Founded in 1909 and located in Lanzhou, the capital
city of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University is one of the
key universities under Ministry of Education, China.
Currently, it houses 23 schools: School of Chinese
Language and Literature, School of Journalism and
Communication, School of History and Culture, School of
Economics, School of Management, School of Philosophy
and Sociology, School of Foreign Languages and
Literature, School of Law, School of Politics and
Administration, School of Arts, School of Education,
School of Mathematics and Statistics, School of
Information Science and Engineering, School of Physical
Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering, School of Life Science, School of Resources
and Environment, School of Pastoral Agriculture Science
and Technology, School of Atmospheric Science, School of
Continuing Education, School of Network Education,
School of Higher Vocational Education, School of
International Cultural Exchange.
There are 6 National Bases for the Training of
Researching and Teaching personnel for Fundamental
Disciplines. The University operates an additional 35
institutes along with 1 national key Laboratory of the
Applied Organic and 3 key laboratories of Arid and
Grassland Ecology, West China Environment, Magnetism and
Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, a key
laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystem of the Ministry
of Agriculture.
In 1981, Lanzhou University became one of the first
universities entitled to enroll Bachelor, Master’s and
Doctoral degree candidates; it was also authorized to
set up postdoctoral research programs in Physics,
Chemistry and Biology. The undergraduate degree program
consists of four years of study, while postgraduate and
doctoral candidates complete their studies from between
2 and 3 years. In total, the University provides
education for over 36, 400 students, among whom there
are nearly 12,000 formal undergraduate students.
By placing emphasis on basic theoretical research,
Lanzhou University has made great achievements in the
fields of Organic Chemistry, Cell Biology, Theoretical
Physics, Nuclear Physics and Technology, Magnetics,
Plant Physiology, Ecology, Basic Mathematics, Mechanics,
Natural Geography, Synoptic Dynamics, Inorganic
Chemistry, Analytic Chemistry, and others. According to
statistics provided by the Scientific Citation Index
(SCI) and the Index Scientific Research (ISR), Lanzhou
University is one of the top ten universities in
contributions to academic publications in international
journals frequently cited by ongoing research from
around the world. Specifically, in 1992 and 1993, the
university ranked third nationally in contributions to
academic publications and sixth place in journal
citations, thus bringing international attention to the
university from academic societies worldwide. In the
last decade the University has emphasized studies in the
special characteristics and problems of China’s
Northwestern Provinces in the fields of Customs,
Economy, Society, Science and Culture, Dunhuang Studies,
Northwestern History and Geography, Population,
Geological Engineering, Glaciation, Plateau Atmosphere,
Plant Physiology and Arid Ecology. The importance of
these studies has brought high recognition and praise
from the Central Government.
At the conference on Asian Higher Education held in
Manila, Philippines in 1993, 100 universities were cited
for their academic excellence; Lanzhou University ranks
sixth among the 26 universities selected from China. In
1995, 13 Chinese universities were selected as the most
Prominent universities in China and, once again, Lanzhou
University ranked sixth in this category. All of these
achievements help make Lanzhou University well-known at
home and abroad.
Lanzhou University is active in developing international
education exchange and cooperation through the
international exchange of post-graduate students,
visiting scholars and scientific research cooperation
with universities and organizations in more than 30
foreign countries and regions including USA, Japan, UK,
France, Germany, Australia, Canada, Russia, Kong Kong
and many others.
The current President of Lanzhou University is Professor
Zhou Xuhong.
