Located in the historical and cultural city of Hangzhou, China, Hangzhou Dianzi University is an institution of higher learning that offers multiple disciplines, including engineering, science, economics, management, literature, law and education. While highlighting electronics and information science, the university is also fairly strong in the disciplines of business management. The predecessor of the university is Hangzhou Aviation Finance and Economics School which was founded in 1956. In 1980, ratified by the State Council, Hangzhou Institute of Electronic Engineering was set up, which was later renamed Hangzhou Dianzi University in 2004. Throughout decades the university was successively affiliated to the No.4 Ministry of Mechanical Industry, the Ministry of Electronics Industry and later the Ministry of Information Industry. The university has been under ministerial and provincial joint leadership with the Provincial Government playing the major role in management since 2000. So far, HDU has developed into a teaching and research oriented university with the great support from authorities of Zhejiang Province for further development. It consists of four campuses, Xiasha Campus, Wenyi Campus, Dongyue Campus, and Xiasha East Campus which cover more than 2,000 mu in size, with a building area of 670,000 square meters. The university has a current enrollment of more than 26,000 full-time undergraduates and postgraduates and a staff of 2,200.  
  

Since its foundation, the talent fostering system continues to improve and the university has come to offer programs at a variety of levels, such as undergraduate, graduate and continuing education and vocational education. The university is also entitled to enroll overseas students as well as students from Hong Kong , Macao and Taiwan. The university is composed of several schools, including School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Automation, School of Finance & Economics, School of Management, School of Computer Science, School of Software, School of Electronics & Information, School of Communication Engineering, School of Sciences, School of Foreign Languages, School of Humanities & Arts, School of Publishing and Press Industry, School of Continuing Education, The National Demonstrative Vocational School of Software Technology, and School of Information Engineering (Independent School) which is affiliated to the university. The university has 45 undergraduate specialties, which fall into 7 major disciplines, namely, engineering, management, economics, science, literature, law and education. Six specialties like Electronics and Information Engineering are designated as state priority management. In 2003, with approval from the Ministry of Education, the university launched its doctoral program and set up one post-doctoral research station and one joint-doctoral station with Zhejiang University, also HDU has 2 Joint Doctoral Programs with Dublin City University, Ireland and Queen’s University, Belfast, UK; 3 disciplines are qualified to Doctor’s  (Ph.D ) Degrees, another 6 specialties like Software Engineering are key disciplines of Zhejiang Province. Furthermore, 6 primary disciplines and 31 secondary disciplines are qualified to confer Master’s Degrees. Meanwhile, the university is also authorized to grant Master’s Degrees to on-the-job candidates and confer Master of Engineering (ME) in 9 academic fields. Moreover, there are 2 key-in-key provincial disciplines, 7 provincial key disciplines, 7 ministerial key disciplines in the university. 

The university takes the lead among its peers in terms of teaching and research facilities. 7 provincial and ministerial key laboratories are available for researches in following subjects: Large-Scale Integration Circuit Design, System Integration Circuit Design, E-Business and Computer-Based Accounting, Special Materials Processing, Computer Science and Technology, Signal and Information Processing and Electronic Materials and Instruments. The university also boasts a ministerial educational project research center of Instrument Detection and Automatic System Integration Technology, a provincial and ministerial laboratory for Radio-Frequency Circuit and System, 2 national experiment teaching demonstration centers for Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, and 3 Provincial experiment teaching demonstration centers, 2 provincial public platforms for technological innovation in fields of Integrated Circuit Design and Software, a well-equipped project center to cultivate talents for advanced network-based manufacturing technology. The machines and equipment for teaching and research total nearly 200 million RMB yuan; the total library collection amounts to 1.67million items. The good conditions of teaching and research have laid solid foundations for the continual improvement in education quality of the university.

In the course of its long-time running, the university keeps adhering to the right educational orientations. A balanced development is pursued by coordinating such factors as quality, scale, structure and efficiency. Quality talents are cultivated with creative spirits and practical skills in a comprehensive way for all round development of morality, intelligence and physical strength. A host of graduates have become prominent leaders in domestic and international IT industries and high-level managers in business administration. The university’s premium educational quality is rewarded by extensive support and acclamation the society. Moreover, students from HDU are awarded in a row in domestic and international discipline competitions such as “Challenge Cup”, “Mathematical Modeling” and “Electronics Design”, exhibiting a good command of fundamental theories, practical skills, creation and overall quality. With these solid theories and skills in practice, graduates from the university are highly acclaimed and well received by employers and various sectors of society. The university is also one of top universities in terms of first-time employment rate and first-time admission rate to master programs.      

The university attaches great importance to the discipline development and academic researches. It has an outstanding research faculty comprising leading experts with outstanding achievements and profound knowledge, and young and middle-aged professors and doctorate holders. The university has completed a host of high-tech research projects and Province or Ministry sponsored research projects under the national 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th Five-Year Plans, under the military science funding and Program 973 and 863. Many of these projects were awarded the national first and second prize for science and technology progress Prize, the third prize for National Invention, and the second prize for National Pedagogical Achievement. The annual research funding has amounted to 100 million RMB yuan. At present, the university has established solid relationship for technological cooperation with hundreds of enterprises and companies, with the overall performance in technological researches atop among its national peers and province-owned universities and colleges. The university becomes an important base in Zhejiang Province for cultivating top-grade talents and turning scientific research achievements into productivity. HDU has obtained fruitful financial and social returns, which in turn has effectively supported the academic development and talent fostering. 

The university has extensive international academic exchange and cooperation with foreign prestigious universities, multinational enterprises and research institutes in many countries, such as America, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belarus, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, etc. Foreign professors and experts are invited to assume teachings and research in the university. Teachers are selected for further study in foreign countries and international academic exchanges every year. Collaborations are carried out for intensive academic researches and talent fostering. Some excellent students are annually selected to study and exchange in America, UK, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Japan.etc. The university is gradually characterized by globalization.

So far, the university has come to its prime phase of development. All teachers and students will conserve good academic traditions of the university and forge ahead under the guidance of the university’s spirit for the establishment of a domestically renowned university with its distinctive features in teaching and research orientation.

Website: http://foreign.hdu.edu.cn/list.php?cid=32

(Executive Editor: Yongliu HE)