Beijing Institute of Technology

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Beijing Institute of Technology
北京理工大学
Motto: Unity Diligence Integrity Innovation (团结勤奋求实创新)
Established: 1940
Type: Public
President: Dr. Hu Haiyan (胡海岩)
Faculty: 1,900 (2007)[1]
Staff: 1,400 (2007)
Students: 37,479 (2007)[1]
Undergraduates: 13,929 (2007)[1]
Postgraduates: 8,202 (2007)
Doctoral students: 2,104 (2007)[1]
Location: Beijing, Flag of the People's Republic of ChinaChina
Campus: Urban 4,734 ha
Website: http://www.bit.edu.cn/ (Chinese)
http://english.bit.edu.cn/ (English)
Address: No.5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian, Beijing 100081, China. 地址：北京海淀区中关村南大街5号 邮编：100081

Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) (simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学; traditional Chinese: 北京理工大學), formerly known as 北京工业学院, is a leading public, co-educational, national key university, located in Beijing, China. Established in 1940 in Yan'an (延安), the institute of technology is now under the administration of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND).

BIT has been a first-tier top research university in China for more than 50 years. It is one of the first Chinese universities to run a graduate school and received privileged fund from the Chinese government in “the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Five Year Plan.” BIT is also one of the national “Project 211” and “Project 985” universities, which were given priority for development by the Chinese government, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the Ministry of Education (MOST) and the Beijing Municipal Government.

BIT's strategic collaborators include eleven Chinese provinces and direct-controlled municipality, as well as forty city or county level governments. The university also has various cooperations with ninety higher education institutions in 29 countries, as well as over one hundred major domestic and international corporate enterprises.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early history (1940-1952)

BIT it is the first science and engineering university founded by the Chinese Communist Party. The predecessor of BIT is the Yan'an Academy of Natural Sciences, which was founded in January 1940. In 1943, the Yan'an Academy of Natural Sciences was merged into the Yan'an University as the Yan'an Academy of Natural Sciences (延安大學自然科學院). In January 1946 and January 1947, the academy merged with the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Industrial Vocational School (晉察冀邊區工業專門學校), and the Shanxi - Chahar - Hebei border Industrial Traffic College (晉察冀邊區工業交通學院), respectively. In 1948, the academy became part of the North China University as the School of Engineering. Several science and engineering departments of the Sino-French University (中法大學) were merged into the school in 1950.

In 1951, the school was separated from the North China University. However, according to the discipline adjustments policy of the Chinese government, some departments were terminated and transferred to other universities. For example, the Biology Department was transferred to the China Agricultural University. Part of the Aerospace Science Department was transferred to support the newly founded Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

In 1952, the school was renamed as the Beijing Institute of Technology.

[edit] Milestone events after 1952

In 1959, BIT was designated by the Chinese government as one of the 16 national key universities, which were authorized to offer graduate degrees. In 1978, BIT was still designated as one of the 88 national key universities by the Chinese government, despite that most research was stopped during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976.

In 1984, BIT was chosen as one of the 25 national key universities to receive special supports from the Chinese government during the 7th Five-year plan. In the same year, BIT was authorized as one of the first 22 Chinese universities to run graduate schools on trial. In 1988, the institution changed its Chinese name from "Institute" to "University", while the English name remained unchanged.

In 1991, BIT was chosen as one of the 14 national key universities to receive special supports from the Chinese government during the 8th Five-year plan.

In December 1995, BIT was ratified by the Chinese government as one of the 15 first-tier "Project 211" universities.

In 1996, BIT became one of the first 32 Chinese universities to officially run graduate schools. In the same year, BIT was designated as one of the 27 national key universities during the 9th Five-year plan. In 1999, BIT's undergraduate education was evaluated as "Excellent" in the assessment organized by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

In 2000, BIT was listed in "Project 985", as one of the top 10 Chinese universities, which were given prioritized supports to develop into top domestic universities with international fame. In the same year, BIT was also designated as one of the top 22 universities in the "21st Century Education Promotion" plan during the 10th Five-year plan.

[edit] Campus

The east entrance of the BIT main campus
The east entrance of the BIT main campus
Stadium of BIT
Stadium of BIT

The main campus of BIT is located near Zhongguancun, widely known as the Silicon Valley of China. The main campus has an area of 920,700 square meters, including a floor space of 724,000 square meters.[1]

The Liangxiang campus in suburban Beijing encompasses 2,000,000 square meters. The Zhuhai campus in Guangdong Province spans 3,330,000 square meter. BIT also has campuses in Xishan of suburban Beijing and Qinhuangdao of Hebei Province.

The university's residential areas spreads over 900,000 square meters.

[edit] Academics

Traditionally, BIT is an institution focusing on polytechnic education and research. While maintaining its traditional strength in engineering, BIT also pays great attention to the balanced development of other disciplines. BIT is now a multi-disciplinary university with comprehensive academic disciplines in engineering, science, management, humanities, economics, law, and pedagogy.

[edit] Demographics

The center building at the BIT main campus
The center building at the BIT main campus
  • Student demographics (as of the year 2007)
    • Total: 37,479
    • Full-time undergraduates: 13,929
    • Master students: 5,088
    • Doctoral students: 2,104
    • International students: 364
    • Vocational, distance education and other students: 15,994
  • Faculty and staff demographics (as of the year 2007)
    • Total: more than 3,500
    • Faculty: 1,900
    • Fellows of Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese Academy of Engineering: 14
    • Chang Jiang Scholars: 10
    • Professors (including researchers and professorial senior engineers): 376
    • Associate professors (including associate researchers and senior engineers): 906
    • National experts with outstanding contributions: 18
    • Outstanding junior scientists: 5
    • Recipients of special subsidies from the central government: 251
    • BIT also appointed 174 visiting professors, 38 advisory professors and 6 honorary professors in China, as well as 45 international visiting professors and 12 honorary international professors.

