Beihang University is a prestigious higher education institution with a long history. Founded on October 25, 1952 under the name of Beijing Institute of Aeronautics, it originated from the merger of the aeronautical departments of Beijing Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University, and Sichuan University. In 1988, it was renamed Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA). In 2002, the university changed its English name to Beihang University.
As the first institution of higher education in aeronautics and astronautics established after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Beihang University has always inherited its revolutionary origins, taking serving the nation as its highest pursuit. It is dedicated to nurturing top-notch talent, building advanced equipment, and continuously forging ahead at the forefront of China’s higher education. A total of 100 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, along with over 270,000 outstanding contributors, have emerged from here. They have showcased the spirit of "Integrating Virtue with Brilliance and Combining Knowledge with Practice," and filled numerous domestic gaps by successfully developing and launching various types of aircraft.
Beihang University is currently under the administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It has Xueyuan Road campus and Shahe campus in Beijing, as well as a newly-opened International Campus in Hangzhou, with the total area reaching approximately 4,000 mu. Since its establishment, Beihang University has always been an important institution in China. It was one of the first 16 key universities in the country and one of the first 22 universities to establish a graduate school after the restoration of the degree system in the 1980s. In 1995, it was enrolled into the "211 Project," and in 2001, it became part of the "985 Project." In 2017, it was selected to build a national "Double First-Class" university. The 16th Party Congress of the university set forth the vision of building a world-class university rooted in China.
Beihang University currently offers 80 undergraduate majors. After dynamic optimization and adjustment, it has 36 first-level disciplines (including 34 first-level discipline doctoral degree authorization points and 36 first-level discipline master’s degree authorization points), and 26 postdoctoral research stations, covering 10 disciplinary categories including engineering, science, management, humanities, law, economics, philosophy, education, medicine, and interdisciplinary studies. The university closely aligns with national strategic needs and international academic frontiers, emphasizing characteristics, quality, and contributions. It has established a clear discipline development policy of "top engineering, first-class science, boutique humanities, and advantageous medical engineering." The construction of five major discipline clusters in the fields of aerospace, information technology, science, humanities, and medical engineering has achieved significant results. Eight disciplines have been selected for the "Double First-Class" building. The proportion of top-level disciplines to doctoral programs exceeds 30%.
Beihang University gathers distinguished teachers. It adheres to the principle that talent is the primary resource and implements the talent-driven strategy. The "Blue Sky Talent Action Plan" has been launched to systematically promote the development of the talent pool. The university has set up the International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science，and established a number of international scientific and technological innovation centers at the forefront of academia, highlighting the concept of “joint construction, shared ownership and common benefits” to attract outstanding overseas talents. The university is deepening the reform of the talent and personnel system by promoting the development and evaluation throughout the entire process and cycle of teachers' growth and career progression, aiming to further advance the construction of the faculty team. Currently, it has a total of 6,228 faculty and staff members, including 3,110 full-time teachers, among which 84% hold senior professional titles, and 89.5% have doctoral degrees. A total of 501 individuals have been selected for various national talent projects, including 37 academicians of either the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 176 members of “Leading Program”, and 288 members of “Young Talent Program”. Beihang also has 45 state-level innovation teams. Numerous national first-prize winners, domain experts, chief designers, as well as many young and accomplished experts and scholars have emerged.
Beihang University focuses on nurturing talents. There are now 42,222 students enrolled, including 16,836 undergraduate students, 24,261 graduate students, and 1,125 international students. The university adheres to the principle of educating talents for the Party and the nation, comprehensively implements the Action Plan for Leading Talent Cultivation in the New Era, and aims to build a talent training model centering on cultivating sentimental attachment, consolidating foundational knowledge, emphasizing practical skills, and integrating interdisciplinary education. It continuously promotes the transformation of research advantages into talent cultivation advantages, constructs a high-quality talent cultivation system, and comprehensively improves the quality of independent talent cultivation. It actively promotes the integration of ideological and political courses with curriculum and student affairs, so as to facilitate a broader vision of talent cultivation through the lens of ideological and political education. The teaching system is constantly improving, with 49 national first-class undergraduate major construction sites, 11 provincial and ministerial first-class undergraduate major construction sites, five national experiment and teaching demonstration centers, three national virtual simulation experiment centers, and 12 Ministry of Education virtual teaching and research laboratory construction pilots. It has established three national demonstration joint cultivation bases for graduate students of engineering and six university-enterprise collaborative education demonstration bases of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It has made significant achievements in the construction of prestigious teachers, courses, teaching materials, and teaching outcomes, with nine national famous teachers, five national teaching teams, three “Huang Danian-style teaching teams”, 74 national first-class undergraduate courses, three national excellent teaching materials construction awards, and 12 achievements awarded the 2022 National Teaching Achievement Award for Higher Education, of which four are first-class awards.
