西北民族大学国际合作交流处（港澳台事务办公室）

Brief Introduction to the University

Northwest University for Nationalities established in August 1950, and directly under the jurisdiction of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, was the first minority institution of higher learning established following the founding of New China. The university occupies a geographical area of 1,200,000 sq. m, with a floor space of 270414.2 sq. m. It has a teaching and administrative staff of some 1169, including 342 professors and associate professors, and 400 lecturers and assistants around. Geared to the needs of the country, the university enjoys an enrollment of 9597 students of nearly 40 nationalities, 6676 of whom are full-time students, students of 2-and 3-year higher education programs and postgraduate students, and 2921 grown-up students. All of them come from 31 provinces and autonomous regions. So far it has turned out 50,000 or so technical personnel for the minorities areas of the country.

For over 50 years since its establishment, the university has gradually shaped its advances and features of school management and developed itself into a comprehensive minorities university which is characteristic of taking postgraduate courses as its key direction, undergraduate courses as its main body and professional vocational course, training school education, preparatory training course and adult education as its supplementary. The specialized subjects of undergraduate education system contain 11 disciplines such as philosophy, economics, law, padagogy, literature, history, natural science, agricultural science, medicine, and administrative science. There are 8 faculties, and 11 departments providing 44 specialties in the university; Faculty of Economics & Administration; Medical Faculty; Faculty of Reeducation & Vocational and Technical Education; Faculty of Language & Culture Propagation; Faculty of Physics Engineering & Technology; Faculty of Foreign Languages & Literature; Conservatory of Music & Dance, Academy of Fine Arts; Department of Tibetan Language & Literature; Department of Mongolian Language & Literature; Department of History; Department of Advertisement Science; Department of Food Science; Department of Animal Science; Department of Education; Information Technology & Mathematics; Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering; Department of Chemistry; Department of Law; Department of Physical Education; Department of Psychology; Department of Sociology; Preparatory Department, etc..

The university also provides such subjects as Minority Languages and Literature of China, Folklore, Gesarology, Religion, Chinese Minority Art, Minority Economics of China, Marxist Theory & Policy on Ethnical Studies, and Applied Computer Technology.

The following institutions are set up on campus: the University Library, the Nationalities Museum, the Science Experimental Centre, Sino-British London English Test Centre, Sino-British English Teacher Training Centre for Northwest Minorities.

The library houses a collection of 1,300,000 volumes of books, not a few of which are the only existing copies and rare books of minority languages. The university possesses 22 teaching laboratories catering for basic and specialized courses, and the floor area for teaching and experiment is 140,000 square meters. In 2000, a Campus Computer Network was opened for use.

The university edits and publishes16 journals and newspapers: The Journal of The Northwest Minorities University (philosophy and social science edition in Chinese, abstract journal at the national level), the Journal of Northwest Minorities Research (abstract journal at the national level), The Journal of .Northwest Minorities University (Tibetan edition), The Journal of .Northwest Minorities University (Mongolian edition), The Journal of Northwest Minorities University (natural science edition), Northwest Minorities University Tabloid, etc.. Among the above journals, “Northwest Minorities Research” is ranked as “First-class Prestigious Journal at Provincial Level”; The Journal of Northwest Minorities University (philosophy and social science edition in Chinese and The Journal of Northwest Minorities University (Mongolian edition) are crowned as excellent journals of Gansu Provincial institutions of higher learning.

Importance has long been attached to scientific research, which has attained remarkable achievements. According to incomplete statistics, the university undertook and accomplished 150 key items in scientific research; 200 books of academic research and produced 2,500 dissertations; about 2 items rewarded with state-level result prize in scientific research; 45 ministerial & provincial prizes and 28 prefectural & municipal prizes were acquired.

The “Tibetan-Chinese Bilingual Information Processing System” developed by the university has led the world in that field. The university has undertaken a large number of anti-poverty projects informed by science and technology in minority areas which have produced significant economic benefits. Great achievements have been made by university researchers in the Animal Processing Research Institute in the development of animal serum processing, aided by the establishment of the “Sino-American Lanzhou Minhai Bio-engineering Company, Ltd.” Social and economic benefits of which have been significant. The project “Demonstration and Popularization of Introduction of Spinach Fodders by Sour Membrane” has a bright future and great potential for further development.

With the development of various programs, the university has continued to expand its exchanges and cooperation with the outside world, and to maintain a good relationship of cooperation with institutions of higher learning and research units in more than 10 foreign countries and districts such as United States of America, England, Mongolia, Malaysia, Pakistan, etc..