Tongji University is one of the leading universities directly under the State Ministry of Education in China. The history of Tongji University can be traced back to 1907 when Tongji German Medical School was founded by Erich Paulun, a German doctor in Shanghai. The name Tongji suggests cooperating by riding the same boat. The school was expanded to include engineering in its programs and got its new name as Tongji Medical and Engineering School in 1912. It was formally established as a university in 1923 and was renamed as National Tongji University in 1927. During the Anti-Japanese War (1937 -1945), the university campus was moved from Shanghai first to Zhejiang Province, then to Jiangxi Province and Yunnan Province and later to Sichuan Province. It was eventually moved back to Shanghai in 1946. It then grew to be a comprehensive university which offered programs in science, engineering, medicine, arts and law. The university became known both at home and abroad soon.

Following a nationwide campaign of reorganizing schools and departments between universities in 1952, Tongji University became a university with strength in engineering, esp. in civil engineering. Authorized by the state central government, the university restored its relationship with Germany in 1978. Professor Li Guohao, president of the university and a member of the China Science Academy, launched two transforms, that is, transform from a university with strength in civil engineering to a comprehensive university with strength in engineering; and transform from a university well-known in China to an international university known to the world. Since then the university gradually developed to be a comprehensive university strong in engineering which also offered programs in science, economics, management, arts and law.

In 1995 the university became one to be jointly built by the State Education Commission and the Shanghai Municipal Government. In 1996 the university merged with Shanghai Institute of Urban Construction and Shanghai Institute of Building Materials. The merger was hailed by the State Council as Tongji Model in the system reform of higher institutions in China. In April 2000, the expanded Tongji merged again with Shanghai Railway University. Now Tongji University has become a comprehensive university which offers a wide range of programs in sciences, engineering, medicine, arts, law, economics and management. As a university which had established a reputation for its research, Tongji became one of the first groups of universities which were authorized by the China State Council to establish its Graduate School. As one of the leading universities, it was successful in its application for the 211 Program which provided universities with substantial government fund.

In the long time development, Tongji University formed the motto “Discipline, Practicality, Unity and Creativity” and the spirit “Treasure the same boat and share the same goal”. The university offers diverse courses in its 82 Bachelors Degrees, 218 Masters, 94 PhD programs and 16 post doctoral mobile stations. There are nearly 40000 full-time students and over 4200 academic staff for teaching and/or research, among whom there are 6 Members of Chinese Academy of Science, 7 Members of Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 830 professors and 1470 associate professors. As one of the national leading centers for scientific research, the university has 26 state key laboratories and engineering research centers. What’s more, there are 6 affiliated hospitals and 3 attached schools.