Introduction  to  Zhejiang   Sci-Tech   University

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU), a prestigious university in Zhejiang province provides programs in the fields of engineering, sciences, humanities (arts), economics, management and law with engineering being its main focus. It is run jointly by Ministry of Education and the Zhejiang provincial government, the latter being the main administrative body.

       ZSTU is situated in Hangzhou, famous for its history and culture, and has two campuses, covering a total area of 1,500 mu. In April 1999 the institution changed its name from Zhejiang Institute of Silk Textile to Zhejiang Institute of Science and Technology. Then in May 2004, ZIST was renamed to Zhejiang Sci-Tech University.

        The history of ZSTU dates back to the Sericultural Academy, which was founded in 1897 and was one of the earliest modern educational institutions in China. The school began to enroll undergraduate students in 1959 and graduate students in 1979. It acquired the right to confer Master’s degree in 1983 and was granted the right by Ministry of Education to appraise the qualifications of teachers applying for the title of associate professor in 1993. In 1995, it started to offer PhD programs in collaboration with Zhejiang University. The same year saw the first international enrollments and the enrollment of students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In 1999, it began to confer Master’s degree to on-the-job students who are of the equivalent educational level. In 2001, it was granted the right to confer Master’s degree to engineering students. In 2003 it was approved as an institution qualified to provide joint PhD programs and in 2006 it got the right to confer Doctoral degree. ZSTU now has graduate programs, undergraduate programs and adult education, the latter in the form of public education, non-governmental education and education through international cooperation.

ZSTU consists of sixteen schools or faculties (departments), namely, the school of sciences, the schools or faculties of materials and textiles, apparel, informatics and electronics, mechanical and automation control, construction engineering, life sciences, art and design, economics and management, law and politics, foreign languages, culture and communications, adult education, a higher vocational college,a department of

computer teaching and a department of physical education .It also owns one independent college on another campus. Two of its disciplines are regarded by the Province as very important, and eight are key disciplines at provincial or ministerial level. It has one key laboratory of the Ministry of Education and two key laboratories of the Zhejiang Province. The school offers forty-five undergraduate programs, of which six are provincial key programs.

       It confers Doctoral degree in two disciplines, Master’s degree in four first-level disciplines and thirty second-level disciplines( sub-disciplines), and it provides one joint Doctoral program and two Master’s programs in engineering. At present, the number of full-time undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at ZSTU is 18,000; with a further 2000 students in programs of adult education and further education.

ZSTU has a staff 1,500, with 400 associate professors, 110 professors, and 19 doctoral advisers. Two academicians work full time at ZSTU; three of its teachers have been selected to join the National Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project; twenty-one young and middle-aged teachers are the leading researchers in their respective branches of learning in higher education institutions (HEIs) of Zhejiang Province;twenty-four

teachers are part of the provincial Project of 151 Specialized Personnel; and twenty-nine teachers receive the special government subsidy from the State Council. The school has ten academicians working part-time and has brought in distinguished experts and scholars as adjunct professors from all parts of the country and the world.

        The school has a total floor space of 562,200 square meters and the value of its teaching and research instruments amounts to192 million yuan. It has two pilot centers for teaching basic courses in Zhejiang Province, two provincial engineering centers, six R&D centers and more than forty school labs and institutes of excellence.

        The university has modern teaching buildings, laboratories, information center, audio-visual center, network center, sports facilities, and information platforms in modern network. The library has 1,500,000 books and 3,000 journals and has the most complete information on apparel and art designs in China. It also serves as a digital books and information center for the whole of the Xiasha Higher Education Zone.

The beautiful scenery and thoughtful layout of the campus make it the ideal place for study and research.        ZSTU has open, inter-disciplinary opportunities and a time-honored tradition of being united,practical, industrial and progressive.The school practices the credit system and offers major , minor, and double major programs.

        Over the past five years, four national teaching awards and eleven provincial teaching awards have been granted to its faculty members, and many students have attained excellent results in international fashion design contests and other contests in key disciplines at national, provincial and municipal levels. In recent years, the school’s required enrollment score has been among the highest of the HELs in Zhejiang province - as has been the employment rate of its students.

        ZSTU has done particularly well in the fields of modern textile, apparel, mechanics, chemistry and high polymer. While there has been success also in fields like basic Sciences, informatics and electronics, economics and management, humanities and other disciplines. Further, the university permits study in cross-disciplinary fields, such as biological environmental engineering - and many key scientific and technological projects using national, ministerial and provincial research funds, in a variety of academic fields have been undertaken by the university in recent years. It has won over 120 research awards, among which 3 are national, namely, two second awards of the National Scientific and Technological Invention Award and one second award of the National Scientific and Technological Progress Award, and over 20 are provincial or ministerial.
    
         It has research funds of more than 110million yuan and has established stable scientific and technological cooperative ties with hundreds of enterprises across China. Its composite index for scientific and technological work ranks top of similar universities in China, making it a key base in Zhejiang Province for the nurturing of senior engineering talents and researchers.

        ZSTU attaches great importance to international academic exchange and cooperation. It dispatches teachers abroad for further study, lecturing, research and other academic activities and has established close ties with thirty institutions of higher learning and research in ten countries and regions, including America, Britain, Japan and Australia. ZSTU also looks to  explore the3+2 nurturing model of high-level talents, working in cooperation with institutions in America, establishing joint research centers, and inviting overseas scholars to lecture.