Xidian University

Xidian University, Xi'an, China
西安电子科技大学
Motto unity, diligence, pragmatism, and creativity
Established in 1931 in Ruijin (瑞金), Jiangxi, China
Type Public
Academic staff
 1,536
Administrative staff
 2,860
Undergraduates 20,884
Postgraduates 6,712
1,242
Location Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Campus Urban, 260 acres (2.6 km²)
Website http://www.xidian.edu.cn

Xidian University, also known as University of Electronic Science and Technology at Xi'an, (Chinese: 西安电子科技大学; pinyin: Xīān Diànzǐ Kējì Dàxué) is a university located in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The university is regarded as having strong science and engineering programs, and is particularly famous in Information Technology related disciplines in China.

Introduction

Xidian University is a key national university under the Ministry of Education of China. It focuses primarily on electronics and information education and research, and also offers a wide range of academic subjects covering engineering, science, management, economics, arts and social sciences. It has been approved by the state to be one of the universities funded by “Project 211” and it is one of the 55 universities having a Graduate School, one of the 35 universities having a national demonstration School of Software and one of the 15 universities having an IC Talents Training Center. It is an essential base of IT talents training and high level scientific research innovation.

Now, Xidian University has over 40,000 students including over 1,400 Ph. D. students and 7,000 Master students. Of its 1,696 academic research and teaching faculty members, there are over 900 professors and associate professors. The University is organized into 13 schools, i.e., Graduate School, School of Telecommunications Engineering, School of Electronic Engineering, School of Computer Science and Technology, School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, School of Technical Physics, School of Science, School of Software Engineering, School of Microelectronics, School of Economics and Management, School of Humanities and Arts,School of Foreign Languages, Network Continuing Education School, and Chang'an School. There are 3 state key laboratories, 4 key laboratories of the Ministry of Education, 16 provincial and other ministerial key laboratories and 30 institutes or research centers. At present, Xidian University has 7 national key disciplines, 6 postdoctoral programs, 27 doctoral programs, 63 master's programs and 41 bachelor's programs, which cover the range of specialities in electronics and information technology. In the fields of communication networks, signal and information processing, information security, microelectronics and mechatronics, Xidian University possesses distinctive advantages and features in discipline construction and scientific research at home and abroad. Since 1996 the employment rates of undergraduates and postgraduates have remained to be 97% and 100% respectively, which rank top in China.

In recent years, Xidian University has quickened its internationalization pace by establishing cooperative relationships and conducting academic cooperation and exchanges with over 100 universities and institutions in more than 50 countries. Its library, a national information retrieval center, has a collection of 2,700,000 items including 600,000 kinds of e-books. The University has been constantly improving its infrastructure construction. Its campus proper occupies over 60 hectares with a floor space of over 600,000 square meters. Its new campus, located in Xi'an southern College City, has an area of 200 hectares. At present, 660,000 square meters of floor space has been put into use for more than 20,000 students and staffs.

For nearly 80 years since its foundation, Xidian University has produced over 100,000 graduates and postgraduates in the fields of engineering and technology. In the new era of knowledge economy and in the digital age, Xidian University is making great efforts to build itself into an open research university with distinctive features, aiming to be first-class in China and well known in the world.

Location

Xidian University is located in the world-famous ancient city of Xi’an with a long history and strong cultural presence. Xi’an, originally known as Chang'an, where the most dynasties established their capitals here, is the birthplace of Chinese civilization. It is also the starting point of the famous Silk Road, and a place with talented people and well-developed traffic, composing a glorious chapter in Chinese history. Mausoleum of Emperor Qin and Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin are also considered as wonders of the world history. In addition, it is also the most important base for scientific research, higher education, technology and industry of national defense, high-tech industry electronic information industry as well as the core base for aerospace industry. It is an energetic and creative inland “New Special Zone", a megalopolis with the best scientific and technological strength and the most comprehensive industry categories, a financial and traffic center in the Midwest and northern inland regions, experimental special zones for overall planning on scientific and technological resources as well as the core of Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone.

