Fudan University

About Fudan University

Fudan University (simplified Chinese: 复旦大学; traditional Chinese: 復旦大學; pinyin: Fùdàn Dàxué), located in Shanghai, China, is one of the most prestigious and selective universities in China; It is consistently ranked in the world's top 100 most academic universities. It is also a member in the C9 League and Universitas 21. Its institutional predecessor was founded in 1905, shortly before the end of China's imperial Qing dynasty. Fudan is now composed of four campuses, including Handan (邯郸), Fenglin (枫林), Zhangjiang (张江), and Jiangwan (江湾).

Fudan University comprises 17 full-time schools, 69 departments, 73 bachelor's degree programs, 22 disciplines and 134 sub-disciplines authorized to confer Ph.D. degrees, 201 master's degree programs, 6 professional degree programs, 7 key social science research centers of Ministry of Education P.R.C, 9 national basic science research and training institutes and 25 post-doctoral research stations. It has 40 national key disciplines granted by the Ministry of Education, nationally third. At present, it has 77 research institutes, 112 cross-disciplinary research institutes and 5 national key laboratories.

The Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA) is an independent subsidiary of Fudan University.

Fudan University has 10 teaching hospitals, such as Zhongshan Hospital and Huashan Hospital, integrating medical service, medicine education and research. These hospitals have state-of-the-art equipment and sophisticated technology, over 900 highly qualified staff, creating a good environment for medical education.

Fudan University has an "International Student's Dormitory", a building reserved as living quarters for any students from countries other than China studying either degree or non-degree programs. Notable alumni include Jennifer Chu and Audrey Lamsam of Arcadia, California, who started a nonprofit organisation called "Food4Me" in 2012. This organisation first stemmed from their studies as non-degree Chinese students at the university.

• School of Philosophy

• College of Foreign Languages and Literature

  One of the oldest colleges atFudan University,the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures evolved from itspredecessor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, founded over a hundred years ago at the beginning of the university.

  • Department of English Language and Literature
  • Department of French Language and Literature
  • Department of German Language and Literature
  • Department of Japanese Language and Literature
  • Department of Russian Language and Literature
  • Department of Korean Language and Literature
  • Department of Translation and Interpretation.

• Law School

  As a classic discipline of social sciences with a profound history and lasting vigor, law is the learning of rules and rights, of administration and fairness, and more importantly, of governance and justice. In A.D. 1088, the birth of the world’s first law school in Bologna heralded a new era when few institution could be named a “university” without the subject of law or law school.

  As a part of the academic ecological environment of Fudan University, the Law School has constantly recruited outstanding legal scholars. There are not only practice-oriented mentors who have made extraordinary services for the country and society, but also research-oriented educators who are highly inspirational and experienced in teaching. In the era of globalization, with increasing emphasis on the rule of law, Shanghai has accelerated its construction of “the three centers of international finance, trade and shipping”, bringing Fudan Law School enormous opportunities of transformation and development. In the context of internationalization of legal education, of interdisciplinary integration extending to legal research of professions, of the functional identification of legal think tank, and of the shift of research focus from legislation to judicial process, Fudan Law School constantly develops each member’s career prospects, and recruits talents of domestic and overseas, creating new starting points, new pattern and new ecology of Fudan legal studies.

• School of International Relations and Public Affairs

  The School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA) at Fudan University could trace its history back to the Department of Political Science first established in 1923. In 1964, the Department of International Politics was set up as one of the three earliest founded departments in the field in China. The department started with one major – International Politics – which focused on the domestic politics and external relations of developed countries.

  At present, the school offers two national key disciplines, one State innovative institute for philosophy and social sciences, two postdoctoral research stations, two doctoral programs for First-level disciplines, six doctoral programs for Second-level Disciplines, two self-established programs, seven master’s programs, one professional master’s program (MPA) and four undergraduate programs.

• School of Journalism

• School of Economics

  The school’s faculty and staff totals 173, including 50 professors and 49 associate professors. The school is among the leading institutions of economics education and research in China thanks to its faculty which is composed of famous senior economists, influential academic pacesetters and young scholars of rising prominence.

