Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University (abbreviated THU; Chinese: 清华大学, pinyin: Qīnghuá Dàxué) is a research university located in Beijing, China, and one of the nine members in the elite C9 League of universities. Tsinghua was established in 1911 as "Tsinghua College," and renamed "Tsinghua School" in 1912 and "National Tsinghua University" in 1928. With its motto ofSelf-Discipline and Social Commitment, Tsinghua University describes itself as being dedicated to academic excellence, the well-being of Chinese society and to global development. With strong research and training, Tsinghua University is consistently ranked as one of the top academic institutions in China, alongside Peking University.

In the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion, American Secretary of State John Hay suggested that the US $30 million plus Boxer indemnity paid by China to the United States was excessive. After much negotiation with ambassador Liang Cheng, President Theodore Roosevelt obtained congressional approval in 1909 to reduce the Qing dynasty indemnity payment by US$10.8 million, on the condition that these funds would be used as scholarships for Chinese students to study in the United States. Using this fund, the Tsinghua College (清华学堂; Qīnghuá Xuétáng) was established in Beijing, on 29 April 1911 on the site of a former royal garden, to serve as a preparatory school for students to be sent by the government to study in the United States. The faculty members for sciences were recruited by the YMCA from the United States and its graduates transferred directly to American schools as juniors upon graduation. In 1925, the school established its College Department and started its research institute on Chinese studies.

In 1928, Tsinghua changed its name to National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). During World War II in 1937, Tsinghua University along with Peking University and Nankai University, merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming of Yunnan province. After the war, Tsinghua moved back to Beijing and resumed its operations.

After the communist revolution at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which led to the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Tsinghua University's then President Mei Yi-Qi, followed by many professors, fled to Taiwan where they established the National Tsing Hua Institute of Nuclear Technology in 1955, which later became National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan.

In 1952, the Chinese government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet style system, with individual institutions tending to specialize in a certain field of study. When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, many university students walked out of the classrooms, and some went on to be part of the Red Guards, resulting in the complete shutdown of the university. It was not until 1978, after the Cultural Revolution had ended, that the university began to take in students again. Even so, Tsinghua University remained in the top tier of schools in China.

Since the 1980s, the university has incorporated a multidisciplinary system. As a result, several schools were re-incorporated. These included the School of Sciences, the School of Economics and Management, the School of Life Sciences, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Tsinghua Law School, the School of Public Policy and Management, and the Academy of Arts and Design.

Present

Most national and international university rankings place Tsinghua amongst the best universities in mainland China .Admission to Tsinghua is extremely competitive. Every year, many applicants scoring the highest in the National College Entrance Examination choose Tsinghua. According to a report in 2008, 215 out of 300 students who placed within the top 10 in the 30 tested provinces and regions chose Tsinghua and 21 out of the 30 top scorers in each province and region chose the university.Admission to Tsinghua's graduate schools is also very competitive, with, for example, only about 16% of MBA applicants admitted each year.

Tsinghua alumni include the current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Paramount Leader Xi Jinping, who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1979, as well as the CPC General Secretary and former Paramount Leader Hu Jintao, who graduated with a degree in hydraulic engineering in 1964. Tsinghua has a reputation for hosting some of the most distinguished guest speakers of any university in the world, with international leaders such as Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger,Carlos Ghosn, Park Geun-hye, and Henry Paulson, all recently giving lectures to the university community.

As of 2003, Tsinghua University has 12 colleges and 48 departments, 41 research institutes, 35 research centers, and 167 laboratories, including 15 national key laboratories. In September 2006, Peking Union Medical College was renamed to Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University, although the Peking Union Medical College and Tsinghua University remain two separate institutions.The university offers 51 bachelor's degree programs, 139 master's degree programs and 107 PhD programs. Recently, Tsinghua has become the first Chinese university to offer a Master of Laws program in American law, through a cooperative venture with the Temple University Beasley School of Law. The university is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of leading universities in Europe and Asia. Each year, the University celebrates the Intellectual Property Summer Institute in cooperation withFranklin Pierce Law Center of Concord, New Hampshire. It has its own editorial, Tsinghua University Press.

Announced in 2013, the Schwarzman Scholars program will consist of 200 scholars to be chosen annually to work towards a one-year master's degree in Public Policy, International Relations, Engineering, Economics & Business. These scholars will live on the university campus at Schwarzman College, a residential college being built specifically for this program.

Academic organisation

As of 2014, Tsinghua University has 19 schools and 55 departments covering a broad range of subjects, including science, engineering, arts and literature, social sciences, medicine.

