Wuhan University

Overview

Wuhan University (WHU) is a research university based in the city of Wuhan in Hubei, People's Republic of China. WHU is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, having been classified by the Chinese Ministry of Education as a "Class A Double First Class University."

WHU currently offers over 220 programs at the undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and PhD programs through its Faculties of Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, Sciences, Information Sciences, and Medical Sciences. The university has been recognized for the strength of its science programs, ranking globally for the subjects of civil engineering, chemical engineering, energy and fuels, chemistry, geosciences, and materials science. In addition to these programs, the university offers courses in disciplines considered in China as "Double World Class''; these disciplines include theoretical economics, law, Marxist theory, biology, library intelligence and data science, and surveying and mapping.

Students at WHU also have the option to study at at the Hongyi Honor College of Wuhan University, an interdisciplinary college with a liberal curriculum. Aside from these programs, WHU offers various study-abroad programs through its associations and joint programs with universities around the world, including universities in Germany, France, Dublin, England, Scotland, and the United States.

Wuhan University traces its roots to Ziqiang Institute, a school founded in 1893 by the governor of the provinces of Hubei and Hunan during the late Qing Dynasty. After several name changes, the institute became Wuhan National University in 1928, one of the first comprehensive national universities in modern China. The university had assumed its current name by 1949. In 2000, Wuhan University was reestablished as a result of a merger of four major universities in the area: the Hubei Medical University, the Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electrical Engineering, and the Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping.

Aside from being one of the oldest universities in modern China, Wuhan University has also gained recognition as a leading research university in the country. The university is affiliated with numerous academicians from the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering. WHU is also home to several key state laboratories as well as laboratories and research centers at the level of China's Ministry of Education. Moreover, a number of institutes at WHU also facilitate interdisciplinary research.

The university also collaborates with several overseas universities, working on more than 10 international joint research platforms. These research platforms explore fields of study such as geospatial information science and nano-optics.