  The school offers 2 post-doctoral programs of theoretical and applied economics, 9 PhD tracks, 12 Master tracks and 5 undergraduate programs. The Level-1 Discipline of Theoretical Economics, two Level-2 Disciplines of Finance and Industrial Economics at the school are Key National Disciplines supported by the “Project 211”.    

  The school regularly exchanges research materials with foreign academic institutions and the reference library at the Center for European Studies was the first of its kind the EU has established in China. The World Economic Papers (Bimonthly) published by the school is a national top journal of economics. In addition, scholars from home and abroad are frequently invited to visit the school to give lectures on various platforms such as the Fudan Economics Forum and the Jiang Xuemo Economics Lectures.

• School of Management

  As China’s first higher education institution to establish the educational system of Business Administration, the century-old Fudan University created the business discipline in as early as 1917, and later set up the School of Business in 1929. But it had to suspend the education of management in the 1952, when new waves of restructuring hit all the universities and colleges nationwide. After the country started to implement reform and open-up policies, Fudan University took the lead to resume the education of management, started to enroll undergraduates for Management Science in 1977, established Department of Management Science in 1979 and restored the School of Management in 1985.

  After more than two decades of development and expansion, now the School has eight departments and 20 cross-discipline research centers/institutes. Industrial economics is a national key discipline, and management science and engineering is a key national discipline (to be fostered) and a key discipline of Shanghai.

• School of Social Development and Public Policy

  Founded in 2004, the School of Social Development and Public Policy (SSDPP) is one of the most energetic and international schools in Fudan University. 

  The school has more than 60 full-time faculty members and  800 undergraduate and graduate students 10% percent of our students come from other countries such as United States, Canada, England, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Brazil and Mexico.

  • Department of Sociology
  • Department of Social Work
  • Department of Psychology
  • Department of Social Management and Social Policy

• School of Mathematical Sciences

  The School of Mathematical Science (SMS) of Fudan University, one of the most distinguished and active institutions of mathematics in China, was founded by consolidating the Department of Mathematics of Fudan University and the Institute of Mathematics of Fudan University in 2005. The SMS consists of five Departments, i.e.,Departments of Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Information & Computing Sciences, Mathematical Finance & Control Theory, and Probability, Statistics & Actuarial Sciences, and the Institute of Mathematics. Now, the SMS has approximately 100 permanent faculty members, among which 48 are professors and 40 are associate professors with broad research interests in the major fields of contemporary pure and applied mathematics. The SMS is proud of having four academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences: HU Hesheng, LI Daqian, HONG Jiaxing, and CHEN Shuxing. In addition, the SMS has two educational systems: one is the postgraduate program with about 350 postgraduate students, and the other is the undergraduate program with over 750 undergraduate students. The SMS also established a postdoctoral research station with about 20 positions of postdoctoral research fellow.

• School of Computer Science

  The School of Computer Science at Fudan University was founded in 2008. The school was established on the long tradition of Computer Science research and education since the building of the first analog computer in the nation in 1956 and the founding of the Department of Computer Science in 1975.

  Following the tradition of high academic standards of Fudan University and building on the academic strengths of a multi-disciplinary and comprehensive university, the School of Computer Science engages in cutting edge research at the forefront of Computer Science at a high international level, serving the national strategic demand for top-class education, research and economic development.

  The School’s enthusiastic excellent teaching and scientific research team consists of 157 staff including 115 full-time teachers, 22 full professors (all are PhD supervisors), 46 associate professors, and 16 researchers.

  The School has established a full teaching program covering all levels from undergraduates to doctoral students. The School offers degrees in Computer Science and Technology, Information Security, and Software Engineering, a full-time professional degree for Master of Engineering in Computer Technology & Software Engineering, and part-time professional degrees for Master of Engineering in Computer Technology and Software Engineering. The school also provides basic computer science courses for students from other schools in our university. In addition, the school’s teaching lab has been honored as a Shanghai Experimental Teaching Center as well as the National Demonstrative Experimental Computer Science Center.

