Beijing Normal University, a key university under the administration of the Ministry of Education, is a renowned institution of higher education known for teacher education, education science and basic learning in both the arts and the sciences.
The main campus (North Taipingzhuang Campus) of Beijing Normal University covers 1,048 acres that serve as an important place for the university to carry out educational activities. The school has23,800 full-time students, including 9,200 undergraduates, 12,800 graduates and 1,800 long-term international students. The campus has 1 education faculty, 23 schools and colleges, 2 departments and 37 research institutes (centers). The library boasts over 4.2 million volumes and some 30,600 GB of digital resources, with 1,580 GB e-books.
The comprehensive disciplinary strength of Beijing Normal University puts the school at the forefront of the nation’s advanced teaching institutions. In 2002, BNU was one of the top six universities with independent examination and approval authority for undergraduate majors. The university offers 60 different undergraduate majors, 153 Master’s degree programs, 108 Doctoral degree programs, 25 different rotating post-doctoral posts, and 24 and 36 Doctoral and Master’s degree programs for first-level disciplines.
Beijing Normal University has a reasonably structured high-quality faculty team. At present, there are 3,300 teachers and staff on the main campus of whom 2,100 are full-time instructors. The number of BNU teachers with senior titles, doctoral degrees and/or overseas learning/working experience puts the school at the forefront among Chinese universities.
Beijing Normal University is a staunch force in the nation’s research effort in the humanities and social sciences and in technology innovation. The university houses four key state laboratories (2 joint ones), 9 Ministry of Education key laboratories, 10 Beijing Municipality key laboratories, 5 Ministry of Education engineering research centers, 2 Beijing Municipality engineering and technology centers, and 7 key research bases in the humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education. The university regularly publishes 16 professional journals.
Renowned for its rich educational resources, Beijing Normal University is one of the national bases for talent development of high quality and creativity. It houses 2 national bases for a basic foundation for talents and scientific research in the arts, 5 national bases for a basic foundation for scientific research and teacher development in the sciences, 5 innovative exemplary laboratories for human resource development of the Ministry of Education, and 3 national exemplary centers for experimental education. The school also has a national base for talent training in the life sciences and technology, a national base for the teaching of Chinese as a second language and a national base for university students in quality-oriented education.
Beijing Normal University promotes broad international cooperation and exchange, having signed cooperative agreements with nearly three hundred universities and research institutes from more than thirty nations and regions and exchanging students through cooperative programs with over fifty universities from places that include the United States, the UK, Japan, South Korea and Canada. Moreover, BNU has co-established 7 Confucius Institutes, with: the University of Manchester (UK), San Francisco State University (US), the University of Oklahoma (US), Dawson University (Canada), Sherbrooke University (Canada), Aalborg University, Denmark, University of Macerata, (Italy) and the College of William and Mary (US).
Adhering to a fine tradition of “Patriotism, Progress, Honesty, Sincerity, Truth-Seeking, Innovation and being a paragon of virtue and learning” while embodying the spirit of “Learn, so as to instruct others and Act, to serve as example to all,” for over a hundred years Beijing Normal University has lived by the philosophy of “Pursuing knowledge, Cultivating personality, and Helping the whole world.”