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Department of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) was established in 1927. As one of the premier Departments of Mathematical Sciencesin China, DMS has produced many famous Chinese mathematicians such as Shiing-Shen Chern and Luogeng Hua.

In 1952, Tsinghua DMS was merged with the Peking University Department of Mathematical Sciences. Then in 1979 it was renamed "Department of Applied Mathematics", and renamed again in 1999 to its current title.

Tsinghua DMS has three institutes at present, the institute of Pure Mathematics which has 27 faculty members, the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Probability and Statistics which has 27 faculty members, and the Institute of Computational Mathematics and Operations Research which has 20 faculty members. There are currently about 400 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students.

School of Journalism and Communication

The Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication (TSJC) was established in April 2002. Its predecessor was Communication Studies in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and its establishment of coincides with the development of media increasingly influencing world affairs in a time of fast-growing globalization. The school's research fields include International Communication, Film and Television Studies, New Media Studies, Media Operation and Management, and Business Journalism and are based on comprehensive academic research in journalism and communication theories. The objective of the school is to bring full advantage of Tsinghua University's comprehensive academic structure to Chinese and international media, to construct a first-rate discipline in journalism and communication studies, to cultivate talented professionals in the field and to explore advanced concepts in journalism and communication. The school also offers a two-year graduate program in international business journalism, sponsored by Bloomberg L.P. and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), that trains talented students and media professionals from around the globe in financial media and corporate communication.

The school has five research-oriented centers to organize and conduct academic research activities. They are: Center for International Communications Studies, Center for New Media Studies, Center for Film and Television Studies, Center for Media Management Studies and Center for Cultural Industry Studies.

The first and present dean of the school is Fan Jingyi, a notable chief editor of People's Daily during the period of the 1990s.

Graduate School at Shenzhen

The Graduate School at Shenzhen was jointly founded by Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The school is directly affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing. The campus is located in the University Town of Shenzhen since 18 October 2003. The Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, was jointly founded by Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen Municipal Government for cultivating top level professionals and carrying out scientific and technological innovations.Directly affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing, the Graduate School plays an important role in Tsinghua's commitment to achieve international prominence. The new campus is located in the University Town of Shenzhen, set amidst the natural beauty of Xili Lake and the Tanglang Mountain.Following the principle of 'one university, one brand', the two campuses share the same culture and style, as well as the same goal of excellence. The primary goal of the Graduate School is to cultivate professionals with leadership capability, international vision, enterprising spirit and a wide range of knowledge.The Graduate School serves the regional economy and society by developing top quality education, initiating original researches, and facilitating the transfer of high technology to industry.With help from Shenzhen, Tsinghua and other sectors, the new campus continues to develop at a fast pace and is destined for a bright future.

Academic divisions:

• Division of Life Science and Health
• Division of Energy and Environment
• Division of Information Science and Technology
• Division of Logistics and Transportation
• Division of Advanced Manufacturing
• Division of Social Sciences and Management
• Division of Ocean Science and Technology

Tsinghua History Museum

The Tsinghua History Museum covers a construction area of 5,060 m².A collection of old documents, pictures, artworks, maps, graphics, videos and music tells the visitors the history of Tsinghua University. The exhibition also pays tribute to talented people who contributed to the prestige and development of the institution. The use of multimedia is remarkable, inviting visitors of different ages to learn more about Tsinghua.

Research

The scientific and technological research and projects at Tsinghua University are mainly supported by special projects and funding from the national science and technology programs. Together, funding from these programs totals over 20 billion yuan, which funds more than 1400 projects every year for the university. With the prospective increase of state investment in science and technology, research at Tsinghua is to receive more financial support from the state.

Rankings

Tsinghua University has been constantly placed as one of the top two universities in mainland China by most domestic and international rankings, along with Peking University.

Nationally, it had been continuously ranked to be the best in mainland by the Chinese university ranking from 2003 to 2010 and has become the second since then. The Netbig had also regarded it to be the best in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and it was placed at 2nd by the China's Education Center in the same consecutive years.

Tsinghua was regarded as the most reputable Chinese university by Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings (2016) where it was ranked 18th globally.It also topped the newly launched independent regional QS BRICS University Rankings(2013). It was 23rd in the Times Higher Education rankings by subjects (2014–15) for Engineering and Technology, which is its strength. The US News and World Report Best Global University Ranking puts Tsinghua at 59th in 2015 and 4th in Asia.