  In recent years, the faculty of the School undertook a large number of projects in their respective areas or in multi-disciplinary collaboration endeavors and made some influential scientific achievements. In addition, the teachers and students of the School annually publish papers at many international top-level conferences and journals.

• School of Software Engineering

• School of Microelectronics

• School of Life Sciences

  The School of Life Sciences at Fudan University (SLSFU) was established by the late Professor Jiazhen Tan (C.C. Tan) in 1986, by combining the Department of Biology, which was founded in 1926, and the Institute of Genetics. It was the first School of Life Sciences established in Chinese universities. It has been one of the most well-known Chinese institutions for promoting biological research and for nurturing both researchers and educators who devote themselves to the field of life sciences and technologies. Its current Dean is Professor Hong Ma.

  The SLSFU is organized in three parallel structures: departments, research institutes/centers, and key laboratories. The SLSFU consists of five departments: Department of Biochemistry, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Department of Microbiology and Microbial Engineering, and Department of Physiology and Biophysics. In addition, there are six research institutes (or research centers): Institute of Biodiversities, Institute of Developmental Biology and Molecular Medicine, Institute of Genetics, Institute of Plant Biology, Center for Biotechnology, and Center for Evolutionary Biology. Moreover, the SLSFU has a nationally funded “State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering” and two key laboratories supported by the Ministry of Education: the Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering and the Key Laboratory of Contemporary Human Biology.

• School of Basic Medicine

  School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, as a national base for medical education, was established as Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai First Medical College in April, 1955. In 2007, the discipline of basic medical sciences was formally listed in the first batch of the first-level key disciplines in China; in 2008, ranked one of the top two in the discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education; and in 2012, selected for further construction as one of the first-level key disciplines (Type A) in Shanghai.  

  • Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology
  • Department of Cytology and Genetic Medicine
  • Department of Systems Biology for Medicine
  • Department of Pathology
  • Department of Immunology
  • Department of Human Anatomy and Histoembryology
  • Department of Pathology
  • Department of Forensic Medicine
  • Department of Neurobiology 
  • Department of Pharmacology
  • Department of Integrative Medicine and Neurobiology

• School of Pharmacy

• School of Public Health

• School of Nursing

• School of International Cultural Exchange

• School of Continuing Education

History of Fudan University

Fudan, formerly romanized as Fuh Tan, was initially known as Fudan Public School in 1905. The two Chinese characters Fu (复) and Dan (旦), literally meaning "(heavenly light shines) day after day", were chosen by the distinguished educator in modern Chinese history, Father Ma Xiangbo S.J., from the Confucian Classic Shangshu Dazhuan (Chinese: 尚书大传): "Itinerant as the twilight, sun glows and moon luminesces" (Chinese: 日月光华，旦复旦兮). In 1911 during the Xinhai Revolution the college was taken up as the headquarters of the Guangfu Army and closed down for almost one year. The university motto comes from Analects Book 19.6 (Chinese: 博学而笃志,切问而近思), which means "to learn extensively and adhere to aspirations, to inquire earnestly and reflect with self application".

In 1917, Fudan Public School became a private university named the Private Fudan University, and also had a middle school and university-preparatory school. In 1929, Fudan adjusted its departments, expanded to include the Journalism Department, Municipals Department, Law Department and Education Department, totalling 17 departments devoted to Arts, Science, Law and Business.

After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Fudan moved with the Kuomintang government to the inland city of Beibei, Chongqing, the wartime Chinese capital. On December 25, 1941, the First Meeting of Fifth Conference of the Highest Executive Authority of the National Government of the Republic of China voted to change Fudan University (Chongqing) to a public university with Wu Nanxuan as its president. Fudan University then became National Fudan University. After the end of World War II, it moved back toShanghai.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Fudan lost its "National" appellation and became Fudan University to reflect the fact that all universities under the new socialist state would be public. Fudan was the first university to be adjusted by the new government in 1952 and modelled on Soviet education. The original departments were changed, and Arts and Science departments from at least ten other universities in eastern China were added. This not only added to basic academic offerings of Fudan, but also gathered many talented academics from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai, including Su Buqing, Chen Jiangong, Tan Jiazhen, and Lu Hefu.