History

The university was founded in 1931 in Ruijin (瑞金), Jiangxi as the Radio School of the Central Military Committee (中央军委无线电学校). It was the first technical school established by the Communist Party of China. Later, the school was moved from Zhangjiakou, Hebei to Xi'an in 1958. It was one of the first 20 national key universities in 1959. It was renamed the People's Liberation Army Institute of Telecommunication Engineering (中国人民解放军军事电信工程学院) in 1960. In 1966, it was renamed Northwest Institute of Telecommunication Engineering (西北电讯工程学院), and was no longer a military institute. In 1988, its name was changed to Xidian University (西安电子科技大学).

Ranking and Performance

In the 2006 Ranklist of Top Engineering B.S. Programs of Chinese Universities, the Telecommunications Engineering in Xidian University ranked No.1, the Electronic Engineering ranked No.2 and the Information Processing Technology ranked No.1.

In the 2008 Ranklist of Top Engineering B.S. Programs of Chinese Universities, the Telecommunications Engineering in Xidian University ranked No.2, the Electronic Engineering ranked No.3, the Information Processing Technology ranked No.1, the Mechanical Designing and Manufacturing Automation ranked No.5.

According to the statistics of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database, from August 2003 to September 2013, the total number of citations of papers in Engineering area of Xidian University ranked No.191 globally and was No.14 in China.

Academic Structure

Xidian University is organized into 15 schools: Telecommunications, Electronic Engineering, Computing, Technical Physics, Mechno-Electronic, Management, Science, and Humanities. Xidian has established a College for Continuing Education and a Graduate School for postgraduate studies. It offers over 23 specialties for undergraduates and postgraduates.

Schools:

Research Strengths

Xidian University has a commitment to excellence in both teaching and research as is demonstrated by the number and variety of its study facilities. They include: [four national laboratories] and over 30 research institutes and research centers. The facilities of 75 research laboratories, a multimedia video-audio center, training workshops and 4 experimental centers are essential for teaching. About 80% of faculty hold positions in the research activities. Xidian's library has an inventory of over one million books. The computer communications network of the university provides access to national and international universities.

National Key Laboratories: As one of the major academic research centers in China, Xidian University possesses a range of state- of -the -art facilities to support teaching and research. Some of them are provided centrally as National Key Laboratories. These include:

Research Institutes: Xidian University's distinguished reputation in research is reflected in the strength of its current research institutes and their activities. Xidian University's particular feature of research is the number, variety and vigor of its multi-disciplinary research team. This team consists of the following research institutes:

International Cooperation and Exchange

Since 1997, the International Culture Exchange Center has assumed the task to recruit and train foreign students. Since 2006, the training focus has transformed from Chinese training to specialized courses teaching along with the transition from teaching in Chinese only to bilingual teaching. In order to promote international students training, School of International Education was established in October, 2008 to take overall responsibility for publicity campaign, enrollment, cultivation, degree conferment and daily management and launched Bachelor degree programme taught in English only, which indicates that the international education has turned on a new page.

As a national key university, Xidian University, following the concept of promoting the reform and development through opening up, actively expands the cooperation and exchange and has already built up the cooperative relationship with the institutions of higher education in France, America, Japan and Britain, etc., training a large number of international talents who have international view, are familiar with international rules and participate in international affairs and competition. Meanwhile, it has set up partnership and established joint laboratories with numerous international famous enterprises and state-level high-tech enterprise groups, such as Huawei Technology Co. Ltd., ZTE, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd., promoting international talents cultivation to a new stage.

Till now, a total enrollment of more than 1,000 overseas students from 27 countries, such as the United States, Britain, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kenya, etc., have been studying Chinese language and specialized courses at School of International Education. The school has established course modules taught both in English and Chinese for undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates. The international education has begun to take shape and formed its multiple-level training modes including Chinese language training, preparatory courses, undergraduate course modules in Chinese and in English, graduates and postgraduates in Chinese, and postgraduates taught in English.

Under the instruction of the policy "Moderate Development, Focus on Quality, Normative Management, and Creating Brands", the School of International Education has carried out a lot of detailed, solid, pioneering work in increasing student enrollment, optimizing student qualities and strengthening training and management and obtained marvelous achievements. In October 2009, approved by the Ministry of Education, our university became an institution receiving foreign students sponsored by "Chinese Government Scholarship". In July 2010 our university began to receive overseas students sponsored by the Saudi Government Scholarship and CLP Scholarship. At this point, it covers the foreign students sponsored by Chinese Government Scholarships, foreign government scholarships and business scholarships, self-financed students, etc. In 2010, the total enrollment has reached more than 230, breaking the record. There have been unprecedented breakthroughs in the scale and range, implying that the international education in China has entered a new era of development.

