Shanxi Datong University | Chinese Universities

Shanxi Datong University (SDTU) is located in Datong, a "National Historical and Cultural City". Its history can be traced back to the 1950s. In 2002, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was prepared for establishment through the merger of Yanbei Normal University, Datong Medical College, Datong Vocational and Technical College, and Shanxi Industrial Vocational and Technical College, and was officially inaugurated in 2006. In 2016, it was selected as a pilot university for the transformation of undergraduate colleges and universities in Shanxi Province to application-oriented ones; in 2017, it became the only university in Shanxi Province jointly built by the provincial department and the city; in 2018, it was approved as a master's degree conferring institution; in 2021, it became one of the first batch of high-level application-oriented undergraduate universities in Shanxi Province. In 2025, it initiated the establishment of the Education Alliance for Forging a Strong Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation among Application-oriented Universities in Shanxi Province.

The university consists of Yudong Campus and Xinpingwang Campus, covering a total area of 2,121.3 mu, with a building area of 905,400 square meters. The total value of teaching and research equipment is 471 million yuan, and the library holds 3.0553 million paper books, 1.1223 million e-books, and 809,700 electronic journals.

Centered on undergraduate education, the university also offers postgraduate education and continuing education. It has 23 schools, 3 directly affiliated hospitals, 5 non-directly affiliated hospitals, with 1,442 hospital faculty members and 7,070 authorized beds. The university offers 73 undergraduate programs covering 11 disciplines, including literature, history, engineering, and medicine. It has 4 first-level master's degree authorization programs and 10 professional master's degree authorization categories. There are 30,426 full-time undergraduate students, 688 postgraduate students, and 2,863 continuing education students.

The university always prioritizes talent team construction and strives to build a high-quality professional teaching staff. The total number of faculty and staff is 2,558 (excluding affiliated hospitals), including 1,726 full-time teachers, among whom 645 have senior professional titles and 500 hold doctoral degrees. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the university flexibly introduced 11 national-level high-level talents, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Changjiang Scholars, and National Outstanding Youth Fund recipients, as well as 37 provincial-level high-level talents. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the university has earnestly implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, based on the mission of comprehensive reform of energy revolution in Shanxi Province, built an integrated experimental zone of "education, research, production, city", and strived to become a new benchmark for high-level application-oriented universities in Shanxi.

Forging the foundation of fostering virtue through education and cultivating high-quality application-oriented talents. The university has deepened the implementation of the Soul-Forging Project for New Era Talents, been approved as a provincial key School of Marxism, took the lead in establishing the "Five Ones" standards for curriculum ideological and political education among universities in the province, and created brand activities such as "Mobile Ideological and Political Education" and college students' "Siyuanxing" holiday social practice. It has been successfully selected as a national pilot school for first aid education, one of the first batch of demonstration sites for the construction of socialist core values in Shanxi Province, a practical education base for labor education in primary, secondary and tertiary schools in Shanxi Province, and a pilot unit for the "Short Semester" practical ability training program for college students of the Provincial Department of Education. In 2020, the university passed the first round of undergraduate teaching review and evaluation by the Ministry of Education, and 8 majors including clinical medicine and chemistry passed professional certification. In the past five years, it has been approved for 3 national-level teaching reform projects, 234 provincial-level teaching reform projects, and 61 industry-education cooperation and collaborative education projects; it has won 1 national-level teaching achievement award and 10 provincial-level teaching achievement awards.