In the 1970s, after the Cultural Revolution, the university was changed to a modern, comprehensive-style university.

Fudan University and Shanghai Medical University were merged on April 27, 2000.

Accreditation

Institutional Accreditation or Recognition - Shanghai Municipal Education Commission

Rankings

• The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016 placed Fudan 201-250th in the world.
• The QS World University Rankings (2015/16) considered it 51st worldwide while it was 16th and 3rd in the independent regional QS Asian University Rankings (2015) and QS BRICS University Rankings (2015) respectively.
• ARWU (2015) put it at a position among 151-200th globally. It is among the top five universities in mainland China in all of the above league tables.
• The QS subject ranking in politics and international relations for 2015 ranked Fudan's School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA) 40th in the world.
• In the 2015 U.S. News Inaugural Global University Ranking, Fudan University ranks tops three in China and #96 in the world

Student life at Fudan University

Fudan University is widely known for its campus culture of freedom, rich variety, and forward progress. Its campus culture is expressed in many dimensions, such as its outstanding school spirit, its rich academic flavor, its ideology of free discussion, the many independent choices available, its open and accepting attitude, as well as many elements of content, such as its more than 2000 lectures and forums per year, several tens of athletic competitions, more than a hundred artistic performances and cultural exhibits, over 310 student clubs, almost 500 social events, extracurricular academic creations by almost a thousand students, over ten thousand instances of volunteerism, etc. The school culture is like soil and air, nourishing generation after generation of the Fudan community. Fudan students, teachers, and alumni consciously protect and cultivate it through extensive participation and experience. This is why the school tradition is carried on, and it is how the Fudan spirit is carried forward—it goes beyond the campus, and influences society. In this process of shared ownership, shared construction, and shared use, an inherent character was gradually cultivated in the Fudan community, consisting of an idealistic mood, social responsibility, and a rational spirit.

Fudan University Cultural Development Committee

In 2006, the school formally established the Cultural Development Committee and the Cultural Development Specialist Advisory Committee, becoming one of the first universities in China to establish a special agency for cultural development. The committee’s function is to formulate a plan for the development of campus culture, determine matters of importance for development of campus culture, and approving important cultural development projects. The office of the committee secretary is within the school’s culture office.  In 2006 and 2012, with the support of members of the board of trustees, the school set up a Zhongkai Cultural Development Fund, which was used for continuing campus culture activities. 

Fudan University Student Union

The Fudan University Student Union is an organization consisting of formally registered Fudan University full-time undergraduate and specialty students. The “Rules and Regulations of the Fudan University Student Union” are based on the “Rules and Regulations of the Chinese National Student Federation”, and define the official powers of each constituent of the student union based on the principles of democratic centralism, aimed at establishing a democratized, standardized, effective organization. Students are the principal force behind campus culture, and the student union and its organizational elements play a pivotal role.

Student clubs and “Hundred Club Battles”

Student clubs play a decisive role in Fudan’s campus culture. Fudan’s student clubs have a long history and broad influence. The Fudan Opera Troupe was established in 1925, becoming Fudan’s first student club. The Painting and Calligraphy Society was founded in 1978, opening a brand new chapter in Fudan’s flourishing culture of student clubs.

There are currently 310 student clubs of all types, including 260 undergraduate organizations, 30 graduate student clubs, and 19 international student clubs. Undergraduate student clubs are further divided into 18 categories: skill enhancement, media, electrical, hobbies, management, scientific research, humanities, politics, music, dance, theater, ball sports, chess and card games, fitness, outdoor activities, public welfare, tutoring, international exchange. Graduate student clubs are divided into three categories: academic, practical, and culture and entertainment.

The student clubs have already become the driver of campus culture and the trendsetter of the university. They hold on average more than 2000 events every semester, including a number of hallmark activities with character, connotations, and influence, such as Fudan People’s Day, New Student Day, Student Club Day, Academic Culture Day, etc. Students jokingly refer to campus activities with a large participation from student clubs as a “Hundred Club Battle.”