Studying at Xidian University

The School of International Education offers educational programs consisting of graduates and non-degree pursuing courses. Teaching can be made in both Chinese and English. School has Modern Mandarin Training Center, and can provide academic and non-academic multi-level Chinese language training programs. School also recruits multilingual short-term training students in the field of electronic information. The specified programs are as below:

Doctoral Degree Program (3–5 years, 24 majors in total): all majors are taught in Chinese, including 9 entire English taught majors: Communication and Information Systems, Computer Architecture, Signal and Information Processing, Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology, Circuits and Systems, Computer Applications Technology, Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems, Intelligence Information Processing, Mechatronic Engineering. All majors can be applicable for non-degree training.

Master Degree Program (2.5–3 years, 59 majors in total): all majors are taught in Chinese, including 9 entire English taught majors: Communication and Information Systems, Computer Architecture, Signal and Information Processing, Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology, Circuits and Systems, Computer Applications Technology, Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems,

Bachelor Degree Program (4 years, 41 majors in total): all majors are taught in Chinese, including entire English taught majors: Communication Engineering, Electronic Information Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, Automation, Business Administration, etc. All majors can be applicable for non-degree training.

Electronic Information Exploring Program: The school can offer multilingual research study in the domain of electronic information. Till now, School has conducted four terms of oversea advanced training class in electronic information research and trained hundreds of students who are from Algeria, Angola, Germany, Egypt, etc. Chinese Language Training Program: In the School, the special Chinese Language Training Center is established to organize a variety of Chinese training programs. Various levels of Chinese language training are established for international students in China, such as elementary class, intermediate class and advanced class. State-level test centers of HSK are set up, offering HSK preparation courses. Meanwhile, the specialized courses, such as Business Chinese and Chinese of Science and Technology are also set up in the School.

Life at Xidian University

Xi’an is a four seasons city with scenic environment. Xidian University has two campuses in Xi’an: the north and the south campuses with convenient transportation in the College Town of southern city. Various sports facilities are set up in two campuses, including basketball hall, table tennis saloon, swimming pool, and gymnasium. International student apartments are equipped with living facilities, including the kitchen, toilet, central heating, air conditioning, refrigerator and laundry machine. University also provides for the affiliated hospital with advanced facilities. In campuses and the surrounding area, there are supermarkets, shopping mall, Chinese and western dining hall and Muslim dining hall, offering various choices for international students. The campuses are a convenient and comfortable place with elegant, safe and clean environment, which is an ideal place for studying and living.

In order to enrich the extracurricular life of international students, the football team, basketball team, volleyball team, and badminton team were established in the School, periodically organizing the sports events. At the same time, rich and diverse range of activities are regularly organized for the international students, including the annual sports event, culture tutor, artistic performance, city wall marathon race, creating a harmonious and active campus culture. In the successive Activity Week, Xidian University has held many academic symposiums with rich content presented by some experts and international students, exchanging their experience on Chinese learning, HSK, cross-cultural adaption and learning, innovation practice, steps and methods for the scientific research, as well as achievements and feelings on participating in electronic design contest and the practice of scientific research. The international students learned more practical thing from these exchanges. International Student Union of Xidian University have taken an active part in various activities both in campus and out of campus, becoming an indispensable group in international students’ life.

For the international graduates who want to stay in China, Xidian University helps them plan their career development and provide vocational guidance. At the same time, the university provides employment seminars, organize the international students to visit and have an internship in the enterprises, and create the contact mechanism, helping them learn the domestic current employment situation, summarize their own competitive advantages, and analyze the employment directions to strengthen the employment competitiveness of the international students in China.

Sister Universities

Universities in the United States:

Universities in Japan:

Others:

Vision

The spirit of Xidian University is unity, diligence, pragmatism, and creativity. The future goal of Xidian University is to build Xidian University into a first rate national university with its academic status recognized internationally by featuring electronics and information. At the same time, Xidian will be combining, coordinating, and developing engineering and physics as part of the enhancement project "211" within the next 10+ years.

President

The current president is Zheng Xiaojing (郑晓静).

Famous alumni

External links