Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU, formerly known as Northern Jiaotong University) is a national key university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education and now is jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, the China Railway Corporation (formerly known as the Ministry of Railways) and Beijing Municipal Government. BJTU is one of the first universities selected into the "National 211 Project" and the "985 Strength Discipline Innovation Platform" project, one of the first institutions authorized to confer master's and doctoral degrees. BJTU, as the leading organization, has established the Collaborative Innovation Centre for Rail Transit Safety, which is one of the first 14 collaborative centers approved by the Chinese government to enter the "National 2011 Projects".
As one of the three origins of the Jiaotong University, BJTU grew out of Beijing Railway Management Institute, China's first higher educational institution which was committed to fostering railway management talents and initiated modern China's education in railway management and telecommunication. Some renowned people in Chinese history received education at the University, including Liu Han, founder of China's first radio station, Ying Shangcai, inventor of China's first high-power steam engine, Zheng Zhenduo, famous writer and literary critic and historian, Jin Shixuan, author of China's first railway management monograph, Xu Jing, pioneer of railway transport economics in China, and Yang Rumei, one of the early four major accountants in China. Some famous scholars worked at the University, including Xiang Zhejun, Chief Prosecutor of the Tokyo Trial and Ma Yinchu, famous demographer and economist.
BJTU has achieved distinction in offering a range of academic programs thanks to its development in over one hundred years. The university has been closely connected with the nation's railway industry since its establishment. The faculty and students of BJTU have made great contributions to the growth of China's railways, having participated in almost all the major events in different stages of development of the industry, from the movements for protecting railway rights and saving the nation in the 1900s to the great endeavor of building railways after the founding of the People's Republic of China, from the six railway-speed-raising campaigns, the completion of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the application of heavy-haul trains on the Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway to the building of high-speed railways and modern urban rail transit systems throughout the country in contemporary times. While improving its unique strengths in such disciplines as traffic and transportation, communication and information, economics and management, BJTU has fostered a strong sense of collaboration and innovation.
The university has become an important base to turn out talents, especially outstanding talents in information technology and urban rail transit, for the economic and social development of China. It has also remained an influential institution which can help to solve significant technological and policy-making problems appearing in the development of the country's economy, society and modern transportation systems. BJTU is located in Beijing, the capital city of China with east and west campuses in Haidian District. It covers a total area of almost 1,000 mu (1 mu approximately equals 667 square meters), and its building area is 920 thousand square meters. The university has also established a new Weihai campus and put it into use in 2015.
BJTU accommodates 15 academic schools, 2 vocational colleges and 1 independent college. BJTU has 4,428 faculty and staff members including 1,831 full-time teachers. (Among the full-time teaching staff, 1,156 have senior and associate professional titles) Now the University has 13,925 undergraduate students, 7,884 graduate students, 2,801 doctoral students, 7,544 professional degree students and 8,424 adult students. There are 1,387 short-term and long-term international students in total. So far, BJTU has 8 national key disciplines. There are 15 post-doc research stations, 20 level-1 disciplines offering doctoral degree programs, 34 level-1 disciplines offering master's degree programs, 13 professional degree programs such as MBA, EMBA, M.Eng, M.Acc, M.Law, etc. The University has 50 research platforms at ministry/provincial level and above, including 10 national level research platforms and 40 ministerial and provincial level research platforms. In recent 5 years, the university supervised nearly 11,000 research projects such as National 973 Plan, National 863 Plan, National Science Fund, National Social Science Fund and other projects established by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Railways and so on. The research fund reached 3.6 billion RMB.
BTJU has published 3,087 papers in SCIE citations and 5,214 papers in EI citations. There were 2,007 patent applications and 1,264 approvals. BJTU has established cooperative relations with over 200 universities and famous multi-national enterprises from more than 40 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France in order to cultivate first-class talents with global vision. The university has established Confucius Institutes with KU Leuven in Belgium, Texas Southern University in the United States and University of Campinas in Brazil. The "Hanergy School of Renewable Energy" has been established with international demonstration effect. Taking Weihai Campus as the platform, BJTU has expanded the scale of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools. In order to actively serve the national "Belt and Road" initiatives and "going global" strategy of high-speed railway, BJTU has established the "International Joint Lab on High-Speed Rail Safety and Operation" with University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, the "Institute of Global Supply Chain and Logistics" with Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, the "China-UK High-speed Railway Research Center" with University of Birmingham, the "Russia-China Jiaotong Institute" with Petersburg State Transport University as well as the "China-Russia High-speed Railway Research Center" with Moscow State University of Railway Engineering and Petersburg State Transport University, among which the cooperation projects with the United States, United Kingdom and Russia have been included in people-to-people communication mechanisms of both sides. BJTU has experienced rapid internationalization development from the first enrollment of Weihai Campus in 2015 to the successful holding of the "China High-level Forum of Transportation" and 2nd "China-Russia Transport University Presidents' Forum". "Think of the source while drinking the water, love the country and honor the alma mater." Today, with 120 years of glorious history, Beijing Jiaotong University carries on her mission, following the motto of "Learn and Practice" and the spirit of modesty, caution and innovation, remembering the demand and expectations of the former national leaders, and striding towards the goal of building a world-renowned university with high-level distinction.
