Hunan Institute of Science and Technology (HNIST) is a provincial undergraduate university, which is well known for science and engineering subjects as well as the balanced development of science, engineering, liberal arts, economics, management, law, education and arts. HNIST is a master degree granting unit approved by Academic Degree Committe of the State Council and is one of the first universities to be granted with "the 13th Five Year Plan" National Production and Education Integration Development and Application-oriented Undergraduate University" in Hunan Province

HNIST is located in South Lake scenic area of Yueyang which is a National Civilized City, National Historical and Cultural City, National Advanced Tourism City, national regional key city, and one of the First National Opening-Up Cities along Yangtze River, and the gateway city of Hunan Province. Surrounded by mountains, lakes (with a lake-shoreline of nearly 4 km) and Yueyang Tower, HNIST not only enjoys the environment of exquisite natural scenery but also has profound humanistic connotations. Being considered the prettiest university of Hunan province, HNIST also has been granted many honors, such as “National Civilized Unit”, “National Advanced Unit in Graduate Employment”, “National Advanced Unit in Teachers’ Professional Ethics”, "The national advanced unit of introducing foreign talents", and “Provincial Advanced Primary CCP Organization”. 

HNIST covers a campus area of nearly 2000mu (about 133 hectares). The construction area of HNIST is 700, 000 square meters (70 hectares). The total assets of the institute are 1. 4billion yuan (about 230.7 million US dollars); the teaching and scientific research equipment is worth 200,000,000 yuan (30.7 million US dollars), and the library contains more than 2.92 million copies of various books (including 1,500,000 digital books). HNIST is a university with high-level information intelligence where free WiFi has fully been equipped on campus. There are air-conditioners in dormitories, library and some teaching area. Obviously, the material conditions of HNIST are excellent, with the complete and well-equipped facilities for teaching, living and scientific research.

HNIST has 16 schools and departments, with 54 undergraduate specialties, including 5 provincial key construction disciplines. HNIST has also 3 academic master degree conferment units and 3 professional master degree conferment units. Currently, HNIST has over 17,000 full-time students.

HNIST has an over 1000 well-structured, high-quality and high-level faculty staff, including 430 professors, over 200 master degree supervisors and 20 foreign teachers, of whom over 270 professors have been granted with different national and provincial honors, namely, national “Thousand Scholar Plan” Distinguished Scholar, the Special Government Allowance of the State Council, “New Century Advanced Talent Support Program” of the Ministry of Education, National Friendship Award and Provincial Outstanding Teacher, etc.

HNIST has long committed to the industry and education integration and the university-enterprise cooperation and has deepened the educational and teaching reform, which has greatly improved the teaching quality. Up to now, HNIST has obtained many projects and honors, namely, 2 second prizes of the State-level Teaching Achievement, 3 educational system reform pilot projects of Hunan Province, 1 key project for promoting educationally advanced province, 2 national pilot projects of specialty comprehensive reform, and 8 specialty comprehensive reform projects for industry-university cooperation of the Ministry of Education. The quantity of approved undergraduate teaching “quality projects” ranked top among the second-tier undergraduate universities of Hunan province, to be specific, 4 national constructing characteristic specialties, 9 provincial characteristic specialties, 1 national experimental teaching demonstration center, 1 national university off-campus student practicum base, 22 national university student creation  and innovation programs, and 32 provincial practicum teaching platforms.

Besides, HNIST has paid much attention to the training of students’ innovation and practice ability, thus leading to the cultivation of high quality talents. In the past five years, students from HNIST won more than 1,400 prizes in discipline competitions of province or above, among which many are the first prizes, especially in National Electronic Design Contest, National Mathematical Modeling Contest, National English Speaking Contest, and National College Students’ Artistic Show. Even in one year, 6 students were granted with national utility model patents. HNIST has been adhering to educating students with loving care. As a result, the postgraduate admission rate and employment rate of students of HNIST have ranked top among universities of the similar tier in Hunan province for a long time. Meanwhile, HNIST has built firm cooperation with large state-owned enterprises, opening “order-type class” for them, which has been given a special report by CCTV.

HNIST scientific researches develop rapidly, and now it has 3 key laboratories of Hunan province (including 1 constructing lab), 2 provincial engineering and technological research centers, 1 provincial “2011 collaborative innovation center”, 4 provincial social sciences research bases, 1 key philosophy & social sciences research base of Hunan colleges & universities, 3 production-study-research demonstration foundations of Hunan colleges & universities, and 2 key laboratories of Hunan colleges & universities. Besides, during recent 5 years, HNIST has acquired 42 projects of NSFC and 19 projects of NSSF in China, and won 29 science prizes of province or above, including the first-prize of Hunan Science and Technology Progress Award. The column “contemporary history of academic research” of “Yunmeng Journal” has been listed into the 3^rd batch project of famous column promotion of the Ministry of Education.

HNIST takes the initiative to serve regional economy and society development, and has established multiple high-level discipline platforms in combination with local governments, enterprises, colleges and universities and scientific research academies. For example, HNIST cooperated with GPT (Beijing) and established “Heterogeneous Computing & Application Research Center”, which made HNIST become one member of the world famous chip organization--Heterogeneous System Architecture Foundation(HSA). Meanwhile, with intramural resource integration, HNIST flexibly introduced domestic and overseas experts and established high-level optical research laboratory, new-energy research laboratory, organic polymer functional material research center and large-logistics research innovation center. HNIST also cooperated with Shanghai Jianwei Group to establish “Key Scientific Research Base of Hunan architecture heritage in conservation and utilization”, and established a framework cooperation agreement with local governments, thus incurring the establishment of such industry-university-research centers and bases as Hunan Quyuan Culture Research Foundation, Tianyue-Mufu Mountains Culture Research Center and Yuezhou Kiln Base.

HNIST always adheres to running school openly and values to broaden students’ global horizons. Since 1985, HNIST has employed international faculty, enrolled and trained overseas students, and has successively established sister-school relationship with universities of the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Russia, etc., to implement “3+1+1”, “2+2” bachelor and/or master joint programs, and has started PhD joint-cultivation programs with universities of South Korea. Also, more than 10 foreign faculties of HNIST have been entitled with honors like the National Friendship Award, the Xiaoxiang Friendship Award, and Lotus Awards. Besides, President Xi and former premier Wen cordially received one of our foreign teachers.

 HNIST has always been proactively inheriting advanced cultural thoughts and essence of HuXiang Culture, practicing the school motto “striving for the highest excellence and seeking for truth thoroughly” and the “three-centered” educational philosophy (Student-centered, Teacher-centered, Development-centered) and sticks to the strategy of “Strict Requirements, Strict Management” to govern the institute to gradually form a good school spirit of “Rigorousness, Harmony, Truth-seeking and Innovation”. Entering the 13^th Five-Year Plan, HNIST adheres to reform and innovation, carries forward the spirit of doing things and promotes transformation development, connotation development and characteristic development so as to cultivate high-quality application-oriented talents. Now, seeking for becoming a first-tier university from a second-tier institute and applying for the PhD. conferment unit, HNIST, with a “two-step” strategy, is making unremitting efforts to become a local university with its own distinctive characteristics and high social influence as early as possible.