[edit] Colleges

The central garden at the BIT main campus
The central garden at the BIT main campus

BIT is organized into 13 academic colleges, including 47 departments and 43 research institutes (or research centers).

Academic Colleges:

  • College of Information Sciences and Technology
    • Department of Electrical Engineering
    • Department of Automation
    • Department of Photonics and Electronics
    • Center for Electronic and Electrical Education and Experiments
  • College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering
  • College of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science
  • College of Natural Science
  • College of Humanities and Social Science
  • College of Software
  • College of Computer Science and Technology
  • College of Foreign Studies
  • College of Aerospace Science and Technology
  • College of Material Science and Engineering
  • College of Life Science and Technology
  • College of Management and Economics
  • College of Design Arts

Other schools and colleges:

  • Graduate School
  • School of Physical Education
  • School of Continuing Education and Distance Learning
  • School of Higher Vocational Studies
  • Zhuhai College
  • Qinhuangdao College
  • Xishan branch

[edit] Education

BIT has 16 national key disciplines, 25 ministry-level key disciplines. BIT offers Bachelor's degrees in 60 majors, Master's degrees in 144 majors, and Doctorate degrees in 62 majors. It also has 17 post-doctorate stations.[1]

[edit] Research

BIT is an important research institution for military technology and is famous for its contributions to the research and development of radar, missiles, firearms and armored combat vehicles. However, some of its research are not allowed to be disclosed and a great amount of the research work cannot be published.

BIT's traditional research strength lies in Electrical Engineering (now with the Chinese name of Information Engineering), Automation, Photonics, Mechanical Engineering, Vehicle Engineering, Aerospace Engineering and Chemical Engineering. Some of its emerging research areas are also developing fast in recent years, including Computer Science, Industrial Design, and Higher education research.

BIT has five national key laboratories (research centers), six national defense key laboratories (research centers), two MOST key laboratories (research centers) and four Beijing municipal key laboratories (research centers).[1] It also has a national key science park. The annual research expenditure in 2004 was more than 620 million RMB.

[edit] Rankings and controversies

Historically, BIT was widely considered by Chinese education officials among top 20 universities in China. In recent national level evaluations, BIT was among the first 15 universities to be designated into the "Project 211". It is also the 10th university to be designated into the prestigious "Project 985".

According to the China Discipline Ranking conducted by the a research center affiliated with the China Ministry of Education, BIT ranks among top 10 nationally in the following ten disciplines:[2][3]

  • Weaponry Science and Technology: ranked 1st.
  • Information Engineering: ranked 5th.
  • Optical Engineering: ranked 5th.
  • Aerospace Science and Engineering: ranked 5th.
  • Mechanical Engineering: ranked 7th.
  • Metallurgical Engineering: ranked 7th.
  • Transportation and Traffic Engineering: ranked 9th.
  • Instrument Sciences and Technology: ranked 10th.
  • Automation Science and Engineering: ranked 10th.
  • Chemical Engineering: ranked 10th.

Note: According to the ranking's classification of academic disciplines, BIT was evaluated in about 30 disciplines.

However, the rankings of BIT provided by non-governmental parties are slightly different. According to the controversial Wu Shulian's Chinese University Ranking provided by independent researcher Wu Shulian, BIT ranked 37th in 2005, 35th in 2006, 33rd in 2007 and 31st in 2008, among all Chinese universities.[4]

A lot of BIT alumni argued that such rankings provided by non-governmental parties tend to undervalue BIT, because a lot of research conducted at BIT are classified. Therefore, BIT has various limitations in publicizing its faculty members and research achievements. In addition, independent ranking researchers also have limited access to BIT's data.

[edit] Library

Established in 1940, the BIT library now consists of one main library and four branch libraries. Nine new branch libraries are in construction or planning.

The renovation of the main library was completed in 2006. The state-of-the-art building has an area of 25,509 square meters and is covered by wireless network. It now has a total collection of more than 3 million items, including 1.13 million electronic items [5].

[edit] Press

The BIT Press was established in 1985 and has published more than 3,000 books [6]. Most of the books published by BIT press are in the area of natural science and technology. The current director for the press is Yang Zhijian.

[edit] Alumni and notable people

  • Huang Chunping: Director of Rocket System for the Shenzhou 5 Spacecarft.
  • Wang Xiaomo: a leading Radar scientist.
  • Zhou Liwei: a leading scientist of optical electronics in China.
  • Duo Yingxian: a leading scientist of assault rifle design in China.
  • Xu Gengguang: a leading scientist in bombing and explosive.
  • Na Risu: philosopher of philosophy of science.
  • Hu Xingdou: economist.

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Beijing Institute of Technology FC

BIT has several collegiate sports teams. Its football (soccer) team is widely considered one of the best in Chinese collegiate soccer. The team won 4 out of 6 national champions from 2001 to 2006, when it participated in the Chinese University Football League. The BIT team also represented Chinese football team at the 2003 Summer Universiade Game and the 2005 Summer Universiade Game[7]. After winning the promotion to the professional football league in 2006, the team has been participating in the professional Chinese Football Association Jia League.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Facts And Figures. Beijing Institute of Technology website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  2. ^ China University Disciplines Ranking 2002-2004. Sina.com website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  3. ^ China University Disciplines Ranking 2006. China Education Online website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  4. ^ Wu Shulian's China University Ranking 2006. Sina.com website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  5. ^ Introduction to the BIT Library. Beijing Institute of Technology website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  6. ^ Introduction to the BIT Press. Beijing Institute of Technology website. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
  7. ^ Introduction to the BIT FC. Sina.com website. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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