Enhancing organized scientific research capabilities to support high-level self-reliance and self-improvement. Focusing on the innovation needs of strategic emerging industries in Shanxi, the university has deepened the implementation of the "Project for Strengthening Scientific and Technological Innovation Service Capability", and enhanced core scientific and technological competitiveness and social contribution. It has 1 Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education, 1 Key Laboratory of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 7 provincial and ministerial-level innovation teams, 37 provincial-level scientific research platforms, and 21 city-university jointly built scientific research platforms. In the past five years, it has presided over 1,639 off-campus scientific research projects, published 4,391 academic papers, published 379 works, and won 78 various scientific research awards. Led by the construction of "Yungang Studies", the university has jointly built the discipline system of Yungang Studies with Peking University and Zhejiang University, and Chinese History ranked among the top 100 in the 2023 Alumni Association Ranking of First-Class Disciplines in Chinese Universities; it has been approved for 5 provincial-level scientific research platforms, undertaken 3 national-level projects, 4 ministerial-level projects, and 116 provincial and municipal-level projects; Yungang Studies has been selected as a core journal by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Evaluation Research Institute.

Deepening the reform of industry-education integration and building a high-level social service system. Closely following the strategic tasks of the National Comprehensive Supporting Reform Pilot Zone for Resource-based Economic Transformation in Shanxi Province, the university has continuously promoted the construction of the integrated experimental zone of "education, research, production, city", and built a university-local education, science and technology talent community. It has established a normalized university-local cooperation and docking mechanism, jointly built 4 expert think tanks with the city, launched more than 120 city-university integration projects in 10 categories, and 10 scientific research teams have settled in Jinchuanggu・Datong. Focusing on the leading industries and strategic emerging industries of the province and city, it has built discipline clusters serving industrial innovation, such as Yungang Studies and carbon-based new materials. It has carried out comprehensive strategic cooperation with more than 360 enterprises and institutions, including Huawei Group, Jinneng Holding Group, and Shanxi Yun 时代. It has been approved for the Characterized Network Security Industry-Education Integration Innovation Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and 3 provincial-level modern industry colleges in carbon-based new materials, ceramics, and biomedicine, and won the title of Advanced Unit for Industry-Education Integration in Shanxi Province.

Promoting cultural inheritance and innovation and fostering a cultural ecosystem with Yungang characteristics. Bearing in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest instructions, the university has built a characteristic campus cultural ecosystem led by Yungang Studies. Cultivating a fertile ground for cultural inheritance, the Campus Culture and Art Festival integrates the urban development concept of "Beauty in Diversity, Harmony in the World" with the school-running philosophy of "The Great Way Prevails, Mission First", becoming a key link for students to showcase their individuality and gather the spirit of cooperation, truly realizing "Every teacher and student has the opportunity to shine in life"; a series of Yungang dances have been performed on national, provincial and municipal stages for many times. Cooperating with the Datong Municipal Party Committee and Government and the Yungang Research Institute, the university has compiled The Complete Works of Yungang Grottoes Art, General History of Datong, and History of Exchanges and Integration of the Chinese Nation in Datong Area, constructing a three-in-one cultural narrative model of "literature, relics, and art" for the Wei Capital, making the millennium-old Yungang culture shine with brilliant glory in the new era on campus.

Strengthening international cooperation and exchanges and building a high-level open school-running platform. Gathering the strength of alumni and all sectors of society, the university has been approved to establish the Shanxi Datong University Education Development Foundation. It has carried out "2+2" joint training for undergraduates with domestic high-level universities such as Beijing University of Technology, Sichuan International Studies University, and Dongguan University of Technology; it has carried out "2+2" joint talent training with Koblenz University of Applied Sciences and European University of Applied Sciences, marking an important milestone in the university's open school-running; it has established friendly cooperative relations with overseas universities such as Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Saint Petersburg State University of Russia, and Kyoto Women's University of Japan, continuously enhancing the university's popularity and influence.

Born in a prosperous era, we must live up to it. Shanxi Datong University will continue to forge ahead along the path pioneered by its predecessors, unswervingly follow the path of high-quality development, condense the school-running characteristics of "localization, application-orientation, and specialization", focus on promoting industry-education integration, science-education integration, and city-university integration, and strive to cultivate more high-quality application-oriented talents with "characteristics of the new era, features of Datong, traits of SDTU, regional needs, and industry recognition", making new and greater contributions to promoting all-round high-quality development of Shanxi, comprehensively building a modern socialist country, and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!