Southeast University and Southwest University, these two institutions named after their locations, are like bright pearls inlaid in the southeast and southwest of China. Southeast University is located in the historical and cultural city of Nanjing, while Southwest University is rooted in the beautiful city of Chongqing. Both universities have a profound normal background, and are double first-class and national key universities directly under the Ministry of Education, and are also key universities under the 985 and 211 projects.
First, both universities are comprehensive universities with a long history and a teacher background.
Southeast University, formerly known as Sanjiang Normal School in 1902, is one of the earliest institutions of higher learning in China. After the baptism of wind and rain, in 1921, Nanjing Higher Normal School was officially renamed Southeast University, and was listed as the only two national comprehensive universities in China along with Peking University at that time. In 1952, with the former School of Engineering of CUHK as the main body, and integrating the relevant departments of Fudan University, Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, Jinling University and other universities, Southeast University once again radiated new vitality.
Southwest University, its origin can be traced back to 1906 East Sichuan Normal School. After a series of inheritance and evolution, it was renamed Sichuan Provincial Institute of Education in 1936. In 1950, the National Women's Normal College was merged to form Southwest Normal College. At the same time, the departments of agronomy, horticulture, and agricultural manufacturing merged with the private Xianghui College, giving birth to the Southwest Agricultural College. In 2005, Southwest Normal University and Southwest Agricultural University joined forces to formally establish Southwest University, opening a new chapter in the development of the university.
Second, Southeast University and Southwest University have their own strengths and complement each other's advantages in discipline construction.
After more than 100 years of vicissitudes, Southeast University has become a comprehensive university with engineering as its distinctive feature, integrating science, engineering, medicine, literature, management, art and many other disciplines. There are more than 6,000 faculty members here, including more than 1,500 full and associate professors, more than 300 doctoral supervisors, eight academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, nine members of the Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, many chair professors, national, provincial and ministerial experts and other outstanding talents.
Southwest University, on the other hand, shoulders the sacred mission of national prosperity and national rejuvenation, and has cultivated hundreds of thousands of graduates through Xingtan education, who have gone to all parts of the motherland to become a solid force to promote national rejuvenation and the backbone of all walks of life. The school has a complete range of disciplines, strong comprehensiveness and distinctive characteristics, covering 13 major categories, including philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management, art and interdisciplinary disciplines.
Among them, there are three national key disciplines, two national key (cultivation) disciplines, 29 first-level discipline doctoral degree authorization points, 50 first-level discipline master's degree authorization points, two professional doctoral degrees, 31 professional master's degrees, and 30 postdoctoral research mobile stations (workstations).
Third, the two schools have excellent operating conditions and have received key support from the state and local governments.
Southeast University has complete facilities, with a national electrical and electronic basic course teaching base, a computing center, a modern analysis and testing center, an electronic education center, an industrial development and training center and other practice bases, and at the same time built an online distance education system to realize the modernization of teaching and scientific research methods. The library has a rich collection of books, covering an area of more than 30,000 square meters, and has a collection of 2.27 million books and materials. The campus has a beautiful environment, profound historical and cultural heritage, and many historical buildings and modern buildings complement each other, providing an excellent learning environment for students.
Southwest University covers an area of about 8,347 acres, with a campus area of 1.95 million square meters, a green space rate of up to 40 percent, a magnificent and solemn campus, and a myriad of weather, known as a garden-style school. The university has 46 teaching units and 102 undergraduate majors, including 62 national first-class undergraduate majors and 81 Chongqing first-class undergraduate majors.
It has abundant teaching resources, including four national experimental teaching demonstration centers, three national virtual simulation experiment centers, 13 Chongqing experimental teaching demonstration centers, 44 national first-class undergraduate courses, 221 first-class undergraduate courses in Chongqing, and a national cultural quality education base for college students.
Fourth, both schools are schools with international influence.
The southeast and southwest, two bright educational pearls, each shining in the vast land of the southeast and southwest of the mainland. Southeast University, an academic palace closely connected with the world, has joined hands with more than 100 universities and research institutions in more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, and Japan, to weave a magnificent chapter of academic exchanges. Every year, more than 100 outstanding undergraduate students spread their wings and soar in the international academic sky under the influence of this school.
With its excellent international vision, Southwest University has established deep cooperation ties with more than 80 universities and scientific research institutions in nearly 30 countries and regions. In Thailand and Canada, the two Confucius Institutes are embedded like pearls, spreading the breadth and profundity of Chinese culture. In 2019, Southwestern University and Missouri State University joined forces to launch an undergraduate education program in plant science and technology, once again demonstrating its open and inclusive educational philosophy.
To sum up, Southeast University and Southwest University, one east and one west, echo each other from afar, and jointly build a double foundation in the field of education in mainland China. All of them have a history of more than 100 years and have accumulated rich cultural heritage, and they are all outstanding representatives of double first-class universities, attracting the attention of countless students. Here, dreams and knowledge are intertwined, youth and the future dance together, they are two bright pearls on the education map of the mainland, and they are also the ideal palace in the hearts of thousands of students.