Northwest University for Nationalities

Northwest University for Nationalities established in August 1950, and is directly under the jurisdiction of State Ethnic Affairs Commission. The university is made up of two parts: the present location and Yuzhong new campus, occupying a plot area of 1800 Chinese Mou (1,200,000 sq. m). A multi-level teaching system has taken shape including preparatory course, 2-3 year higher education diploma programs, undergraduate course, postgraduate course, doctoral course, etc. Now there are 20 faculties and departments: Economics & Administration Faculty; Language &cultural spreading Faculty, Foreign Languages Faculty, Conservatory of Music & Dance, Academy of Fine Arts, Physics Engineering & technology Faculty, Faculty of Medicine, Further Education and Vocational &Technical Education Faculty, Tibetan Language& Culture Faculty, Mongolian Language & Culture Faculty, History& Culture Faculty, Faculty of Law, Social Anthropology &Folklore Faculty, computer Engineering& Information Faculty, chemical Engineering Faculty, Life Science &Information Engineering Faculty, Modern Education &Technology Faculty, Physical Education Faculty, Department of Preparatory Course, Department of Marxist Theory &Moral Education Research, etc. in the university, where 4 research institutes of independently organizational system have been established: Chinese Minority Information & Technology Research Institute, Gesarology Research Institute, Overseas National Documents Research Institute, Islamic Culture Research Institute, and 8 Research institutes of department-institute-combined-into –one system: Northwest china Tibetan Studies Research Institute, Western Mongolian Culture Research Institute, Western Mongolian Culture Research Institute, Animal Production Research Institute, Uigur Language & culture Research Institute, Minority Cultures Research Institute, etc.. The undergraduate education system offers 47specialized subjects under 11 disciplines, and 31 subjects have the authorization to confer master’s degrees and one subject-Chinese Minority Languages and Literature-can grant doctor’s degrees. Now the university enjoys an enrolment of 16,000 students. Over a long-term development, it has become a multi-disciplinary university with a reasonable specialty structure of distinctive features, which proves to be applicable to economic and social development of minority nationality areas. The university library houses a collection of 1,400,000 or so books (including electronic books) and its museum possesses 1000 around cultural and historical relics. Its teaching conditions are favorable: 31 laboratories experimental centers, computer centers and quite a few teaching practice bases, since its establishment, the university, holding to the principle of “based in Northwest China, catered to the needs of the country, with conspicuous characteristics and in the service of minority nationalities”, has contributed a great deal to the economic and social development of minority nationality areas by having turned out about 60,000 qualified personnel.

Talent-centre and teacher-centre as key points in school management, the university has strong teaching staff and a well-based contingent of scientific research: Prof. Wang Yinuan is regarded as an eminent scholar on Gesarology, and Caidan Xianrong, Ma Jinwu, Duo Shi, Gao Rui, and Wang Xinxian are experts in Tibetan studies. Li Guoxiang is an expert in Turkic studies; Sun Yiqiu in Chinese classic literature; Hao Sumin in folklore while Yu Hongzhi the founder of Tibetan-Chinese information processing Technology. Some of them are sages of the past and contemporary worthies famous both at home and abroad whereas some are middle and young backbones in academic research. There are 1169 teachers and staff, 670 being full-time teachers, 342 of whom are associate professors and professors.

The university has long attached importance to the development of its characteristics and strong points, and attained a series of remarkable achievements in minority economy, historical culture, folklore, religion, etc.. In the above mentioned achievements, the compiling, translation and research of the Tibetan epic

Gesar have been leading the country over; Tibetan-Chinese Bilingual Word Information Processing subsystems, developed by the university, have filled the gaps of modernized Tibetan studies and led the world in those fields; Attention has also been given to applied research, which renders it possible for scientific results to bring about economic benefits. The research and exploitation of Galiba Calf Serum Project and its series have been a positive impact on the development of scientific and technological industry, thus being one of four research and production bases of the development of animal serum processing in the country. Since the implementation of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the university has undertaken over 150 key scientific research projects, among which there are 3 projects of National Nature Science Funds, 20 projects of National Social Science Funds, and 2 National 863 Plan Projects. Also there are 3 subsidiary projects attributed to key philosophy and social science topics of the Ministry of Education and 1 open topic of state key laboratory in Tsinghua University. The university has published 300 or so specialized books and approximately 3000 dissertations, and won itself 140 prizes and awards.

Taking student-centre as is key point, the university has been pushing for away national unity and progress education, actively organizing students’ social practice activities. In recent years, the university has been twice titled as “Model Unit for National Unity and Progress” and won “Social Practice Activity Advanced Unit of National Universities & Colleges” for successive nine years.

Sticking to the principle of open school management, the university has been actively expanding its exchanges and cooperation with the outside world, and set up a good relationship of cooperation with institutions of higher learning and research units of such more than 10 foreign countries and regions as U.S.A, UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Etc.. In so doing, it has opened up a trail for the cultivation. An English teachers training item has been signed between the university and British Council through establishing Sino-British English Teachers Training Center for Northwest Minorities, which is beneficial to the improvement of English teaching; the university has jointly established London English Proficiency Test Center with Edexcel Enterprises Ltd (UK). In resent years, the university has successfully hosted ten internationally influential symposiums.

Following the advancement of the country, and with the aid of reform and open up policy, Northwest University For Nationalities is trying to move toward the new goals of top education quality, strong scientific research, efficient school management and distinctive national features by inheriting the university’s traditional spirit of “inuring itself for further trials, working diligently in spite of difficulties, working together with one heart and coming to students’ help for success”.