Jilin University is located at Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province. It is one of the key extensive research universities under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE). In 1995, it passed the preliminary assessment for the “211 Project” launched by the State Education Commission, being one of the first batch. In 2001 it became a key university supported by the state 985 Project. Presently, the Chairman of the University Council is Prof. ZHANG Wenxian, a renowned expert in jurisprudence. The university President is Prof. ZHOU Qifeng, a famous chemist and Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The present Jilin University was founded on June 12th, 2000 as a merger of five universities: the former JLU, the Jilin University of Technology, the Bethune Medical University, the Changchun University of Science and Technology and the Changchun College of Posts and Communications. On August 29th of 2004, the former University of Military Logistics joined hands with JLU as a new member of the merger. Each of the six has its own glorious past.
JLU offers disciplines that cover all of the twelve academic categories. Presently, the University has 124 undergraduate programs, 28 state-authorized first-level disciplines, 278 master’s programs, 191 doctoral programs, and 27 post-doc programs. There are 17 state key disciplines.
The number of faculty members totals 5937, including 19 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) or Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), 7 of them being concurrently employed 1325 full professors, and 737 doctoral advisors. This dedicated education community is committed to excellence in teaching and research.
The university has 190 laboratories and research centers, all equipped with leading-edge facilities. Among them are 6 State Education Ministry Key Research Centers for the Study of Humanity and Social Sciences, 5 Innovation Bases for Philosophy and Social Sciences supported by the second phase of “985 Project”, 8 Science and Technology Innovation Platforms funded also by the second phase of “985 Project”, 5 State key laboratories, 9 Education Ministry key laboratories, and 13 key laboratories sponsored by other ministries or state commissions.
JLU is one of the first 22 universities approved to set up graduate school, and is now offering an inclusive coverage of academic programs, ranging from bachelors, master’s, to doctoral degrees, thus forming a complete system for the education of high quality and top-level professionals. The current full time enrollment is 63,432, with 19,679 graduate students and 852 international students. In addition, there are 15,967 students pursuing adult continuation education.
Jilin University has established worldwide exchange and cooperation ties with more than 130 universities/colleges and research institutes from more than 40 countries/districts, including USA, Germany, South Korea and others.
The University Science and Technology Park has been recognized as a state park wherein university-run industries are booming.
The total campus area is about 6.61 million sq. m., with a floor space of nearly 3.4 million sq. m. The campus is divided into 8 sub-campuses in 6 districts, scattered in different parts of the city Optic fiber cables connect all the computers into one giant Campus Area Network, making online office automation and distance education easy jobs. The University has setup a new campus down south in the city of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, occupying an area of about 3.3 million sq. m. The first phase construction reports a floor space of 125,000 sq. m. The University Library claims a collection of 5.51 million books; it is designated to be a library of UNESCO, UNIDO and the World Bank. It is also designated by the Education Ministry to serve in Northeast China as one of the seven centers of the China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS).
In respects of campus area, enrollment, investment, and others, JLU is presently the largest university in China, showing broad prospects for education, research, faculty training and academic development. By the end of 2005, the 12th Assembly of University Council was held and the Jilin University Constitution was successfully passed. The assembly also made it clear that our strategy of development is “to strengthen the university through recruiting talents, to improve the university through the building of high quality academic disciplines, to administer the university according to law and to run the university in thrifty and industrious ways.” Our goal is that by 2010 the overall academic level should be among the nation’s most advanced, and the key disciplines should be the foremost in our country while some of them should be internationally well known. The university is going to be an important national base for the education of elite professionals, for the industrialization of high-tech research results, and a think tank for providing influential consultancy to the top level. We are full of confidence to realize these goals and become a nationally leading and internationally renowned top-tier research university.