East China Normal University
East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. John's College founded in 1879. Established as a normal school, it had an original mission to train teachers for secondary and higher education, but soon housed top-class researchers and developed into an elite research-intensive university. At of 2020, ECNU is organized into 22 schools, colleges, and institutes, located in two campuses throughout Minhang  and Putuo. The university comprises 2 affiliated schools across the Shanghai metropolitan area: NYU Shanghai in Pudong, Asia-Europe Business School in Zizhu International Education Park. It also maintains a National Forest Ecosystem Observation and Research Station in Tiantong National Forest Park, Ningbo. ECNU is designated by the Ministry of Education of China as a Class A Double First Class University. It is often considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in China and is internationally recognized. Sponsored by the national program “Double First Class University Plan”, "Project 211" and "Project 985", the university is a frontrunner in  the nation's research and innovation, and has been dubbed as the "Columbia of the East". The university also has strong ties with the China Meteorological Administration, State Oceanic Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. East China Normal University (ECNU) consistently features in the global top 400 research universities according to some of the most cited international university rankings such as ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking. History. Origins. East China Normal University traces its roots to the formation of the  St. John's College (later to become St. John's University) in 1879, and its heritage has had a deep influence in the development of Chinese modern higher education. In 1879, St. John's College was founded by William Jones Boone and Joseph Schereschewsky, Bishop of Shanghai, by combining two pre-existing Anglican colleges in Shanghai. In 1905, the College became St. John's University and was registered in Washington D.C. in the United States. It was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees in China, starting in 1907. After the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, some academics and  students left the St. John's University, later forming the private Kwang Hua University to support the labor and anti-imperialist movement during the middle period of the Republic of China era. In 1924, after a student protest at the Xiamen University in Fujian some academics fled north to Shanghai, where they established what became the Great China University (also known as Daxia University). Establishment of the university. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, East China Normal University was officially formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University and the Kwang Hua University , and was joined at the same time by a number of faculty members from Fudan University, Tongji University, University of Shanghai and East China PE Academy, making it the first national teacher training university of the People's Republic of China. This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool these institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity, cultivate talents with professional knowledge and promote the development of education in the country. In the 1950s, the Chinese government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet-style system. Under this  policy, most of faculties from Saint John's University, Zhejiang University, University of Shanghai, Utopia University, Aurora University were incorporated into ECNU to form a comprehensive multi-disciplinary university. Some of the academics at the Tongji University and Jiaotong University were also transferred to ECNU. In March 1959, ECNU was authenticated as one of the first 16 National Key Universities in China, and this status was reaffirmed in 1978. From 1972 to 1980 (during the Cultural Revolution in mainland China), five schools including ECNU were merged to create Shanghai Normal University, and in 1980 its original name was resumed. 1980  to present. In June 1986, ECNU was selected to be one of the first 33 higher education institutions authorized, by the State Council, to establish their graduate schools. In 1996, ECNU passed the prerequisites appraisal and became one of universities sponsored by the major national program "Project 211". In 2006, the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Municipality signed into a partnership for co-sponsoring the development of the university, qualifying ECNU as a member of the "Project 985" and facilitating ECNU's efforts and progress toward a comprehensive, research-oriented and internationalized world-class university. ECNU is now under the  direct auspices of the Ministry of Education. The University sponsors or supervises publication of more than 20 academic journals and periodicals. The library collection exceeds 4,000,000 volumes. 25 primary or secondary schools are affiliated to the university. International partnerships. The university has established strategic cooperative partnership with universities such as École Normale Supérieure and its group in France, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University in USA, Tokyo University and Kobe University in Japan, and the University of Melbourne in Australia, the University of Warwick in the UK, etc. It has been carrying out academic exchanges with over 150 universities  and institutions of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, and Russia, etc. ECNU plays host to a CIEE satellite campus, where 100 American college students study each semester. The university also runs an Online College of the Chinese language in collaboration with the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL), which is the first of its kind to be established in the country with over 5,800 students in 137 countries and regions. In 2008, it set up the NOCFL Study and