苏州大学 | |||||||
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| Motto | 養天地正氣，法古今完人[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Motto in English | Unto A Full Grown Man[2] | ||||||
| Type | Public | ||||||
| Established | 1900; 126 years ago (1900) | ||||||
| President | Xiaohong Zhang | ||||||
| Location | ,, China | ||||||
| Campus | Urban | ||||||
| Affiliations | NAHLU | ||||||
| Website | eng | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 苏州大学 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蘇州大學 | ||||||
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Soochow University (Chinese: 苏州大学;Pinyin:Sūzhōu Dàxué; abbreviated SUDA) is a comprehensive university located inSuzhou,Jiangsu Province, one of the most economically developed regions inChina. It is administered by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province as part of the national Double First-Class initiative. The university is also co-constructed by theChina National Space Administration. Soochow University was among the first institutions included in China’s Project 211 and the 2011 Collaborative Innovation Plan. It is one of China’s leading universities, ranking 28th nationwide.
The university traces its origins to Soochow University, a private institution founded in 1900. In August 1952, the Chinese Departments of the private Soochow University, along with its Departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, the Suxun Institute of Culture and Education, and the Mathematics and Physics Department of the private Jiangnan University, were merged to establish the Sunan Teachers College on the former Soochow University campus. In December of the same year, the institution was renamed Jiangsu Teachers College.
In February 1982, with the approval of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, Jiangsu Teachers College was reorganized into a provincial comprehensive university under the name Soochow University. In the same month, the Suzhou School of Finance and Economics was incorporated into the university. In June 1982, the State Council formally approved the renaming. Subsequent incorporations included Suzhou Sericulture College in 1995; Suzhou Institute of Silk Technology (1997), Suzhou Medical College (2000), and the Suzhou campus of Nanjing Institute of Railway Technology (2012). Soochow University was listed as a Project 211 university in 1996 and was selected into the first and second rounds of China’s Double First-Class initiative in 2017 and 2022, respectively.
As of May 2025, the university operates four campuses—Tiancizhuang, Dushu Lake, Yangcheng Lake, and the Future Campus—covering an area of 3.06 million square meters with over 1.66 million square meters of building space. Soochow University comprises 37 schools and departments, offering 132 undergraduate programs, 47 first-level master’s degree disciplines, 35 professional master’s degree categories, 31 first-level doctoral disciplines, 1 professional doctoral program, and 30 postdoctoral research stations. The university has 5,983 faculty and staff members and a student population of over 45,000.
The originalSoochow University (simplified Chinese:东吴大学;traditional Chinese:東吳大學;pinyin:Dōngwú Dàxué;Wade–Giles:tung-wu ta hsüeh) was founded byMethodists in Suzhou in 1900 as a merger of three existing institutions: the Po-hsi Academy, the Kung-hsiang Academy, and the Chung-hsi Academy byDavid Lawrence Anderson who became its first president.[3] Originally known as the Central University of China, it was renamed the Soochow University in the Republic of China period.[4] The word Soochow in its English name is the old spelling of the city's Chinese name according to the earlypostal romanisation. The original Chinese name 東吳 (Tung-wu) refers to one of theThree Kingdoms in the ancient time, of which the region of Suzhou was an important part.
The university was split in 1949 as a result of theChinese Civil War, and merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics atJiangnan University to form theJiangsu Teacher's College in 1952. The English name Soochow University was revived in 1982; however, the original Chinese name 東吳 (Tung-wu) was not adopted, and the institution was given the Chinese name 蘇州 (Soochow). The Suzhou College of Sericulture, Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology and Suzhou Medical College were each merged into the university in 1995, 1997 and 2000 successively.[5]
Members of the Soochow Alumni Association who fled toTaiwan after 1949 established theSoochow University inTaipei, starting with its College of Law in 1951 and becoming a full-fledged university with five schools in 1971.[6]
The university is part of the national "211 Project" and is a "2011 Plan" university. It is also one of the Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive universities. Soochow University currently has 26 post-doctoral programs, 24 main discipline doctoral programs, including 167 doctoral programs with different areas of emphasis, one professional doctoral program, 47 main discipline master's programs, including 244 master's degrees with different areas of emphasis, 21 professional master's programs, and 124 undergraduate programs. Today, Soochow University has developed into a comprehensive university with 12 major disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management science, and art.
Soochow University is one of the top 5% research universities (overall ranking 28 within 704 Chinese universities in 2017),[7] and a member of the "2011 plan" - the latest program launched in 2011 by the Chinese Ministry of Education to develop into world class top universities.[8]
Soochow University is a member ofSAP University Alliances.[9]
| BCUR National[10] | Domestic | 46 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wu Shulian National[11] | Domestic | 28 | |
| CUAA National[12] | Alumni | 38 | |
| QS National[13] | General | =41 | |
| THE National[14] | General | 32–37 | |
| QS Asia (Asia version)[15] | General | 220 | |
| THE Asia (Asia version)[16] | General | 108 | |
| ARWU World[17] | Research | 101–150 | |
| QS World[18] | General | 641–650 | |
| THE World[19] | General | 501–600 | |
| USNWR World[20] | General | 292 | |
In 2025, Soochow University was ranked in the 101-150 band byAcademic Ranking of World Universities.[21] TheU.S. News & World Report 2025 ranked Soochow University #292 in the world, 67th in Asia and 40th in China.[22] CWUR World University Ranking 2025 ranked Soochow University 210th worldwide and 28th nationwide.[23]
The university consists of 6 campuses covering an area of 135 hectares and with 940,000 square meters of building area. The main and most beautiful campus is located at No.1 Shizi Street. The total enrollment is more than 39,000 students, including more than 28,000 graduates or undergraduates and more than 11,000 are students of formal education.
The campus grounds have been described as among China's most beautiful, in part based on the incorporation of "typical features of theclassical gardens in Suzhou".[24]
The university has established several joint programs with foreign universities:
The following people attended Soochow University after 1900, or one of the institutions that later merged with the university:[31]
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