Southeast University (SEU) is one of the national key universities administered directly under the Central Government and the Ministry of Education of China. It is also one of the universities of Project 211 and Program 985 that is financed by the Central Government to build as a world-class university. Located in the ancient capital city of Nanjing, Southeast University has campuses as Sipailou,Jiulonghu and Dingjiaqiao, covering a total area of 393 hectares.

Southeast University is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in China. Its origin can be traced back to 1902, when it was founded as Sanjiang Normal College. Then, it evolved as: Nanjing Higher Normal School, National Southeast University and National Central University. During the nationwide restructuring of institutions of higher learning in 1952, Nanjing Institute of Technology was established on the original site of National Central University. In May 1988, the university was renamed Southeast University. And in April 2000, Nanjing Railway Medical College, Nanjing College of Communications andNanjing Geological School were merged into the university, whose main campus is located at the center of the ancient capital city of Nanjing, a sacred place for education since the Ming Dynasty.

The main campus,Sipailou Campus is located at the center of Nanjing city, an ancient capital for six dynasties. To the west of it is the Purple Mountain and to the south is beautiful Xuanwu Lake. With a floor space of 641 mu and buildings of 61.85 sq m, Sipailou Campus is currently a base for the education of  senior undergraduates, continuing education and science and technology research.

In the summer of 2006, the headquarter was moved to Jiulonghu Campus, opening a new chapter in the history of SEU. Jiulonghu campus, located in the south part of Jiangning Development Zone, covers an area of 251.4 hectares. The architectural planning of the campus is based on the history and culture of SEU, combing the public central teaching cluster with the professional teaching clusters, thus formating a campus of forest and vitality, mingling the oriental and occidental styles. The Jiulonghu campus has a floorage of 690 thousand square meters, with architectures including teaching area, scientific research and experimental area, administrative area, undergraduate living quarter, graduate living quarter, faculty living quarter, logistics and security area, etc.. The university library covers an area of 66.9 thousand square meters, with a possession of 3971.7 thousand of all kinds of books and materials. 

With a floor space of 176 mu, Dingjiaqiao Campus is a place where SEU’s School of Medicine and affiliated Zhongda Hospital are situated.

SEU has made remarkable achievements in serving local economic construction. According to the statistical result made by Jiangsu province concerning the college research effort of science and technology serving for local development, SEU ranks the first in six indicators among the following seven, namely, science projects and teams, science funding, science base, four kinds of technical funding, transformation of scientific and technological achievements and project identification, patent condition and scientific awards. SEU Science Park aims to provide best service and support for the incubation of sci-tech enterprises and high-tech products, and cultivation of innovators and pioneers. It has planned and built itself into “one park with many locations”successfully incubating more than 300 high-tech enterprises that own core technologies and independent innovation capabilities, like Wiscom Company, Tuniu Tourism Company, SEU Integrated Circuit System Engineering Limited Company, Nanjing Sample Technology Group, etc. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of SEU Science Park is accredited by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education as one of China’s first batch of “Science and Technology Practice Base for College Student”. 

In addition to the excellence in research and student cultivation, Southeast University is also taking an active part in setting up international cooperative programs with other countries. Up to now, it has signed agreements for friendly cooperation with more than 100 universities, research institutes or corporations including Cambridge University, University of Maryland, Lehigh University, ETH Zürich, Tohoku University, Technical University of Munich, University of Ulm, Monash University in Australia, University of Rennes 1, etc., which has contributed a great deal to the actual strength, international fame and development of the university. There are 1656 international students from more than 100 countries studying in SEU, including 1219 degree students. We have also established 3 Confucius Institutes inAmerica and The Republic of Belarus. 

In the new century, SEU will deepen its reforms while carrying on its traditions. Aiming at excellence and innovativeness, it is headed for a international famous comprehensive research university around 2020, and a world-class university with global vision in 2035.