Training Base for International Chinese Teachers. Study China Programme. Along with  several other Chinese universities, East China Normal University has hosted the United Kingdom (UK) government-funded Study China Programme for a number of years. In this programme, students from UK institutions spend one to two summer months studying Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture at a university in China. The programme is organised by the University of Manchester and is fully funded by UK government bodies, such as the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Its purpose is to strengthen ties between UK university students and China, in particular as relatively few British students enroll in degrees in China. The programme  has increased relations between ECNU and numerous leading UK universities. Diplomats' Program. Sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, the Diplomats' Program has been organized by ECNU since 2011. In this program, consular officials from over 20 countries spend two months during summer studying at East China Normal University. Academics. At present the university is made up of 24 full-time schools and colleges, 2 unconventional colleges and 5 advanced research institutes, with 58 departments offering 79 undergraduate programs. The University also comprises 3 affiliated schools: NYU Shanghai, Asia-Europe Business School and ECNU-UNC School  of Sino-American Innovative Education. Advanced research institutes. The Software Engineering Institute is one of the 35 statewide pilot schools of software engineering granted by Ministry of Education in 2001; the International College of Chinese Studies is among the eight State Bases for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, certified by the Ministry of Education. ECNU is designated as one of the National Liberal Arts and Basic Sciences Training and Research Bases in its disciplines of Chinese, History, Mathematics, Geography, Psychology and Physics. ECNU's Business School was founded by the pioneer of China's Economics and Financing studies, Prof.  Chen Biao Ru. Hence, the Business School of ECNU inherited the good tradition and enjoys top reputation in the economic and financial circle in China. The Ministry of Education's Training Center for Secondary School Principals at ECNU is a state base for the training of secondary school principals in Mainland China and advanced studies of those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. ECNU is the only university in China designated as a national training center for elite secondary school principals and enjoys the reputation as the "Whampoa Military Academy" for secondary school principals. Research. The university is officially authorized  to offer programs: Key laboratories. It has two State Key Laboratories, one National Field Observation and Research Station, six Key Labs or Engineering Centers, and six Key Research Bases for Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education. ECNU is authorized to offer 112 doctoral programs covering 14 Primary Disciplines, 178 master's programs in six specialties, i.e., Education, Public Administration, Engineering, Physical Education and Business Administration, and to set up 14 post-doctoral mobile research stations. Faculty and staff. ECNU has a faculty body of over 4,000, among whom there are 2000 full-time teachers (including over 1,200  professors or associate professors), 14 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering (six of them are academicians of both academies), 11 members of the State Council Academic Appraisal Committee, eight specially hired professors or lecture professors for the Yangtze Scholar Award Program sponsored by the Ministry of Education, nine "state-level talents" chosen by the New-Century Talents Project, ten National Outstanding Youth Fund award winner, 80 specially hired professors or lecture professors for ECNU's Zijiang Scholar Award Program, and 105 tenured professors. Campus. With campuses in Minhang and Putuo District totalling an area  of over 220 hectares. North Zhongshan Road Campus (Putuo Campus). The previous main campus was located in the Putuo District of Shanghai, formerly a campus of the Great China University. The campus is an enclosed campus of gardens, lawns, and historic buildings interspersed with modern facilities, in a location in downtown Shanghai. The University also provides transportation by shuttle bus to its new Minhang Campus. The campus still houses a variety of scientific research institutions, such as State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research and State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy. The university's athletic facilities include an outdoor  track, outdoor basketball courts, indoor basketball courts, and indoor tennis and badminton courts. Minhang Campus. The Minhang new campus is located in the Minhang District on the outskirts of metropolitan Shanghai. Most administrative and academic framework of the university and the majority of undergraduate and graduate students are situated at this campus, which is accompanied by the Minhang Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Rankings and reputation. ECNU has always been ranked the top two or three among the mainland Chinese universities in Education and Training according to the most recent QS World University Rankings by Subjects and Academic Ranking  of World Universities by Subjects. In 2021, it was ranked 37th globally in the "Times Higher Education Rankings by Subjects" in "Education", which is historical strengths of the university as suggested in the name "Normal". Globally, East China Normal University is regarded as one of the most reputable Chinese universities by the "Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings" where it ranked 151-175th. Global University Rankings of ECNU: Admission. East China Normal University is a highly selective university that only accepts students with a National College Entrance Examination score at top 2%.