Hangzhou Normal University（HZNU）is a local comprehensive university with teachers' education, art education, and the basic Arts and Sciences disciplines as its main subjects. The university is experiencing rapid development of new applied disciplines as well as coordinated development of interdisciplinary programs.
HZNU can be traced back to the Zhejiang Official Two-level Normal School founded in 1908，one of the six national higher normal schools. In 1978, Hangzhou Teachers’ College was built from the Hangzhou Normal School, with the approval of the State Council. At the turn of the 21st century, Hangzhou Institute of Education and another five institutions were successively combined with Hangzhou Teachers College, and in 2007 Hangzhou Teachers’ College was officially renamed Hangzhou Normal University.
For 110 years, HZNU has been following the motto "diligence, prudence, sincerity, forgiveness, as well as elegance and excellence"；Constantly striving for self-improvement; carrying forward the university spirit of "inclusiveness and openness, keeping pace with learning and pursuing excellence". HZNU has adhered to the principles and characteristics of the "Humanities School, Art Campus"；Growing with the changing times and sharing the destiny of the nation.
Li Shutong, Xia Mianzun, Zhu Ziqing and Ye Shengtao and many other famous teachers have taught in the school, and have trained outstanding alumni with brilliant achievements in various fields such as Feng Zikai, Pan Tianshou, Chen Jiangong and Zhang Shuihua.
In recent years, in line with new trends in innovation and entrepreneurship education, HZNU has continuously expanded its reform efforts in education and teaching. It is the implementation unit for the reform project of the Ministry of Education's Excellent Teacher Training Plan. It is the key construction teacher training base in Zhejiang Province during the 12th Five-Year Plan. In addition, it is among the first groups in the National College Students' Innovation and Entrepreneurship training plan which is being implemented locally in universities, the first group of national universities with typical experience of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the first group of demonstration universities for expanding education reform in innovation and entrepreneurship sponsored by the Ministry of Education. In addition, it is among the key construction universities in Zhejiang Province.
The existing three campuses, Cangqian, Xiasha and Yuhuangshan feature beautiful environment and scenery. They are situated on the banks of Xixi Wetland, Qiantang River and West Lake respectively, covering a total construction area of 1989,000 square meters, with a total fixed assets value of 2.66 billion RMB and a total library collection of 27.23 million volumes. With 19 colleges, 1 public teaching unit and 1 directly affiliated hospital, the school has 21,141 full-time students (excluding independent colleges), 2967 full-time postgraduate students, 27 doctoral students and 666 overseas students. There are 74 undergraduate majors covering 11 disciplines, a single doctoral training program serving the special needs of the country, and 24 master's degree programs in First-class Disciplines. In addition, HZNU has 16 authorized categories of master's degrees, qualified to recommend excellent undergraduate graduates for pursuit postgraduate study in higher education institutes without examinations. There are 8 first-class disciplines (category A) and 6 first-class disciplines (category B) in Zhejiang Province. Chemistry, clinical medicine, botany and zoology are among the top 1% disciplines of ESI. The comprehensive ranking of ESI has been among the top 100 in China for many consecutive years. The awarded National Natural Science Foundation and National Social Science Foundation rank among the top universities in the province. The number of high-quality papers has increased year by year, and the Natural Index of Papers (NI) has entered the top 100 universities in mainland China for three consecutive years.
At present, HZNU has 5 state-level characteristic disciplines, 1 pilot project of comprehensive professional reform sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 34 superior majors and characteristic majors in the provincial "12th Five-Year Plan" and "13th Five-Year Plan". It has 9 state-level top-quality courses, 9 excellent resource sharing courses, 9 high-quality online open courses and 13 national planning textbooks, 1 Reform Project of Excellent Teacher Training, and 25 Collaborative Education Projects with Industry-University Cooperation sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 2 national-level experimental teaching demonstration centers (including virtual simulation experimental teaching centers), 1 State-level Practical Education Base for College Students, 12 international cooperation research platforms including international production, teaching and research bases), 1 National-level Science and Technology Enterprise Incubator, 1 key laboratory and 1 engineering research center sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 17 Key Laboratories, Engineering Laboratories, Research Bases, Science and Technology Innovation Service Platforms in Zhejiang province, 11 provincial and ministerial innovation teams, and 2 New Types of University Think Tanks at provincial level etc.
There are more than 2200 faculty staff and 1500 full-time teachers in our university, among which senior professional titles account for nearly 58% of full-time faculty members. The University faculty shines with a constellation of high-level scholars and scientists, represented by 4 shared academicians from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 10 academics participating in the national “Thousand Talents Plan”, 5 Chang Jiang Scholars and 7 Distinguished Young Scholars.
In addition, 21 teachers enjoy subsidies from the State Council, and 22 famous teachers and excellent teachers are at or above the provincial level. The school has always regarded teaching quality as its foundation, and sought to promote morality and humaneness. It has inherited the educational thought of its first principal, Mr. Jing Hengyi: "to cultivate personality first and encourage all-round development." It has built upon the enduring principles of traditional teacher education, while actively adapting to the needs of regional economic and social development. IN so doing it has constructed five new applied subjects, deepened the reform of applied talents training, and vigorously promoted innovation and entrepreneurship education.
In recent years, the quality of undergraduate teaching in Zhejiang Province has been a predominating concern within our universities. HZNU ranked third among provincial colleges and universities in teaching work and performance evaluation in Zhejiang Province in the academic year 2014-2015. The reform of education and teaching has achieved remarkable results. In the past five years, HZNU has won eight national awards for teaching achievements, ranking among the top universities in Zhejiang Province. It has provided a large number of excellent teachers with advanced educational ideas, high theoretical literacy and practical ability for Zhejiang Province and even the whole country. A number of outstanding alumni such as Ma Yun，chairmen of the board of directors of Alibaba Group, and Cai Ronggen, academician of the National Academy of Sciences, have graduated from HZNU.
Keeping a close eye on the Belt and Road Initiative and attending closely to what is going on globally，HZNU has comprehensively promoted the process of internationalization of education and the opening of education. It has established inter-school cooperation and exchanges with more than 30 universities in the United States, Britain, Korea, Japan, Australia and Taiwan. It offers a Master of Education Leadership and Management (MA) program approved by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the University of Canberra in Australia, and a Confucius Institute jointly established with the Middle Tennessee State University in the United States. HZNU is among the first universities to be accredited by CEAIE for international student education.
At present, our university is united in its unremitting efforts to accelerate the construction of a first-class university with academic strength, distinctive features and strong culture.
（Statistics data up to June 2019, excluding Qianjiang College）