Nanjing Polytechnic of Power Engineering, which merged into Nanjing Normal University in 2000. It was the home of NNU's School of Electrical and Automation Engineering and School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, which moved to the expanded Xianlin Campus in 2019.Academics
Since it turned into an independent school from the teachers college of Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University has become a research university for arts and sciences in China with a number of top-ranked subjects. According to the academic subjects evaluation held by the Ministry of Education in 2012, NNU ranked 3rd in education/pedagogy, 6th in geography, 6th in Marxism studies, 7th in foreign languages and literatures, 9th in psychology, 9th in fine arts, and 13th for law and legal studies.Colleges and schools
As of 2020, there are 28 colleges and schools, including:- Ginling College
- Honors College
- School of Teacher Education
- International College for Chinese Studies
- School of Public Administration
- School of Business
- School of Law
- School of Marxism
- School of Education Science
- School of Psychology
- School of Sports Science and Physical Education
- School of Chinese Language and Literature
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures
- School of Journalism and Communication
- School of Social Development
- *Social Development Academy
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- School of Physics and Technology
- School of Chemistry and Materials Science
- School of Geography
- School of Life Sciences
- School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering
- School of Electrical Engineering and Automation
- School of Computer Science and Electronic Information/School of Artificial Intelligence
- School of Environment
- School of Marine Science and Engineering
- School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering
- School of Music
- School of Fine Art
Majors and programs
As of 2020, NNU has 29 undergraduate programs that are officially designated by the Ministry of Education of China as "National First-class Undergraduate Programs", including:
| School | Undergraduate Program |
| School of Public Administration | Philosophy |
| School of Public Administration | Public Administration |
| School of Business | Business Administration |
| School of Business | International Economics and Trade |
| School of Law | Law |
| School of Marxism | Ideological and Political Education |
| School of Education Science | Early Child Education |
| School of Education Science | Elementary Education |
| School of Education Science | Educational Technology |
| School of Psychology | Applied Psychology |
| School of Sports Science and Physical Education | Physical Education |
| School of Sports Science and Physical Education | Sports Management |
| School of Chinese Language and Literature | Chinese Language and Literature |
| School of Foreign Languages and Cultures | English |
| School of Foreign Languages and Cultures | Russian |
| School of Journalism and Communication | Journalism |
| School of Journalism and Communication | Broadcast and Television Directing |
| School of Mathematical Sciences | Mathematics and Applied Mathematics |
| School of Mathematical Sciences | Statistics |
| School of Physics and Technology | Physics |
| School of Chemistry and Materials Science | Chemistry |
| School of Geography | Geographic Information Science |
| School of Geography | Physical Geography and Environmental Resources |
| School of Geography | Tourism Management |
| School of Life Sciences | Biology |
| School of Electrical Engineering and Automation | Electrical Engineering and Automation |
| School of Computer Science | Computer Science and Engineering |
| School of Music | Musicology |
| School of Fine Art | Fine Art |
| School of Fine Art | Chinese Painting |
Research
In recent years, NNU has achieved 32 Key Projects from the National Social Science Fund of China, 7 Philosophy and Social Sciences Key Research Projects from the Ministry of Education, 2 National Science and Technology Support Projects, 4 projects funded by the 973 Program, 1 project funded by the 863 Program, and 28 Key Projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.NNU has signed a cooperative agreement with the Nanjing Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Purple Mountain Observatory, CAS to strengthen cooperation in the frontiers of earth and space science, exchange of faculty and personnel, and joint training of graduate students. On July 4, 2021, the asteroid number 216446, discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory, was named "NNU Star" with the approval of the Small Bodies Naming Committee of the International Astronomical Union.
Rankings
The 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Nanjing Normal University within the range of 401–500 globally.The 2021 Chinese University Ranking ranked the university 41st comprehensively and 20th for humanities and social sciences, right behind such schools as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and China University of Political Science and Law and ahead of such schools as Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Jinan University and Xi'an Jiaotong University.
By September 2021, NNU has been listed among the world's top 1% in 10 academic disciplines by ESI, one of the world's most influential indicators of academic capacity. The 10 disciplines include:
- Chemistry
- Engineering
- Agricultural Sciences
- Materials Science
- Environment/Ecology
- Plant & Animal Science
- Geosciences
- Mathematics
- Social Sciences, General
- Computer Science