Beijing Normal University

Beijing Normal University is one of China’s most prestigious and oldest seats of advanced learning. The middle term ‘Normal’ in the nomenclature of the university has come into circulation in the early 20^th century to refer to those educational organizations that trained school teachers then. It is still appended to the official names of such Chinese institutions. The motto is ‘Learn, so as to instruct others; Act, to serve as example to all’. Also known as Beishida, it is a research institution of higher learning with a strong presence in the crucial disciplines
of sciences as well as humanities.

The students’ strength is over 20,000. The undergraduates number 8,600 while the postgraduates are 9,900. The university focuses on equality in the Education sector. As per the 2009 demographic data of the university, 10% of its enrolled students are from the ethnic minorities, a quarter from the families in the low-income bracket, about one-third from the rural areas, and 40 % from the western region of the country.
The total academic staff is 1,681. There are 100 doctoral programs, 162 master programs and 55 undergraduate programs. Of them the following 18 have been recognized as national key disciplines. These top-ranked disciplines include five in the general category and 18 in the specialized group. The key disciplines of the university in an alphabetical order are: Ancient Chinese History, Anthropology, Cell Biology, Chinese, Ecology, Education, Educational Economics and Management, Environmental Science, Folklore, Geography, Marxist Philosophy, Mathematics, Psychology, Physical Chemistry, System Science, Theory of History, and Theoretical Physics.

INFRASTRUCTURE

The campus of Beijing Normal University is spread over an area of 7,952,150 sq ft (738,779 m² ). It has five Key Labs of Beijing Municipality, seven Key Labs of Ministry of Education, 74 research laboratories including the following four National Key Labs, namely the National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning; the National Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology; the National Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science; and the National Key Laboratory of Water Environmental simulation. Of the Key research bases and centers, three research centers have been jointly set up with Beijing Municipality; seven are in humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education; two research centers of Engineering & Technology of the Beijing Municipality, besides the 40-plus other research centers of various kinds. The university also has the country’s only institute for Proteomics set up by the Ministry of Education. The campus also has a Science Park encompassing an area of six hectares.

INTERNATIONAL TIEUPS

Two of the very popular international courses of Beijing Normal University are the Princeton in Beijing and its various Mandarin Chinese study programs. In fact, the university has been one of the first universities of China to attract students from across the globe.

THE SCHOOLS AND THE DEPARTMENTS

The Beijing Normal University offers various majors. The faculties and schools of the university (in a random order) are:

• School of Law


• School of History


• School of Chemistry


• Faculty of Education


• School of Resources


• School of Geography


• School of Psychology


• School of Mathematics


• School of Life Science


• Department of Astronomy


• School of Arts and Mass Media


• School of Foreign Language & Culture


• School of Chinese Language and Literature


• School of Social Development and Public Policy


• School of Economy and Business Administration

TRACING THE ROOTS

The Beijing Normal University was established by separating the Faculty of Education from the Imperial Capital University — China’s first modern university set up way back in 1898 after the Hundred Days’ Reform during the reign of the Qing Dynasty. The Faculty of Education was christened ‘Imperial Capital School of Supreme Teacher Training’ in 1908. The Imperial Capital University went on to become the Peking University, another prestigious seat of higher education in China. In 1912, the Imperial Capital School of Supreme Teacher Training was renamed ‘Peking Normal College’ after China was declared a republic. It functioned as a graduate institution for only male students in 1920. The following year, female students were also admitted. The name of the organization was again changed into ‘Peking Normal University’ in 1923 when it further earned the distinction of being the maiden Normal University in modern China. In 1931, the Peking Women’s College of Education merged with the Peking Normal University. The Communists formed the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and changed the name of Peking into Beijing, and that very year the nomenclature of Peking Normal University got transformed into Beijing Normal University. The national initiative of university rearrangement took place in 1952, and the Fu Jen Catholic University got amalgamated with Beijing Normal University.

The university shifted to its newly set up campus at Bei Tai Ping Zhuang from He Ping Men in 1954. This is still the site of the Beijing Normal University. In 1995, the university was included in Project 211 of the Government and in 2002, the university was listed at the 10th position on the list of Project 985 after the university authorities signed a tripartite agreement with the Beijing Municipal Government and the Ministry of Education. This finally paved the path for the Beijing Normal University becoming a prestigious global seat of advanced learning.
The centennial celebration of the university held in 2002 was significant also because an asteroid discovered in 1996 was named after the institution as 8050 Beishida. On 4 May, 2006, Beijing Normal University along with five other normal universities (under the Ministry of Education) were included in the Fee-Waiver Policy for teacher training programs following a special visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the institution.

The students of Beijing Normal University have played nodal roles in the country’s democratic movements like the May Fourth Movement and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The university has been depicted as “one of the most progressive institutions” in China.

Academic & Department

• College of Chinese Language and Literature


• College of Philosophy and Sociology


• College of Economic & Business Administration


• College of Education


• College of Education Administration


• College of Psychology


• College of Foreign Language and Literature


• College of Art and Communication of BNU


• College of Chinese Language and Cultrue BNU


• Institute of Political Science and International Studies


• College of Mathematics


• College of Information Science


• College of Life Science


• School of Environment


• College of Management


• College of Physical Education and Sports


• College of Resources Science & Technology


• School of Geography


• School of Continuing Education and Teacher Training


• Department of History


• Department of Law


• Department of Physics


• Department of Chemistry


• Department of Astronomy


• Department of Materials Science and Engineering


• Institutes and Research Centers


• Research Institute of Historiography Studies


• Institute of Ancient Books Studies


• Institute of Social Development and Public Policy


• Institute of Economic and Resource Management


• Institute of Low Energy Nuclear Science


• Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning


• Analysis and Testing Center


• Center of Information & Network Technology


• Research Center of Atmospheric environment


• Research Institute of Protein Make-up


• Research Institute of Educational Information Network Technology


• Beijing Cultural Development Research Institute


• Center for Functional Linguistics


• College of Chinese Language and Literature


• College of Philosophy and Sociology


• College of Economic & Business Administration


• College of Education


• College of Education Administration


• College of Psychology


• College of Foreign Language and Literature


• College of Art and Communication of BNU


• College of Chinese Language and Cultrue BNU


• Institute of Political Science and International Studies


• College of Mathematics


• College of Information Science


• College of Life Science


• School of Environment


• College of Management


• College of Physical Education and Sports


• College of Resources Science & Technology


• School of Geography


• School of Continuing Education and Teacher Training


• Department of History


• Department of Law


• Department of Physics


• Department of Chemistry


• Department of Astronomy


• Department of Materials Science and Engineering


• Institutes and Research Centers


• Research Institute of Historiography Studies


• Institute of Ancient Books Studies


• Institute of Social Development and Public Policy


• Institute of Economic and Resource Management


• Institute of Low Energy Nuclear Science


• Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning


• Analysis and Testing Center


• Center of Information & Network Technology


• Research Center of Atmospheric environment


• Research Institute of Protein Make-up


• Research Institute of Educational Information Network Technology


• Beijing Cultural Development Research Institute


• Center for Functional Linguistics