Hunan Institute of Science and Technology (HNIST) is located in Yueyang—a National Historical and Cultural City and a sub-central city in Hunan Province. Overlooking the Yueyang Tower and nestled beside Dongting Lake, HNIST is a provincial first-tier university that focuses on science and engineering while promoting coordinated development across multiple disciplines, including arts, economics, management, law, education, and fine arts. It is recognized as a doctoral degree-granting institution under development in Hunan Province, a national pilot university for industry-education integration in applied undergraduate education, a candidate for university-status upgrading in Hunan, and a provincial institution developing first-class domestic disciplines.

The campus enjoys a beautiful natural environment and a rich cultural heritage. Its origins can be traced back to Huping University, founded in 1910. Spanning over 1,800 mu (about 120 hectares) with 4 kilometers of lakeshore, HNIST is often hailed as “one of the most beautiful university campuses in China.” The university comprises 18 teaching schools offering 55 undergraduate programs. It enrolls students from all 31 provinces and currently has over 19,000 full-time undergraduate, postgraduate, and international students. HNIST holds 26 master’s degree authorization points, including first-level discipline and professional degree categories, and boasts 2 first-class construction and cultivation disciplines. Notably, its engineering discipline ranks within the top 1% globally by ESI.

The university actively implements a talent-driven strategy, steadily strengthening its faculty. It employs more than 1,500 staff members, including over 400 senior-title and nearly 500 doctoral-degree holders. The faculty includes over 150 national and provincial-level high-caliber talents, such as Distinguished Professors of the Chang Jiang Scholars Program, recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, candidates of the National Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talents Project, members of the New Century Excellent Talents Support Program, and leaders of “Huang Danian-style Teaching Teams.” Additionally, HNIST has engaged nearly 20 long-term high-level foreign experts and flexibly recruited over 20 leading scholars, including academicians, Chang Jiang Scholars, National Distinguished Young Scholars, and experts from the National Thousand Talents Plan.

Teaching resources and infrastructure continue to improve. HNIST has 12 national-level and 26 provincial-level first-class undergraduate program construction sites, along with 13 national and provincial distinctive specialties. Its Chemical Engineering and Technology program is accredited by engineering education standards, and five programs including Chemistry have obtained teacher-education accreditation. The university offers 8 national and 88 provincial first-class undergraduate courses, 9 provincial curriculum-ideology demonstration courses, and 2 provincial “golden” ideology courses. It has established 66 provincial-or ministerial-level practical teaching platforms, including a national experimental teaching demonstration center and a national off-campus practice education base for university students. HNIST has received 4 national teaching achievement awards, 2 national comprehensive specialty reform pilot projects, 229 Ministry of Education industry-education collaborative education projects, 2 national “Four New” discipline projects, and 10 provincial “Four New” projects. Over the past five years, faculty have won 79 awards in provincial Class-I undergraduate teaching competitions, including 20 first prizes. Furthermore, state-of-the-art facilities such as the library, experimental training center, gymnasium, swimming and diving hall, and athletic field have been completed, providing solid support for teaching and learning.

HNIST emphasizes industry-education integration and collaborative education to cultivate high-quality innovative applied talents. By aligning disciplines with industrial chains, the university has developed distinctive specialty clusters in petrochemical engineering, intelligent manufacturing, high-end equipment, new energy, water resource protection, port logistics, and Huxiang cultural heritage. It has partnered with over 50 leading enterprises to launch joint training programs, including “customized classes,” the “Green Chemical Engineering” Hunan Modern Industry College, the “Electronic Information Equipment” Hunan Modern Industry College, and the “Modern Petrochemical” Outstanding Engineers Training Base. Nearly 300 practice and training bases have been established. In collaboration with local government, a 6,500-square-meter innovation and entrepreneurship incubation base for students has been built. In the past three years, students have won 2,298 awards in provincial-level or above discipline competitions, including 365 first prizes, consistently ranking among the top in Hunan in the national university discipline competition rankings. Over the past five years, students have undertaken 338 national and provincial innovation and entrepreneurship projects, while admission scores, employment rates, and postgraduate enrollment rates have remained at the forefront among comparable institutions in the province.

The university actively serves national strategies and local needs, continuously enhancing its scientific research and social service capacity. It currently operates 42 provincial-or ministerial-level research platforms, including a Key Laboratory of China's Machinery Industry, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratories, provincial engineering research centers, and a provincial “2011 Collaborative Innovation Center.” Over the past five years, HNIST has undertaken 451 vertical research projects at provincial level or above, including 78 national-level projects (among them 3 sub-projects under National Key R&D Programs). It has also conducted 1,344 horizontal industry-university-research projects, with annual research funding exceeding 142 million RMB. The university has received 54 scientific awards at provincial level or above, including 2 national-level awards. Focusing on the development of new quality productive forces, HNIST has strengthened organized research in petrochemicals, intelligent manufacturing, high-end equipment, new energy, and related fields. Several research outcomes have achieved industrial breakthroughs; for example, the new-generation styrenic thermoplastic elastomer and electronic-grade specialty epoxy resin preparation technologies have overcome multiple “bottleneck” challenges. The “Hydrogen Energy Technology” project was approved as a National Key R&D Program, and related achievements have generated economic benefits exceeding 1 billion RMB.

Adhering to an “open education” philosophy, HNIST continues to deepen international exchanges and cooperation. Since 1985, it has employed foreign faculty and enrolled international students. The university has established partnerships with institutions in Russia, Germany, South Korea, Canada, the United States, Japan, and other countries, implementing joint “3+1+1” and “2+2” undergraduate-master’s programs, as well as a cooperative applied chemistry undergraduate program with Korea's Hoseo University. More than 10 foreign teachers have been honored with the “National Friendship Award,” “Xiaoxiang Friendship Award,” or “Lotus Award.” Vladimir Ganin, a Russian fine-arts expert and faculty member, was twice received by China's national president Xi Jinping. HNIST actively participates in the Belt and Road sports-assistance program, providing athletic training for nearly ten countries, and has been designated as Hunan Province's Foreign Sports Technical Training and Reception Base.

Throughout its long history, HNIST has upheld the motto “Pursuing Perfection and Exploring Truth” and the educational philosophy of “Three Foundations,” forming an exemplary academic atmosphere characterized by “rigorous scholarship, harmonious community, pragmatic attitude, and innovative spirit.” The university has been recognized with honors such as “National Civilized Campus,” “National Civilized Unit,” “National Advanced Collective for Graduate Employment Work,” “National Advanced Institution for Teacher Ethics Construction,” “National Outstanding Unit for Foreign Expertise Introduction,” “Provincial Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization,” and “National May Fourth Red Flag Youth League Committee.”

Looking forward, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, HNIST is positioning itself in the new development stage, implementing innovative development concepts, and integrating into the new development landscape. It has set two core missions: renaming as Hunan University of Technology and obtaining approval as a doctoral degree-granting institution. A “Three-Phase Development Strategy” has been formulated, supported by “Six Key Initiatives,” as the university strives unremittingly to become a distinctive high-level applied university.

(Data updated as of September 2025)